I got home Saturday shortly before the Kentucky Derby. I had actually remembered to set the VCR, but was happy to watch the race live. It The first thing I noticed was that Billy's pick, Wimbedeon, was scratched because of a knot on his leg. St Averil was also scratched because of leg swelling, dropping the field to 18 horses. The second thing I notice was the track was wet - in fact it was only the 4th time in 130 years of running the race that the track was listed as sloppy.
There were two horses in the field that seemed to have disadvatages: Pollard's Vision, who is blind in his right eye, and Smarty Jone who broke his skull when he was 2 (although he did have an unbeaten record).
The start was good, with minimal bumping and Lionheart lead the pack out of the gates. At the 1/2 mile, Lionheart was still out front with Pollard's Vision, Quiton's Gold Rush, and Smarty Jones rounding out the front four. By the time they rounded the far turn, Smarty Jones was making his move and had gained ground so that he was just slightly behind Lionheart and driving for the lead - which he took just before the finish wire in a time of 2:05.
The first 4 finishers were in order: Smarty Jones, Lionheart, Imperialism and limehouse.
Smarty Jones (SJ) was riden by a rider that has never had a mount in the Kentucky Derby. SJ was the first unbeaten horse to win the Kentucky Derby since Seatle Slew in 1977. SJ was also not taken seriously by many "players" because his pedigree is heavy on the side of sprinters (the KD is 1 1/4 miles).
As a side note, jockeys were allowed to were advertising on their silks. A judge blocked the Kentucky law that banned such advertising.
I LOVE SMARTY JONES!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: Katie | May 21, 2004 at 11:15 PM
i hope Smarty Jone would win... I love Him
Posted by: Juliet | June 05, 2004 at 01:06 PM