BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. – During John Servis’s childhood in Philadelphia, a recurring vision often visited him. He pictured himself in the winner’s enclosure at Churchill Downs, having triumphed as a trainer in the Kentucky Derby.
This aspiration gained more tangibility once he obtained his trainer’s license and started managing a modest stable of horses at what was then known as Philadelphia Park (currently Parx). However, no one needed to remind him that the chances of reaching Churchill Downs on the first Saturday of May, from the comparative obscurity of a racetrack in Bensalem, Pa., were remarkably steep, seemingly insurmountable.
Then, in 2003, Smarty Jones arrived as a two-year-old.
“When he first came, he carried an indication that he possessed a certain degree of talent,” Servis recounted during a recent discussion at the Palm Meadows Training Center. “Clearly, no one at that point grasped the full extent of his capabilities.”
He recalled the Pennsylvania-bred son of Elusive Quality as one of two young colts loaded into a van one morning. “One of them was a really powerfully built horse, and I told myself, ‘That must be the one,’” he said.
But it wasn’t.
Smarty Jones didn’t outwardly appear to be a high-caliber runner until he was brought to the track. The whispers about his potential were so compelling that his owners, Pat and Roy Chapman, declined purchase offers even before his training had begun.
SMARTY WITH PAT CHAPMAN
Photo courtesy of Jeff Coady/Coady Photography
Nevertheless, Servis kept his hopes in check even as the two-year-old made his local track debut with a 7 ¾-length victory and continued his impressive form by dominating the Pennsylvania Nursery Stakes by 15 lengths. This latter win was so decisive that the trainer started to allow himself to consider a run for the Derby.
He then entered Smarty Jones into the Count Fleet Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack for his three-year-old debut, a race that would indicate whether he belonged in the Derby picture. The resounding answer came in the form of a five-length triumph.
From there, he journeyed to Oaklawn Park, where the rising three-year-old augmented his campaign with victories in the Southwest Stakes, the Rebel Stakes, and the Arkansas Derby, all under the customary guidance of Stewart Elliott.
And from there, it was on to Louisville!
Servis realized he had a legitimate chance during the initial stages of the Derby. “Everyone was vying for position and bumping into each other, and he had enough resolve to be right there,” the trainer commented. “Smarty reached the first turn in an excellent spot, and I recall thinking, ‘If he’s truly good enough, he’ll be very hard to beat.’”
Smarty Jones proved more than good enough, joining Lil E. Tee (1992) as the only Pennsylvania-breds to claim the roses. He confirmed that the persistent dream Servis harbored since childhood was a foreshadowing of the euphoria that was about to unfold.
SMARTY JONES CARRYING THE DERBY ROSES
Photo courtesy of Anne M. Eberhardt
Smarty seized the Preakness by a remarkable 11 ½ lengths and was only denied the Triple Crown when 36-1 longshot Birdstone launched a stunning rally to defeat him by a single length.
Sadly for racing, the Chapmans, and Servis, the incredible journey concluded there. Smarty was retired less than two months following his last race due to a diagnosis of “chronic bruising at the end of the cannon bone in all four fetlocks.”
He secured victory in eight of his nine starts and amassed $7,613,155 in prize money, including a $5 million bonus from Oaklawn Park for sweeping the Rebel, Arkansas Derby, and Kentucky Derby.
“He was an extraordinary horse,” Servis stated. “The only drawback with him was that he was incredibly tough on himself. He absolutely adored training.”
And the other horse, the one who emerged from the van alongside Smarty and looked so imposing? He never amounted to more than a very low-priced claiming horse.
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Interesting Facts
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SMARTY JONES IN 2015 AT CALUMET FARM
Photo courtesy of Anne M. Eberhardt
