You guys ready for Belmont?

[Will24]

singing the intro now... results should be interesting...

 

[JB @ C and L Machine]

Smarty Jones suffered from what we call the "Philadelphia curse"

 

[TPCDrafting]

Somebody said it in here a couple 3 years back when Charismatic had a chance at the triple. Put your money on the longshots in the Belmont. Especially the freshest most unknown horse on the track.

 

[Heavy Duty]

Would have loved to have seem him win the TC. If you have been following this horse, he has almost the same history as Sea Biscuit. He just didn't quite have the motor to go 1. 5 miles. Also I think that he is a front-running type of horse. Once he gets in the crowd he most likely will shutdown. All-in-all, he still is a great horse and will go down in equine history books as such. Heck, I'd love to own him. He probably will be getting some high stud fees once he is retired from racing.

 

[Will24]

Kinda disappointing... one more piece of proof that a young guy from PA just can't win

 

[TowPro]

Everybody took shots at him the whole race. At the start he had to sprint to keep ahead of 2 that were giving there all. They faded but Smarty kept going. Then he got out there by himself, but another contender came on and he had to sprint some more. He never had a chance to take a short breather.



When he was about to be passed in the end, I watched his head come up just a little as the jockey put the crop to his butt, at which point he seemed to slow down. I did not see the other races but I heard the jockey say "I never had to put the crop to him, I just whispered into his ear lets go". Maybe he's just like the rest of us and gets an attitude when somebody tries to whip us!



I also noticed the jockey was not to smooth on his bridle as the other jockey was at the end, maybe that had something to do with it also.



Anyway, I never bet on horses because until its over, you never know who will win!



He's still going to make a lot of money for his owners by "doing his thing" with a lot of mares!

 

[HEMI®Dart]

Belmont Park was AWSOME!!

The 136th running of the Belmont Stakes was the most exciting 2½ minutes I have ever witnessed in a sporting event.



Things I noticed:



1) The actual track (racing surface) is HUGE. I thought it looked alot bigger than a 1½ mile oval. It seemed like a 2½-3 mile oval.



2) 120,000+ fans is alot of people. It was tough to get around at times. The lines to the bathroom had a 10 minute wait. I could'nt believe how many women were using the mens room. At least 10 at a time. They said their line was moving too slow. We got some great laughs for some of the comments that were being made.



3) We were watching the NBC feed on the big jumbo-tron in the infield as the horses were starting to leave the Paddock for the Stakes. Every time Smarty Jones was on camera the crowd erupted with applause & Cheers.



4) Everybody Loved Smarty. Everybody wanted to see him win. When Smarty Jones took the lead in the backstretch the crowd exploded in cheers.



5) The Belmont Stakes is an insane amount of distance. It's almost crazy. Surprised the horses don't just collapse in their tracks. After watching races 1-10, 7 furlongs, 8 furlongs, a mile, mile & 16th etc the starting gate was almost at half track for most of the day. 3/4 track at the most. Then they put the gate at the start/finish line for the stakes, it struck me as this is a LONG, LONG race. At the Clubhouse turn and the backstretch, the horses are tough to see. Almost disappear.



6) The horses move QUICK on the track. It struck me how fast they are really moving. They eat up the track. I thought I read 40 mph at some points?



7) Watching the post parade for the Belmont Stakes, I said to myself, keep in mind you are watching the BEST thoroughbreds in the world. There did'nt look like there was an ounce of fat on any of the Belmont stakes entries. Pure ripped muscle was all I could see on the horses.



I had bought about 10 $2 Win Totes on Smarty & extra programs to have as souvenirs, and to offer them to you guys for souvenirs. And yes I had $100 to win on Smarty



I left the park w/ major depression, not because of the $$ either.





The color started to run from my face as I snapped this pic from where we were sitting. Exactly at the 1/8 pole. Birdsong was gaining ground. ( poor quality pic as I was cheering and jumping up and down).



#ad




Smarty Jones Post Parade:



#ad




#ad




TONS of Photographers waiting at the finish line:



#ad


#ad

 

[Mike Ellis]

I didn't get to see the race, but one of the highlite memories of my youth is watching Secretariat walk away with an INCREDIBLE win there, my Dad is a horse-racing fanatic and has a poster of Secretariat crossing the finish line in that race. The picture was taken from the front and the speed and strength of the horse make for a stunning poster. Never fun getting beat, but how would you have liked being 2nd in THAT race? 30+ lengths - heck the rest of the pack needed binoculars to see Big Red crossing the line

 

[Rman]

It was a fine race. 1. 5 miles is a long go and Smarty gave it a good effort. They all took shots at him and he was pushed to hard too long and just ran out at the end. I enjoyed it, and it just goes to prove how hard that triple crown is to get. You're right Mike, Big Red was a spectacular race horse.

 

[HEMI®Dart]

Dl5treez

I am not strong w/ math. Can somebody figure out the average mph Smarty Jones ran in these 2 races:



Kentucky Derby

1¼ miles

Time: 2:04. 06

(Keep in mind: MUD)



Preakness Stakes

1-3/16 miles

Time: 1:55. 59

 

[HEMI®Dart]

Great Picture...

Mike,



Going by the clock, Birdsong would have been about 18 Lengths BEHIND Secretariat at the Belmont.



#ad

 

[HEMI®Dart]

You da man..

Dl5treez,



One more if you have time.



'73 Kentucky Derby

Secretariat

1½ Miles

Time:1:59 & 2/5 (still track record)



40 mph?

 

[HEMI®Dart]

THANK YOU Dl5treez!



I'm gonna print them and bring them to work.

 

[HEMI®Dart]

Found '73 Belmont Stakes Video

I was surfing NYRA's webpage and found a bunch of old videos. This link is Secretariats '73,31 Length Belmont Stakes victory.



Unbelieveable!



http://www1.nyra.com/Belmont/video.asp?track=B&mon=6&yr=1973#

 

[HEMI®Dart]

"I'll Have Another" Scratched!

He won the Derby. Won the Preakness by 11½ lengths.



No Belmont Stakes.



34 years since Affirmed won it.



Too bad my pictures won't come up from '04.

 

[HEMI®Dart]

Do you guy's think California Chrome is got it in him to go 1½ miles?

I hope they throw in a spoiler or two

 

[BIGNASTY]

If all the horse's that were in contention for the triple ran in EVERY RACE it would be something to watch but its like anything else is sports its FIXED

 

[HEMI®Dart]

But Secretariat and other Triple-Crown winners did beat horses that had 'fresh legs'. His 2:24 record time for the Belmont Stakes may never be broken. Secretariat would have beaten Tonalist to the wire by 22 lengths.

 

[Tractorat]

Seabuist would have beat them all.