BENSALEM, Pa. – The countdown to Smarty Jones’ date with destiny in the June 5 Belmont Stakes, now 17 days away, began in earnest yesterday at Philadelphia Park when the Triple Crown-bound wonderhorse and his trainer, John Servis, returned to the track for the first time since Smarty’s record romp in last Saturday’s Preakness.
Heading out before 6 a.m., the “Philly Flash” jogged a half-mile the wrong way, then turned around and galloped a half-mile under 170-pound exercise rider Pete Van Trump, with Servis alongside on stable pony Butterscotch.
“I was real happy with what I saw,” said Servis, who himself took a short break with his wife, Sherry, in the Poconos. “I did more with him this morning than I was planning, just to take a bit of the edge off.
“He was jumping around, squealing, and that tells me he’s full of himself. He was feeling too good. I didn’t want him back at the barn feeling this way.”
Servis is astounded the “Philly Flash” seems to be blossoming despite the rigors of a long campaign.
“He’s had a vigorous schedule since we left Aqueduct in January,” he said. “[The Triple Crown] is a grueling, grueling road. I thought after the Derby he’d start to show signs of fatigue, but he didn’t.
“Then the morning after the Preakness, he was bright-eyed and licked his [feed] tub clean. There was no sign of his being tired or worn out. When he got back [to Philly Park], he charged off the van, while the help looked like they’d just come out of World War II.
“It’s unbelievable. Right now, he’s showing signs of moving forward.”
Looking ahead to the Belmont, Servis doesn’t foresee any major obstacles.
“As long as he’s doing as well as he is now, I don’t see why he won’t run as good a race as he’s done all along. As for handling the racetrack, I don’t think that would be a problem.
“The distance, you never know. But I can tell you, I haven’t been able to get to the bottom of him. After the Southwest [in February at Oaklawn Park], all those guys thought he wouldn’t go over a mile. I said to them, hopefully, in a few months, they’ll be wondering if he’ll get the mile-and-a-half.”
With Lion Heart, who set the pace in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, skipping the Belmont, might Smarty Jones go straight to the lead?
“That’s up to [jockey Stewart Elliott],” Servis said. “If he breaks as sharply as he did in the Preakness, Stewart might not have a choice. But the way [Smarty Jones] is settling now, he can put him anywhere on the race track.”
This Saturday, the public is invited to Philly Park to watch Smarty Jones gallop at 8:30 a.m. Nearly 5,000 fans turned out for his morning appearance the week before the Preakness, and this crowd should dwarf that in a city gone wild with Smarty fever.
