Trainer made all the right moves with Smarty Jones
By Richard Rosenblatt, Associated Press, 5/26/2004 16:10
BENSALEM, Pa. (AP) The first month did not go well for trainer John Servis and his new colt, Smarty Jones.
Less than two weeks after arriving at Servis' Philadelphia Park barn last summer, Smarty Jones almost died after smashing his head against the top of a starting gate.
Servis was stunned: ''This horse can really run. Please take care of him,'' he pleaded with Dr. Patricia Hogan of The New Jersey Equine Center, where Smarty was sent the day after his accident.
The horse recovered and finally made it back to the racetrack Nov. 9. It's been a perfect ride ever since.
The trainer drew up an unusual but flawless Kentucky Derby campaign that went through Arkansas, and the little red chestnut responded with win after win after win.
On June 5, the undefeated Derby and Preakness winner will try to capture the Belmont Stakes and become the first Triple Crown champion since Affirmed in 1978.
Whatever happens, though, Servis has already accomplished what owners Pat and Roy Chapman asked him to: Get Smarty to the Derby.
''The Triple Crown's icing on the cake, but the Kentucky Derby, that was the one,'' Servis said. ''That was the main goal since early January.''
While this Pennsylvania-bred colt has captured the public's fancy with his soap-opera tale and dominating victories, it's Servis' knack for knowing his horse that allowed a promising juvenile to blossom into a 3-year-old wonder horse.
The following is not your typical Derby prep fare: Two races at hometown Philly Park; one at Aqueduct in the dead of winter; and three more the Southwest, Rebel and Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark.
Servis had his reasons.
''We went to Arkansas because we thought that would be the easiest route,'' the 45-year-old trainer said. ''We knew he was fast. But he was immature at the time, and if we hooked up with top company (in California, Florida, Kentucky and New York), it might ruin him.''
After Smarty won his first race by 7¾ lengths, Servis knew he had a talented horse, ''but I had no idea how talented.'' Then came a 15-length romp in a seven-furlong race for state breds.
In January, it was off to New York for a distance test at a mile and 70 yards. Even after stumbling at the start, Smarty Jones won the Count Fleet by five lengths.
Next stop, Arkansas.
Servis told the Chapmans the Arkansas route would give him time to harness Smarty's greatest asset speed. He also told them he had no plans to replace jockey Stewart Elliott with a more experienced rider.
''We wanted to get to the Derby, and John was our guy,'' Roy Chapman said. ''It was no problem when he told us how he was going to get us there.''
While Read the Footnotes, Birdstone and Eurosilver were being touted as top Derby prospects in Florida and Kentucky, Servis was busy bottling Smarty's blazing speed.
''He was real tough to gallop, throwing his head up and trying to run off,'' Servis said. ''I'd tell the exercise rider, `You've got to slow him down. You can't let him throw his head up or we'll never get a distance.' It was frustrating.''
So Smarty Jones was taken for long, slow morning gallops to instill patience.
''He'd be out there a half-hour at a time,'' the trainer said, ''and finally it started to sink in. He began to realize he didn't have to go as fast as he could every time. It's been all the difference in the world.''
After taking the 1-mile Southwest Stakes by a not-so-dominant three-quarters of a length, Servis made another change: He equipped Smarty with German Martingale reins, which allow the rider to keep a horse's head low and keep him more focused.
Then came a powerful 3¼-length victory in the 1 1-16th-mile Rebel Stakes, followed by a 1½-length triumph in the Arkansas Derby that gave him the graded-stakes earnings needed to get into the Kentucky Derby.
Servis still had decisions to make. Trying to keep his colt in relaxing surroundings in the final weeks before the Derby, the trainer sent Smarty to Keeneland 80 miles from Churchill Downs. However, Servis didn't like the way Smarty galloped over the track and shipped him to Louisville ahead of schedule.
Smarty Jones then worked five furlongs in 58 seconds on April 24 before running off from 17 rivals to win the Derby by 2¾ lengths.
Elliott says Servis deserves all the credit for getting the best out of Smarty Jones.
''Even though horses may have a lot of ability, their confidence becomes so great from winning,'' Elliott said. ''And their hearts get so big, they just want to win so badly. I think that's what Mr. Servis has done with this horse.''
After the Derby, Servis decided to train Smarty for the Preakness without a timed workout, something most trainers would not consider. Servis said: ''The horse just ran a mile-and-a-quarter. He's dead fit.''
Right again. Smarty Jones romped in the Preakness by a record 11½ lengths.
For the Belmont, Servis will be bucking tradition again. Smarty will have only one timed workout Friday at Philadelphia Park. Each of the 11 Triple Crown winners had at least two timed workouts before the Belmont, and at least one race over the track.
Bob Baffert, who trained three Derby-Preakness winners only to watch them fall short in the Belmont, admires the way Servis has prepared Smarty Jones.
''He's done a masterful job with that horse,'' he said. ''Mapped it out perfectly.''
