Sledge Hammer

[Chuckles_the_Clown2]

Smarty may get beat June 5th and he may race long enough that the shine goes off the apple and people stop comparing him to the great horses of the past. But assuming he is somewhat special, I\'ve been contemplating why? Why is this littlish horse out of a solid but unspectacular pedigree the running machine he currently is? Why?

He was fast early. His second race he ran a Zed. If you look at his T-Form, he could bounce and in all likelihood still win. Why was he so fast so early and why is he fast now?  Did you all see the end of those last two races? I\'m not the greatest trip handicapper, (Note confusion with Tapit), but I saw a horse doing it on his own and post wire still looking like he was enjoying himself and wanting to do more. I\'m sure Smarty could have run a 1:54 and change on Pimlico day and the track was somewhat heavy. Servis has said \"We haven\'t gotten to the bottom of him. We can\'t get him tired.\"  Thats a trainer talking, so I take it with a grain of salt, but I haven\'t seen this horse reach down or get tired either. He\'s got more speed than hes showing and large reserves of stamina. I wonder if a horse is fortunate enough to surprise him by drawing into him late, if that horse can really hope to get by. We don\'t know yet. The race pace could allow it. It\'s a matter of circumstances.

Mike Smith said this of Smarty\'s Preakness:

\"Sometimes it looks like Stewart\'s riding him, but it\'s like he\'s just pedaling along next to you, like, \'Okay, I\'m here.\' Like it\'s no big deal,\" Smith said. \"When we went around the turn, I look over and he\'s got both ears forward like he\'s out for a Sunday stroll.\"

I\'ve seen the same thing. I\'ve seen this horse enjoying the race. The other thing is he\'s just got the perfect pace style for a good horse. He has speed to avoid problems and isn\'t too head-strong to rate. He\'s the perfect pace race horse. A real hot pace could be his nemisis, but so far we haven\'t seen one develope.

Still you go back to, \"Why is this horse like he is\"?  I don\'t have any real reason for saying this, but I think that gate mishap before he ever ran made him a better horse. I think it settled him down and as strange as it seems I\'m suspecting it made him faster. \"How can you say that Chuckles...you goofball?\"  I can\'t really answer that. Impulse transmission? I don\'t know, but I get the feeling that knock on the head made him a better racehorse. I\'d hate to see it utilized as a training technique though. I can see Bobby Frankel sledging each of his two year olds in turn.

CtC

[MO]

CTC ,

I tend to agree that the gate mishap made him better. Kinda like when I was a kid running down the street after a fly ball and not looking at the telephone pole I was about to run into. When I regained conciousness (and the ball still in my glove), I learned to \"behave\" properly and keep an eye out for the pole next time. It made me, a really good baseball player to begin with, an even better one.

MO

[magicnight]

Can\'t say about Smarty Jones, but I think the two of you may have taken a few too many shots to the head!

[jimbo66]

A full second faster if he was asked?  And the life threatening injury to his head make him a better runner?

Sounds like Smarty has already started to reach \"legend\" status to some of us.  

Isn\'t a horse being handridden vs. hardridden to the wire an illusion many times?  What I mean, the assumption that it means the horse could have run much faster is not usually true.  I remember hearing this argument about Empire Maker last year, how he won the Wood without Bailey ever touching him and he was \"playing around\" in the stretch. Meanwhile, Funny Cide was \"all out\". Well, it turns out Funny Cide beat him in the Derby.  

I think assuming that Smarty was going to run a full second faster in the Preakness borders on outlandish.  That puts his Beyer around 125 or so, and his T-Graph figure where, negative 6?

He doesn\'t need to run faster to win the Belmont, he can even run a bit slower and win.  

And I can\'t believe that almost killing himself has made him better.  If I did, I might get out the razor blades.....

[MO]

Hey Chuckles, I\'ll let you handle this guy. LOL

[Michael D.]

this is all just personal opinion of course, but i believe smarty could have run at least a few ticks faster (maybe a second) if he was used harder. it looked as though the horse left energy on the track.

