Horsephotos

Birdstone (outside) passes the heavily favored Smarty Jones near the shadow of the wire.

On Sunday morning, when Smarty Jones was put on a van for his ride back to Philadelphia Park, light rain fell and clouds lingered over Belmont Park. A significantly smaller crowd was there to bid him adieu. "Where's the police escort?" his trainer, John Servis, joked.

The melancholy scene was appropriate for a Triple Crown whose final act went from ecstasy to agony in the space of 27 seconds. Smarty Jones turned into the stretch of the Belmont Stakes with a quarter-mile remaining and a 3 1/2-length lead. The record crowd of 120,139 roared, and the Belmont grandstand shook. But when Birdstone caught Smarty Jones in the final yards, the place went silent.

For the third straight year, sixth time in the last eight years, and 10th time since Affirmed last swept the Triple Crown in 1978, a Derby and Preakness winner could not complete his mission in the Belmont. For Smarty Jones, it was also the first time he had ever lost a race, after eight previous victories.

"This is a tough race, it really is," Servis said Sunday morning. "I'm disappointed we didn't get it done, but I'm glad it's over, and I'm proud of what we did."

Later, Servis added, "We've had a hell of a year, and we're not done."

Smarty Jones is scheduled to race again this fall, with his main objective the Breeders' Cup Classic at Lone Star Park on Oct. 30. Before then, however, Smarty Jones will get a well-deserved rest. He had three preps at Oaklawn Park prior to the Kentucky Derby, then was the only 3-year-old to run in all three Triple Crown races. And not until the final quarter-mile of the Belmont did it all catch up to him.

"He's going to get three or four weeks off. Let him rest up," Servis said. Servis said Smarty Jones would be hand-walked at his Philadelphia Park barn for several days, then would be walked under tack for three or four weeks. He said Smarty Jones would not go back to the track to train until then.

Given that timetable, a race like Monmouth's Haskell Invitational on Aug. 8 will come up too quickly, as could the Travers Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 28. The most likely comeback race for Smarty Jones could be the Pennsylvania Derby at Philadelphia Park on Labor Day, Sept. 6. Pat Chapman, who owns Smarty Jones with her husband, Roy, has said she would like to see Smarty Jones race at his home track.

Regardless of when Smarty Jones comes back, Servis said he would probably have a second prep before the Breeders' Cup. "It's going to have to be a race against older horses," he said.

After that, a potential stud syndication might preclude Smarty Jones from racing at 4. Much of that figures to be determined in the next week, during which time the Chapmans are scheduled to visit several Kentucky breeding farms desirous of being the home of Smarty Jones when he is through racing.

On Saturday, the Chapmans and Servis are scheduled to be at Churchill Downs when they are presented with the engraved Kentucky Derby trophy.

Everyone connected with Smarty Jones displayed uncommon grace both when winning and losing. In the immediate aftermath of what had to be a crushing defeat, Servis sought out Nick Zito, the trainer of Birdstone, and congratulated him.

"I said, 'John, I'm really sorry,'" Zito said. "He said, 'What do you mean? You did a great job.' "

Servis refused to put any blame on jockey Stewart Elliott for the loss. He said Smarty Jones was simply too eager the first part of the race and was compromised when Eddington, ridden by Jerry Bailey, and Rock Hard Ten, with Alex Solis, turned up the pressure soon after turning into the backstretch.

"Stew didn't take the bait. If anything, Smarty took the bait," Servis said. "You hate to lose, but to lose like that, he ran an exceptional race. When you have a horse going for the Triple Crown, you've got a bullseye. Those guys had nothing to lose. If my horse had settled, he could have gotten the mile and a half. He didn't settle, and he got beat a length. If my horse had settled, we've had had a Triple Crown winner. That's the hard part. In my heart, he was the best horse.

"Since January, everything has gone absolutely right. This one didn't."

"You know how much fun we've had with this horse? That's why we're not hanging our heads," Bill Foster, the barn foreman, said as dusk fell outside Barn 5 Saturday night.

"We tried. We gave it our best," said Pete Van Trump, Smarty Jones's exercise rider.

For Zito, the Belmont victory was his first after finishing second in the race five times. He called it the biggest victory of his career, surpassing those of his two Kentucky Derby wins, "because of the magnitude and everything that took place."

Zito had finished second in the Belmont five times previously. He had already won the Derby and Preakness. Not winning a Belmont gnawed at him.

