Racing’s latest “superstar”, Smarty Jones, has
been retired. The colt was being aimed at the Breeders Cup Classic
in November. He was forced to miss both the Haskell Invitational
and the Pennsylvania Derby following an injury.
The colt was said not to be training well following his bruising
of his four cannon bones. The injury has been described by Dr Larry
Bramlage as being “common and treatable.”
Smarty Jones was recently syndicated for a reported $39 million
to stand at Three Chimneys Farm in Kentucky. The colt was beaten
just once in nine starts, losing his last start in the Belmont Stakes
to Birdstone.
The decision has attracted a rash of criticism from many in the
industry.
Owners Roy and Pat Chapman denied the money was a factor in their
decision to retire the colt, but were thinking of what was best
for the colt.
The Chapmans have been criticisted for promising to keep Smarty
in training as a four year old and changing their minds due to a
niggling injury. They have been said to further nail a hammer in
the coffin of retiring “champions” too early.
A son of leading sire Elusive Quality, he is out of the stakes
winner I’ll Get Along. His stud fee has yet to be set.
Smarty Jones became the “People’s Horse” after winning the Kentucky
Derby and followed the Derby win up with an impressive win in the
Preakness Stakes. The Smarty Party was ended when Birdstone beat
him comprehensively in the Belmont Stakes. Smarty Jones had yet
to run against a single older horse at the time of his retirement
but still looks set to win an Eclipse Award as champion three year
old colt.
The chestnut, whose sole other graded win came in the Arkansas
Derby, was the first favourite to win the Derby since Fusaichi Pegasus
in 2000 and the first to do so while unbeaten since Seattle Slew
in 1977.