My Sportsman Choice: Smarty Jones

By Mark Beech

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By the standards of recent history, there wasn't anything particularly special about Smarty Jones' failed quest for the Triple Crown. He was, after all, merely the sixth colt in the last eight years to come up short in the Belmont after having swept the Kentucky Derby and Preakness. And like the five horses who came before him, Smarty generated a spike in television ratings and attendance; drew comparisons to past champions, like Secretariat, Seattle Slew and Affirmed; and created gratuitous buzz about the revival of a dying sport. From all the usual angles, at least, America was well acquainted with the likes of Smarty Jones.

There was, however, something undeniably different about the chestnut colt's rise to eminence: For five weeks last spring Smarty Jones not only became a bona fide superstar, but one everybody could agree on, as well. Yes, the Triple Crown had witnessed several recent close calls, but the television ratings for Smarty's Belmont last June were the highest in more than 20 years, and the raucous crowd of 120,139 he drew to the track broke the previous attendance record by more than 16,000. I was there, and when Smarty turned for home in the lead, I could feel the Belmont Park grandstand shaking beneath my feet. I don't ever expect to hear -- or feel -- a sound like that again.

Why did so many root so hard for Smarty Jones? There was his undefeated record, which impressed even the most uninterested fans. And his humble roots -- he made his home within the charmless and utilitarian confines of Philadelphia Park -- broadened his appeal. He also came along at the right time, after Seabiscuit (both the movie and the book) had reintroduced the public to the sport of thoroughbred racing. After Smarty won the Derby and became the first race horse in 21 years to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated, a luminous phenomenon was born, one that burned brighter, if only for a moment, than anyone in racing had seen in more than two decades. Outside of Olympic athletes, how many competitors ever unite so many people behind them in one cause? It's the sort of communal euphoria that, on a grander scale, made rooting for the U.S. hockey team so special in 1980.

Of course, injury and the economics of the thoroughbred industry forced Smarty Jones to retire before he ever ran again. Racing, in the meantime, has returned to relative obscurity. Smarty may not even be the best horse to race in America this year -- that honor will almost certainly go to Ghostzapper, who won the Breeders' Cup Classic in record time. But have you ever heard of Ghostzapper? I love racing, and I have no illusions about the sport ever being saved by a Triple Crown winner. It's a boutique pastime that gets its moment in the sun every spring. For that reason, horses like Ghostzapper, with the kind of speed that comes along once in a generation, deserve to be the true champions. But horses with the crossover appeal of Smarty Jones are rare, as well. That's why he's my Sportsman of the Year.

Sports Illustrated will announce the 2004 Sportsman of the Year winner on FOX on November 28. Check back every weekday until then to read more Sportsman picks from SI writers.