"He had to win this one I think for himself to finally put his mind at ease," said Zito's wife, Kim. "This was always the albatross around his neck."

Much was made this spring of Smarty Jones's average size, but he was beaten by the smallest horse in the race. Birdstone might not even weigh 900 pounds. "I don't even want to weigh him," Zito said.

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Birdstone received a Beyer Speed Figure of 101 for the Belmont, the highest of his career. Smarty Jones had run faster than that in his four previous races, ranging from a 107 in the Kentucky Derby and Arkansas Derby to a 118 in the Preakness.

Birdstone had been training at Saratoga for much of the two weeks preceding the Belmont, and he returned there on Monday. His owner, Marylou Whitney, lives there with her husband, John Henderickson. Whitney is the social queen of the Saratoga race season, and would like nothing more than to win the Travers Stakes.

"I know one race in Saratoga we're going to run in," Zito said. "Yeah, the Travers. I know that."

As for a prep, perhaps the Jim Dandy Stakes on Aug. 8. Or maybe one day earlier, against older horses.

"Maybe the Whitney," Zito said. "Who knows?"

- additional reportingby David Grening

The final Nielsen rating for the Belmont broadcast, an 11.3 with a 26 share, was the highest-rated program for the week ended Sunday, and higher than the ratings for this year's NCAA Championship game between Georgia Tech and the University of Connecticut, the first game of this year's NBA Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Detroit Pistons, and the final round of the Masters golf tournament, according to NBC.

The rating measures the number of homes tuned in to the broadcast, with each rating point equal to approximately 1 million households. According to NBC research, 33 million people watched the broadcast. Share measures the percentage of households with television sets turned on that were tuned into the broadcast, meaning one in four households with a television on at the time of the Belmont were tuned to the broadcast.

Ratings for the Belmont Stakes have shot up markedly since 2000, the final year that the Belmont and the other Triple Crown races were broadcast on ABC. The 2000 Belmont had a final rating of 2.8 with a 9 share, the lowest in history, but the figures have soared every year since.

In 2001, the rating was a 4.5 with a 13 share, up 61 percent compared to the historical low. In 2002, when War Emblem started a string of three ultimately unsuccessful attempts to win the Triple Crown, the rating increased 69 percent to a 7.6 with a 21 share.

The 2003 figures increased again, as Funny Cide captured the country's imagination, rising 25 percent to a 9.5 rating and a 23 share. This year's final rating is a 19 percent gain over the 2003 figure.

NBC purchased the rights to the Triple Crown in 2000 in a five-year deal reportedly worth $55 million, outbidding ABC by at least $10 million. At the time, many television executives criticized the deal as too costly, considering that racing was struggling to maintain its popularity.

This year's Belmont rating was the highest since 1981, NBC said. That year, when Pleasant Colony attempted to win the Triple Crown, the rating was a 12.6 with a 36 share.

Saturday, with 120,139 on hand, and another several million watching on television and at tracks across the country, Prado and his pocket-sized colt Birdstone entered the Belmont Park homestretch with only one horse in front of him: Triple Crown hopeful Smarty Jones.

But while the largest crowd ever to witness a sporting event in New York pleaded with Smarty Jones and his rider, Stewart Elliott, to keep going, Prado had a job to do. He persevered on Birdstone, finally getting past a tiring Smarty Jones in the final 70 yards to win the 136th Belmont by one length at odds of 36-1. It left an entire fan base in shock and left Prado with mixed emotions.

"I'm happy and sad at the same time," said Prado, who apologized to Elliott for denying him the Triple Crown. "I just went out and did what I had to do."

Moments after he crossed the finish line, Prado tried to give Stewart a high-five. But, Stewart, perhaps still in shock, did not reciprocate. Prado said one of the reasons he was apologetic after the race was that he has a friendship with Elliott that goes back to 1988, when the two rode together at Suffolk Downs.

"He's a great guy, good person, good rider," Prado said of Elliott. "Who could be better to win a Triple Crown?"

Prado and Birdstone fell into an absolutely perfect trip. John Velazquez couldn't hold Purge, who burned himself out on the front end after his connections had hoped to rate him. Alex Solis, on Rock Hard Ten, and Jerry Bailey, on Eddington, were intent on not letting Smarty Jones get an easy lead.

Prado had Birdstone in fifth position down the backside, and he gradually inched closer as the others faded. By the five-sixteenths pole, Prado had Birdstone into second and knew he had a chance.

