Like probably a lot of you, we're
fairly curious about what Smarty Jones will do Saturday. He's proven
to be a gutty little horse, and it appears that a lot of things are falling in
place for him now. You never know with the Belmont, but he has raced so
well that you have to think he has a chance. He's even been mentioned some
with some of the great horses of the past, including Secretariat.
Secretariat will be a reach for any horse. We saw a documentary on ESPN
Classic's Sports Century, and had forgotten how utterly he dominated the Belmont
field. There's a picture of Ron Turcotte, looking back to see where the
other horses are, and they are, to say the least, distant: Secretariat won by 31
lengths, which was mind-boggling. Jack Nicklaus said he watched and cried.
Turcotte now says he thinks Smarty Jones can win by 25 lengths.
In Secretariat's case, what amazed us, when we found it out, was that each
quarter of a mile was faster than the previous one: so in other words, the first
was the slowest and the last was the fastest. No one does that. It's
all but impossible in horse racing, or for any normal mammal, really.
People wondered for years how he did it.
Turns out when he died, his heart weighed 22 pounds. The average thoroughbred
horse heart weighs about 8. It's no wonder that over a longer distance he
destroyed the field.
There is some speculation that Smarty Jones might have a similar advantage.
Whatever his secret is, he's a beautiful horse who is a lot of fun to
watch. Here's hoping he tears up the Belmont like Secretariat did.