A Look Back: 2004 Belmont Stakes

Birdstone (No. 4) and Edgar Prado catch Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Smarty Jones in shadow of the wire to win 2004 Belmont Stakes, denying Smarty Triple Crown and handing him his first loss. (Photo courtesy of CBC - You can see a video of this race by clicking here)


He was America's horse; an undefeated feel-good story that touched all he came into contact with. From a freak accident that left him with a fractured skull to the tragedy of the man slated to train him; right up to the last furlong of the Belmont Stakes, it seemed as though Smarty Jones had an aura of invincibility about him. He would not be denied. Or so we thought.

In a race that broke the hearts of many racing fans, not to mention solidified the careers of several already-successful horsemen, Smarty Jones was handed his comeuppance in an unlikely fashion. Birdstone, a 36-1 shot whose last race had been an eighth-place effort five weeks earlier in the Kentucky Derby, captured the final leg of the Triple Crown under jockey Edgar Prado, who had spoiled a Triple Crown two years earlier on 70-1 Sarava in 2002. Smarty Jones was, in the words of track announcer Tom Durkin, "valiant but vanquished" finishing second. Royal Assault finished third for trainer Nick Zito, who also saddled the winner.

At the start of the race, it looked like Smarty Jones would have to win a war of attrition, with Eddington and Rock Hard Ten pushing him hard down the backstretch. Once Smarty Jones got around them, jockey Stewart Elliott made what appeared to be the winning move, a move that many critics now agree was made prematurely, as Smarty took a three-length lead into the far turn with Prado and Birdstone primed to pull off the shocker with a similar move of their own at the three-eighths pole. One furlong from the finish, Smarty still fought hard, but was eventually done in by the earlier battle on the lead and by the fact that Prado simply had more horse than Elliott.

This Saturday, Birdstone's offspring is running in the Belmont, (Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird) while Smarty Jones' first crop of foals has yet to hit the track.