"I was biding my time," Prado said. "I was just where I wanted to be; it was perfect for me. When [Smarty Jones] didn't open up on the turn, and I started slowly coming up to him, I knew I had a good chance to win the race."

Prado was quietly confident in Birdstone. He had ridden Birdstone to a 12-length victory in his debut at Saratoga and again in the Kentucky Derby. Though Birdstone finished eighth in the Derby, 15 1/4 lengths behind Smarty Jones, Prado accentuated the positive. Birdstone, light on fitness after a soft pre-Derby campaign, was last after the first eighth of a mile in the Derby, but made a mild run from the five-furlong pole to the quarter pole.

"I was very happy with the way he ran in the Derby; I was one of the few that was running at the end," Prado said. "Considering the way my horse ran the first quarter of a mile in the Derby, he did it like a man; he took every single punch and still ran hard."

Prado has a week to savor his Belmont victory. On Sunday, he began serving a seven-day suspension for a careless riding infraction he incurred May 30.

Though Prado has stopped two Triple Crown bids the last three years, he would someday like to be in the position that Elliott was in on Saturday.

"I'd prefer to be the one being chased than chasing someone," he said.

Several business records were set on Belmont Stakes Day, an indicator of Smarty Jones's high popularity. His appearance in the Belmont drove handle and attendance figures to records, enriched his jockey with the most lucrative advertising deal that any rider has ever signed, resulted in the best television ratings for the Belmont since the 1970's, and spurred on the most frenetic run on Thoroughbred racing merchandise in history.

Smarty Jones was, in one word, boffo.

Under cloudy skies that threatened rain, attendance at Belmont on Saturday was a record 120,139, driven in part by thousands of Philadelphians who made the trip from Smarty Jones's home city. The previous Belmont record was 103,222, set in 2002 under nearly perfect weather conditions.

Handle on the Belmont Stakes was a record $63,671,706, beating the 2002 mark of $54,503,406 by a wide margin. Thousands of people at Belmont and across the country made token $2 win bets on Smarty Jones to keep as souvenirs or offer for sale on auction sites. Smarty Jones's .35-1 odds were the lowest price in the Belmont since Spectacular Bid went off at .30-1 in 1979.

The evidence that souvenir money dominated the win pool can be found in the place and show prices on Smarty Jones. Bettors who wagered on Smarty Jones to place received $3.30, a higher return than the $2.70 he would have paid to win. The show price was $2.60.

According to officials at the New York Racing Association, the amount of money bet on Smarty Jones was the most money bet on a horse in Thoroughbred racing history. Though NYRA officials were unable to break out on Monday how much exactly was wagered on Smarty Jones in the $23,355,741 win-place-show pool, they said that the sum was nearly $15 million.

All-sources handle on Belmont's 13-race card on Saturday was an all-time record for the track as well. The figure, $114,887,594, was an 11.3 percent increase over the previous record, set in 2001 for the Breeders' Cup card. The previous Belmont Stakes card record of $95,443,037 was set in 2002.

Overnight ratings and share figures, both nationally and in selected markets, were up substantially for NBC-TV's 105-minute broadcast. The 13.4 national overnight rating was a 29 percent gain over 2003, when Funny Cide was the darling of the Triple Crown, and 66.3 percent higher than this year's Derby rating. The 27 share meant that one in four people watching television at the time of the broadcast were watching NBC's Belmont telecast.

During the race segment of the broadcast, from 6:15 to 7:15 p.m., the overnight rating was 15.6 with a 31 share. The race-segment rating was a 32 percent gain over last year's race segment.

In Smarty Jones's home base of Philadelphia, the rating was a 28.1 with a 46 share. In Louisville, home of the Kentucky Derby, the rating was a 24.3 with a 47 share. In New York, the rating was a 20.7 with a 37 share.

At stands throughout Belmont's jam-packed and beer-soaked grandstand on Saturday, hats and T-shirts bearing Smarty Jones's name were sold out by 9 a.m., according to the staff at the booths. The gates at Belmont opened at 8:30 a.m.

Keith Chamblin, the vice president of marketing for the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, said on Monday that the NTRA has sold $450,000 worth of Smarty Jones merchandise so far through the association's licensing deal with the owners of the colt, Roy and Patricia Chapman. The numbers are larger than the totals for all other horse merchandise sold through the NTRA since the association was founded in 1997, Chamblin said, and has outsold Seabiscuit merchandise by a 2-1 margin.

