Will Smarty pull it off?

[davidross]

Anyone else excited about the prospect of a triple crown winner?

Everything seems to be in place, but I feel like I've said that many times in the last few years. But there is something different and special about this horse. I think he wins easy.

[Kurn, son of Mogh]

The biggest question is, is he worth a bet? Probably not. No horse is worth a vlaue bet at 2-5. Now if you want to take a flyer and try to catch the exacta cold, that's another thing, but even that isn't a prime betting opportunity.

The random factor - the potential for a wet track - actually works in his favor. The one thing that works against him is the propensity for the Belmont to not have a reasonable early pace. However, even that could be of minimal impact. Because most riders will be concerned about not burning their horses out early, there will be little rush for the lead out of the gate. That should enable Elliot to use Smarty's tractable speed to establish position before the first turn and thus avoid traffic problems.

Nothing in the last two races indicates that he won't have more left in the tank for the last quarter mile than his competition. As for his opposition, for all the talk about Rock Hard Ten's athleticism, his act at the gate in the Preakness may well be repeated today. A lot of people are touting him as the upset horse, but I'd be concerned about behavior. I may put a small wager on a Smarty Jones-Eddington exacta. Eddington had a hideous trip in the Preakness, and he'll go off a better price than Rock Hard Ten.

[Al_Capone_Junior]

I'd love to see it. But my hopes are not up.

I had charismatic $10 across in the kentucky derby. That ticket was worth a friggin' bundle. He barely had odds for the preakness, but I bet him anyway. He choked in the bellmont tho.

I also took war emblem for $2 across. Same in the preakness. Choked at bellmont.

Seems the norm.

It's HARD to win the triple crown.

al

[slavic]

The question is can the horse run 1.5 miles? No one knows because in general nobody runs that distance except at the Belmont. He can either do it or he can't and handicapping it is a crap shoot for us. Suffice it to say he isn't a good bet though.

[Clarkmeister]

Dude, Charismatic didn't choke in the Belmont, he broke down. I doubt we'd say Carl Lewis choked in an Olympic race if he broke his leg halfway through. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[Al_Capone_Junior]

he still didn't win it tho.

I really would like to see smarty pull it off.

al

[Kurn, son of Mogh]

The distance is a white elephant, especially for 3-year olds in the spring. Because of that, the early fractions are usually slow, and the best mile - mile and an eigth horse usually wins.

To me that sets it up perfectly for Smarty. He ran down Purge in Arkansas, he can do it here, too unless he really detests the track. But of course, his record going from tract to track mitigates against that being probab;e.

[Nepa]

[ QUOTE ]
I had charismatic $10 across in the kentucky derby. That ticket was worth a friggin' bundle. He barely had odds for the preakness, but I bet him anyway. He choked in the bellmont tho.

[/ QUOTE ]

Don't pick on Charismatic he didn't choke.

I also had Charismatic in the Kentucky for 20 accossed the board and believe it or not I had Lemon Drop Kid for 20 accossed the Board. I was runnin' hot

[JoeU]

Will he pull it off?, I hope so. I've been rooting for this horse since I saw him win the Arkansas Derby. I do believe he can definitely do this. He seems to be heads above the rest of his competition.

The last time I felt this way about a horse that had a chance to pull off the triple was Silver Charm. And he came the closest.

Its either gone be Smarty by alot, or Rock Hard Ten by 1 length.

Thats my prediction, and I'm sticking to it. Definitely not betting on it though. That exacta wouldn't be worth the paper it prints on.

Joe

[jdl22]

they said on NBC that at one point Smarty Jones was at 1-9. That is amazing. Odds have gone down to 1-5.