All Eyes on Smarty Jones at Belmont

NEW YORK (AP) _ Smarty Jones appears to enjoy the cameras and attention lavished on him as the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner. <br/><br/>Good thing, because all eyes are on him approaching the Belmont

Monday, May 31st 2004, 5:39 am

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) _ Smarty Jones appears to enjoy the cameras and attention lavished on him as the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner.

Good thing, because all eyes are on him approaching the Belmont Stakes. A victory Saturday would make the chestnut colt racing's first Triple Crown winner in 26 years.

Smarty can't make a move at Belmont Park without everyone nearby glancing his way or snapping his picture.

His first gallop around the sprawling track was cause for commotion Thursday. More than 100 reporters and photographers tracked him, even when he simply stood in his stall gazing back at the crowd.

``He's not afraid of people,'' said stable foreman Bill Foster, who sleeps in a room next to Smarty's stall in Barn 5.

Foster was awakened in the wee hours Thursday by Smarty rattling his feed tub.

``I knew it was empty,'' he said.

Except for another scheduled gallop Friday and some practice time in the starting gate, Smarty Jones will spend the day sleeping and eating in his stall.

He's never alone these days.

Smarty was accompanied Wednesday on his 100-mile journey from Philadelphia Park by a police escort through Pennsylvania, New Jersey and into New York. Foster said a bus full of high school athletes waved and shouted at Smarty's caravan. Cars honked, and toll booth operators took notice.

``When he gets on that van and travels, he knows something is going on,'' Foster said.

Foster is always nearby, too, and security guards were posted outside Smarty's barn.

``You need that,'' Foster said.

The public's fancy for Smarty Jones is so great that some folks are trying anything to get a ticket for Saturday's race.

``I get calls from all over the place with every excuse you could imagine,'' said Jerry Davis, director of admissions and parking for the New York Racing Association. ``People who claim to have exercised Smarty Jones, touched Smarty Jones, who know the cousin of Smarty Jones. We even have people claiming to be related to the Chapmans (owners Pat and Roy) who say their party was too big to fit them in.''

Smarty Jones is stabled in the same barn that housed 1973 Triple Crown winner Secretariat, and he's next to the barn of 2003 Derby and Preakness winner Funny Cide.

Trainer John Servis was pleased with Smarty's initial gallop around Belmont's 1 1/2-mile track.

``Everything is right on schedule,'' he said. ``He seemed to really like it and bounced over it like he did at Churchill,'' where he won the Derby.

Owner Roy Chapman kept up with the crowd in his wheelchair, equipped with an oxygen tank to help with his emphysema.

``All we need now is racing luck,'' he said. ``You always need racing luck.''

If Smarty Jones becomes the 12th Triple Crown winner and first since Affirmed in 1978, he also would be the first to complete the series sweep without a previous race over the Belmont surface.

``We're starting to get nervous,'' Servis said. ``The fact that we have a chance to make history is starting to set in.''

The weather forecast for Saturday calls for a 30 percent chance of scattered showers.

``A little rain wouldn't hurt us Saturday,'' Chapman said. ``Smarty loves an off track.''

Smarty Jones is 8-for-8 and won the Arkansas Derby in the mud and the Kentucky Derby in the slop.

Trainers of other Belmont horses checked out Smarty during his foray around the track.

``He's a pretty average-looking horse,'' said Jason Orman, who trains the huge and regal-looking Rock Hard Ten, ``but he tries hard every time. He doesn't have any excuses and that's the sign of a good horse.''

Bobby Frankel rarely concedes anything in racing, but he said, ``This horse looks like 10 lengths the best. He seems like the perfect horse right now.''

Foster proudly counts himself as one of Smarty Jones' earliest believers, long before the bandwagon filled to capacity with supporters.

``If Smarty runs his race, they can all stay home,'' he said.