The opportunities filtered down to Stewart Elliott, Smarty Jones's jockey, as well. Just before the Belmont, Elliott signed a $250,000 deal with the directory-assistance company Infone to wear advertising for the company during the Belmont Stakes, according to the broker of the deal, Terri Marconi-Kirkland of Symbolic Marketing Group. The deal was the most lucrative that any jockey has ever signed to advertise for a company, by far. The most any jockey had ever received in a one-race advertising deal prior to the Infone agreement is believed to be $30,000.

The unprecedented level of attention on Smarty Jones was the result of several factors, including his perfect record going into the Belmont, the everyman image of his connections, and the momentum built up over the past eight years in the pursuit of the Triple Crown. But in light of Smarty Jones's defeat, which in one section of the grandstand on Saturday was greeted with a cacophony of boos and dozens of beers tossed at television screens in disgust, questions will remain on whether the Smarty Jones phenomenon has legs.

The Chapmans' son, Michael Chapman, who negotiated the licensing deals for Smarty Jones, said on Monday that several large corporations are still expressing interest in using Smarty Jones's image for advertising campaigns. Still, it is likely that nothing will match the pre-Belmont excitement.

"There was a bidding war going on up until 3 [p.m.] on Saturday," Chapman said. "I finally said, 'Guys, I'm turning the phone off. If you want to get ahold of me, e-mail me and we'll talk about it after the Belmont.' It was getting out of control."

Horsephotos

Birdstone, with Edgar Prado riding, posts a $74 upset in the Belmont Stakes, giving his trainer, Nick Zito, his first Belmont victory.

A hush immediately fell over a mammoth crowd that filled every nook and cranny of spacious Belmont Park, hoping to see the first Triple Crown winner since 1978. The loss was the first suffered by Smarty Jones after eight straight victories.

For Zito, the Belmont was an overdue and long-sought accomplishment for the native New Yorker. Zito had finished second in the Belmont five times previously.

This spring, however, Zito saw his best 3-year-olds suffer injuries and setbacks that prevented them from shining in earlier Triple Crown races. Eurosilver was removed from his care earlier this spring, and The Cliff's Edge missed the Preakness Stakes and Belmont after finishing fifth in the Kentucky Derby.

Birdstone, who had finished eighth in the Derby, was freshened for the Belmont, the same strategy trainer Bobby Frankel used last year when Empire Maker ended the Triple Crown quest of Funny Cide.

Smarty Jones took the lead after turning into the backstretch and turned back aggressive bids from both Eddington and Rock Hard Ten. But after drawing clear at the top of the stretch, he ran out of steam and was caught by Birdstone, who got up to win by one length under jockey Edgar Prado. Smarty Jones finished eighth lengths clear of third-place Royal Assault, who also is trained by Zito.

Birdstone's biggest previous victory came here in last fall's Champagne Stakes. Birdstone, a son of Grindstone, was bred and is owned by Marylou Whitney.

Birdstone ($74) completed 1 1/2 miles on a fast main track in 2:27.50. Smarty Jones had passed the mile mark in 1:35.44 and completed 1 1/4 miles in 2:00.52, meaning Smarty Jones needed just under 27 seconds to complete the final quarter-mile under jockey Stewart Elliott.

His trainer, John Servis, said he believed Smarty Jones did not settle as well as he had in previous races, and that ultimately cost him.

"We had a shot to make great history here, but we've had a great year," Servis said.

Had Smarty Jones won, his owners, Roy and Pat Chapman, would have earned a $5 million bonus from Visa for sweeping the Triple Crown.

Smarty Jones was attempting to join a list that includes Sir Barton, Gallant Fox, Omaha, War Admiral, Whirlaway, Count Fleet, Assault, Citation, Secretariat, Seattle Slew, and Affirmed.

Elliott had a brief scare early in the day. His lone mount before the Belmont came in the third race, aboard Desert Patrol. As the field raced around the far turn, favored Grace Course broke down, with Desert Patrol right behind him. Elliott reacted quickly, taking Desert Patrol well past the middle of the track to avoid Grace Course, who was pulled up by jockey Jerry Bailey.

"I was far enough behind that horse that I was able to get out of the way, and Jerry did a good job keeping [him] up," Elliott said.

Eleven horses had swept the Triple Crown before Smarty Jones made his attempt, but none since Affirmed in 1978. That drought is the longest in Triple Crown history. In the 25 previous years, nine horses - Spectacular Bid, Pleasant Colony, Alysheba, Sunday Silence, Silver Charm, Real Quiet, Charismatic, War Emblem, and Funny Cide - had won the Derby and Preakness, but had failed to complete the sweep in the Belmont.