[Mall]

I didn\'t mention this before because I still haven\'t seen the replay, & when I didn\'t see anything about it in print, I thought perhaps I imagined it. Take a look at Photo 5 in the 5/22 Blood-Horse & tell me if the look Elliott gave Smith as he came out of the turn for home isn\'t the look Woolf gave Kurtsinger going around that same turn in 1938? Authentic legendary status might be closer than you think jimbo66, so please stay away from the razor blades, which have a lot of different uses, none of them good.

[Silver Charm]

Hey Chuckles,

Last year you and I talked about getting David Bowie out during Belmont week to sing China Girl. As in Shhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Maybe we can get Peter Gabriel to come out to serenade Smarty.

Interesting comments from Frankel. I trust his opinion.

http://www.drf.com/news/article/55747.html



Post Edited (05-20-04 21:33)

[Chuckles_the_Clown2]

Well,

The lesser time I referred to was only .60 seconds. I do believe Smarty could have shaved that off. You have to watch how easily he finished up. As far as the Belmont, I still think there are three main dangers. Distance, Bounce and lack of Affinity for the Track. Unless he gets stuck in the gate, I can't foresee traffic being a concern.

I said I couldn\'t explain Smarty\'s head injury making him a better runner. However, I do think it forced him to relax in the gate and that relaxed attitude finds its way into his stride. Also, I\'m not entirely sure there's not something more to it. From what I understand it was a significant skull injury. He was knocked out cold and bleeding profusely from the skull fracture through his nose. Who is to say if it didn't alter synapse firing or brain centers? Is he the fastest 3 yr old Jerry has ever figured? Maybe the head bang means nothing, then again maybe not.

Silver, I forget why you wanted Bowie to sing "China Girl"? Did I post something along the lines of...

"And when I get exited, my little China Girl says, "oh Chuckles just you shut your mouse.....she says shhhhhhhhshhhhhh"   lol

You have been a steam train
And you just lay down your track
You have been an aeroplane flying
Will you bring the blue sky back?

All you do is show speed
You'd be everything we need.

You have been a big dipper
Going up and down...all around the bends
You have been a bumper car, bumping
The amusement never ends

We want you to be a sledgehammer
That's why we call your name.
Oh you can be a sledgehammer
This will be your testimony
Show us down the homestretch
Love the carnations like a honey bee
Open up on the homestetch
where the nectar is as sweet as can be

You've kicked the habit
Shed the skin
This is the new stuff
You go dancing in, we go dancing in
Oh won\'t you go for me
And I will go for you
Go for me, I will go for you
yea, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I do mean you
only you
you\'ve been coming through
going to build that power
build, build up that power, hey
I\'ve been feeding the rhythm
I\'ve been feeding the rhythm
going to feel that power, build in you
come on, come on, help me do
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, you
I\'ve been feeding the rhythm
I\'ve been feeding the rhythm
it\'s what we\'re doing, doing
all day and niiiiiiiight

[fasteddie]

I am still confounded by this horse; he STILL hasn\'t run fast---time-wise---like Secretariat, or any one else!

Legends break track records, and he hasn\'t come close to one (yet), but he may. All he does is win and that\'s the bottom line! He may be the best one-paced horse I\'ve ever seen; he seems to be able to run 12\'s anytime in the race he wants. In 2 weeks, all he need do is run
 
  :24  :48  1:12  1:36  2:00  2:24

and wins by 20+ the chart will read:

Smarty Jones, away in good order from the rail post, was sent up inside Purge to establish a stalking position, assumed command when asked just past a mile, extended his margin substantially at the top of the stretch, was shown the whip a furlong out, and was hand-ridden to the wire in a record-equaling performance.

Maybe we should dig up Dean Martin so he can sing that song from Ocean\'s 11 with the line \"ain\'t that a kick in the head\"...