Tomorrow's the 130th Kentucky Derby. Early favorite is The Cliff's Edge at 4-1, with the undefeated Smarty Jones the second pick at 9-2. Earlier today, Baffert's horse Wimbledon was scratched because of a swollen leg, and St. Averil was also scratched. This leaves 18 horses in the race for the first jewel in the Triple Crown. I'm going to go with Tapit to win, Lionheart to place, and Smarty Jones to show. The favorite, The Cliff's Edge, has the early lead but slows down considerably going into the stretch and falls out of the money. Who are your picks?
smarty jones wins the derby... damn what a muddy track that was. and all that rain is coming straight for columbus for tonight's burn.crew game. excellent.
Damn impressive performance ,he was a previous winner on a bad track,but brilliant stretch running. Another Funny Cide?
I'm really surprised. Smarty Jones had only been in one graded stakes going into the Derby. The trainer even said he took the easiest path into the Derby. I didn't think he had it in him to beat 17 horses who were really going to fight for it. He's now the fifth horse to come into the Derby undefeated and go into the Preakness the same way. I was disappointed with Tapit. It looked like he was going to make a run going into the final turn, but then slipped back into ninth. 2:04 was the official race time. Given the track conditions, that's pretty fast. The track record's only 1:59.4.
Tough really to compare speeds--Go For Gin won in '94 on a sloppy track in 2:03.6. I thought the track was as good as you could expect considering the storm that blew through there. The Derby is always tough to handicap because you usually need a perfect trip to win. Smarty Jones did look really good today, though.
Ironuicaly, an Irish guy living and working in Wigan won £1,000,000 on 'Who wants to be a Millionaire' by knowing The Arlington Million wasn't a Triple Crown Race. The Kentucky Derby was left in the 50:50, and that's what I tought the answer was. But the 'Free State' people know more about Horse Racing than us in 'The North'.
And the early line is out, with Smarty Jones the unsurprising favorite at 6-5. The Cliff's Edge was scratched earlier today due to an abscess that wasn't sufficiently healed. Longshot for Saturday is Little Matth Man, at 50-1. Only 10 horses. My best guess: Win - Lion Heart Place - Smarty Jones Show - Borrego
Preakness win for Philly.Just an awesome performance by Smarty Jones.I thought Rock Hard Ten was coming up to challenge,but dear God,Smarty is a bit special I think.
So, for the record... This is the 6th time since '97 that a horse has gone into Belmont with a shot at the Crown: 1997- Silver Charm- 2nd (Touch Gold won) 1998- Real Quiet- 2nd (Victory Gallop) 1999- Charismatic- 3rd (Lemon Drop Kid) 2002- War Emblem- 8th (Sarava) 2003- Funny Cide- 3rd (Empire Maker) Smarty Jones officially won the Preakness by 11.5 lengths, the biggest rout in race history. (The previous record was 10 lengths by Survivor in 1873) So, he wins the Derby on a muddy track, and he wins the Preakness in a walk. I think he might just pull this off. He looked very good today.
You know, I think so too. I've been avoiding picking him because of all the travel he's had to endure, all the pressure on him and his team to remain undefeated, but he just might do it. That would be pretty cool. First Triple Crown winner in 26 years. Hell of an entry for the resume.
We'll see. How many times has a horse won the first two and then wilted in the last 1/4 mile at Belmont?
I'm thinking of placing a bet tomorrow. I'll probably do a trifecta with Smarty to win and Rock Hard Ten and either Eddington or Purge for the other two slots. Any thoughts?
Here are the past Triple Crown winning horses: 1919 - Sir Barton 1930 - Gallant Fox 1935 - Omaha 1937 - War Admiral 1941 - Whirlaway 1943 - Count Fleet 1946 - Assault 1948 - Citation 1973 - Secretariat 1977 - Seattle Slew 1978 - Affirmed
And Smarty Jones falls just a couple of furlongs short in his bid. He was challenged early by Purge, Eddington, and Rock Hard Ten, but it was Birdstone who caught him mid-stretch after Smarty opened up a 2 length lead over second place. Birdstone overtook him with about 3 furlongs left, and never looked back. No Triple Crown for the formerly-undefeated Smarty Jones.
That's what I've been saying all week. And, with a quarter of a mile left, you saw him lose a step. It happened really suddenly, and then Birdstone just reeled him in all the way down. Works like clockwork . . . I think Rock Hard Ten was pushing him too fast down the back. I haven't looked at the 1/2 and 3/4 times yet . . . Here's my take: the Belmont is outdated. The mile and a half isn't a common length, especially for a bunch of elite two and three year olds for whom the greater distance is a huge risk. Nobody wants to spend tens of thousands of dollars on a colt and then risk injury at longer distances early in his career. Maybe that was more common in the 60s and 70s, and that's why more horses that excelled at the mile and a quarter could handle the Belmont too. If only a few horses run that kind of distance, and those specialist horses are the ones that always pip the favorites at the Belmont, then why run the race at that distance? Although I don't go to many races anymore, from what I understand 3/4 and 7/8 mile races are just as common as 1 1/2, so why not run a sprint in the triple crown too? Make it an actual test of all around skill: sprint, milers, and distance. Otherwise, change the Belmont length to bring it in line with what the elite horses are used to.
Common and what they're used to? You're talking about the Triple Crown! The Derby, Preakness and Belmont are not different enough? Why is it that The Belmont is called the test of a champion? Why are there so few Triple Crown winners? The fact that the Belmont is so hard and unusual is what makes it the ultimate test in sport! The Triple Crown is the most legit sporting championship that we know of!