Smarty Jones was the sixth horse in the last eight years to head into the Belmont with a chance to capture the Triple Crown.

His story resonated with both hard-core racing fans and general sports enthusiasts, making this Belmont the most anticipated in years, and the most watched in history. A record crowd was expected for the Belmont, eclipsing the record 103,222 set in 2002.

Smarty Jones was sent off at 1-5, making him the shortest-priced Belmont favorite since Spectacular Bid (.30-to-1) in 1979.

Smarty Jones came into the Belmont having won all eight of his starts. After winning his first two races in November at Philadelphia Park, Smarty Jones won Aqueduct's Count Fleet Stakes on Jan. 3. Following that, Servis took Smarty Jones to Arkansas, for Oaklawn Park's series of Derby prep races for 3-year-olds.

He was perfect there. Smarty Jones captured the Southwest Stakes and the Rebel Stakes, and then the Arkansas Derby.

This year's crop of 3-year-olds had been considered one of the most inscrutable in years, which resulted in this year's Kentucky Derby drawing an overflow field. Twenty-two were entered but two - Eddington and Rock Hard Ten - were excluded because of insufficient earnings in graded stakes. Two more ended up being scratched, leaving a field of 18.

Smarty Jones was sent off the 4-1 favorite, and splashed to a 2 3/4-length victory on a sloppy track. That win, combined with his earlier scores in the Rebel Stakes and Arkansas Derby, brought a $5 million bonus from Oaklawn Park.

The next stop was Pimlico, where Smarty Jones turned in the best race of his life in the Preakness on May 15. In an overpowering, dominating performance, he won by 11 1/2 lengths, the largest margin in Preakness history, setting the stage for Saturday's Belmont.

"I wish I could do that today," Servis said on Saturday morning, nine hours before the 136th Belmont Stakes was scheduled to be run.

Servis was keyed up and feeling the pressure. But he had no one to blame but himself. For two solid months - through increasingly fantastic adventures in Arkansas, Kentucky, and Maryland - Servis had performed the ultimate tightrope act. By day, he was hands-on training the horse who would capture America. By night - or afternoon, at least - he had taken on the role of product spokesman, putting a fresh spotlight on the Thoroughbred racing game.

By the morning of the Belmont, Servis was feeling the weight of that game on his thick, strong shoulders. Family, friends and millions of total strangers were suddenly counting on the outcome of a single horse race.

"I just don't want people to be disappointed," the trainer said.

The only consolation was the horse. The horse was doing fine. Better than fine. For comfort, all Servis needed to do was peek into the stall, where Smarty Jones would be dozing in his ice boots, or sprawled out in the straw, oblivious to the fuss he had created.

It was hard to make a case for his defeat, except for the overwhelming evidence provided by the Triple Crown heartbreaks that littered the racing landscape since Affirmed last won in 1978.

How could Smarty Jones fight all that dark history, and which disappointment would his most closely resemble? Pleasant Colony was wrung out and half the horse he was in the Derby and Preakness by the time he got to the Belmont. Sunday Silence, Silver Charm, and Real Quiet finally succumbed to horses who had been nipping at their heels. War Emblem forgot to break. Funny Cide ran off on a tough track. Charismatic gave up a leg in pursuit of the impossible. Spectacular Bid was ridden into shocking submission.

Jack Van Berg still has nightmares about Alysheba's Belmont Stakes. The race was his to lose in 1987 when Van Berg's athletic bay colt took the track under perfect conditions, with only a mile and a half between Alysheba and the Triple Crown. As far as Van Berg was concerned, Alysheba was ready to run the race of his life.

"I wanted him on the lead," Van Berg said recently. "I knew he could gallop faster than most of those horses could run. He broke on top . . . then Chris took him back."

There is a lingering sadness in Big Jack's voice, even though 17 years have passed since Alysheba's Belmont. Chris McCarron is the first to concede that the ride that day did not represent a shining moment in his otherwise brilliant Hall of Fame career, and the family party in the McCarron suite at the Garden City Hotel after the race was definitely grim.

Time heals, eventually, and sometimes small moments rise to replace bad memories. It happened this spring when Van Berg looked up to see a former stable hand named Bill Foster at the side of Smarty Jones, identified as the John Servis stable foreman. Van Berg and Foster connected. Foster passed on Van Berg's congratulations to Servis. And in the following weeks Servis called Jack several times to talk Triple Crown.

