Couldn\'t agree more.

Maybe its the cynic in me, but I was really starting to tire of the endlessly repeated stories of Smarty fracturing his skull as a 2-year old and his journeyman jockey and the Chapmans nearly getting out of thoroughbred racing after Camac\'s murder, etc., etc.

But his race on Saturday made me a real Smarty fan...a great race and a truly courageous effort.

I read somewhere that Birdstone\'s assistant trainer, Reynaldo Abreu, was quoted as saying that he felt sadness when he saw Smarty being led back to the test barn after the Belmont and his legs were still trembling from exhaustion.

Here\'s hoping we see much more of Smarty this summer, fall and next year

C\'mon...I understand Birdstone was 36-1 but I just ran a search of every post on here over the last 30 days and exactly one pre-Belmont post even mentioned Birdstone as a contender (check out twoshoes\' post on June 2...his prediction was mostly right on)

True enough he was the only other Grade 1 winner and a horse that previously won at Belmont and bred for the distance...but I have to assume that his poor recent form was the reason that no one on this forum (other than Mark) predicted that he would be a factor.

Was he an underlay at his morning line odds of 15-1 (did anyone really expect Birdstone to go off that low?) but an overlay at 36-1?...is that why no one mentioned him in the 3 weeks leading up to the race??

Nice ink for JB in Anthony Stabile\'s column in today\'s NY Post



http://www.nypost.com/sports/17284.htm

Had SJ skipped (or failed to place in) the Arkansas Derby he would not have qualified for the Ky Derby

I read in Bloodhorse today that any syndication deal for SJ\'s breeding rights will likely include a stipulation that he continue racing as a 4-year old.

How refreshing