"I didn't offer him any advice," Van Berg said the week before the Belmont. "How could I? He's done everything right by his horse. We talked about giving him a work between the Derby and the Preakness. I didn't work Alysheba. Didn't need to. Then I gave him one easy work between the Preakness and the Belmont, just like John's done with his colt. I don't see how they can beat him. But then, I didn't think Alysheba could get beat."

There's always that. They all get beat. Bobby Frankel thought he was training a Triple Crown winner in 2003, then Empire Maker's foot betrayed him before the Derby. Frankel had to settle for winning the Belmont and defeating Funny Cide.

"Smarty Jones is a good horse, maybe a great horse," Frankel said as this year's Belmont neared. "But I don't see how he can keep running this fast all the time. He's got to regress sooner or later. The only thing is, he could regress and still win; he's been that much better than the rest."

To the everlasting disappointment of the more than 100,000 in the house last Saturday - not to mention the millions of newly minted racing fans nationwide - Smarty Jones proved himself to be human, or at least mortal. By finishing second to Birdstone at the end of 1 1/2 miles, the little red colt went down fighting, but once again the Triple Crown was too much to ask.

They can never take away his Derby and his Preakness, though, and the goodwill spread by Smarty Jones could last. John Servis and his crew have a right to be proud, even though the big one got away.

Horsephotos

Smarty-mania attracted what was expected to be a record crowd at Saturday's Belmont, including many Philadelphians who made the trip to support their local hero.

Phillies hats. Donovan McNabb jerseys. Tastykakes. And, of course, an unshakable confidence in Smarty Jones, the Philadelphia

Park-based horse who has captured the imagination of a large number of fans across the country.

"To tell you the truth, this was really a spur- of-the-moment thing," said Scott Howell, a 32-year-old Philadelphian who was visiting a Thoroughbred racetrack for the first time Saturday, while lounging by the paddock with a 16-ounce beer and his friend, Steve Rush. "We decided to come at 1 this morning. We figured if Smarty Jones wins it, we've got to be here.

"Plus, there's lots of pretty girls here," said Rush. "Lots."

The Philadelphians who came to Belmont Park were certainly a large contributor to what was expected to be a record crowd for this year's Belmont Stakes. By noon, every square-inch of grass in Belmont's spacious backyard had been staked out. Sometimes inebriated patrons stumbled frequently between coolers filled with canned domestic beer and plastic bags crammed with every comfort food imaginable.

On the grandstand apron, where trashcans were already overflowing with empty beer cans at 12:15 p.m., four women from Philadelphia sat against the grandstand wall on a blanket or on collapsible chairs, eating fried chicken, handing out Tastykakes, and proudly displaying homemade silk-screened T-shirts with a head-on photo of Smarty Jones winning the Preakness Stakes.

"This is Philadelphia's horse," said Michele Arias, 32. "We understand an underdog."

All four women said they were racing fans, and one, Kelly McGuire, was nose-deep in a Racing Form. Anne Cecil, 41, made the shirts - late Friday, at 1 in the morning, apparently one of the most productive hours for Philadelphians.

Though the women said they have frequently visited racetracks, including Saratoga, Arias said the Belmont Stakes this year was a unique experience.

"It's just a totally different feel," Arias said. "It has such an impact. With a baseball game, you sometimes wait forever for something to happen. But this one race, I'm just waiting for this one race, and I'll be honest, I'll probably get all choked up just thinking about it."

"It's something different every half-hour," Cecil said. "We're sports fans, we listen to sports radio, we go to a lot of events, but this is something new. And it's just great people-watching."

In the great democracy that is the racetrack, there were others who fit an entirely different mold. Adrienne Boyd, a 60-year-old retired token-booth clerk who used to work at the Aqueduct station, said she had never been to Belmont until Saturday. Smarty Jones was a factor, she said, but she was also caught up in the hype that has surrounded the event.

"I like to do all kinds of new things," Boyd said. "I came out here today to try my luck." She said her handicapping system consisted of picking names.

"When I was at Aqueduct, we used to go downstairs and bet all the time," Boyd said. "I won the very first bet I made. I'm serious. I won fifty cents! I was screaming so much that everyone thought I was the big winner. Fifty cents. It was fifty cents."

Celebrities turn out for Smarty

Plenty of celebrities were caught up in Smarty Jones fever, according to the New York Racing Association. The presence of celebrities at the Belmont Stakes has been increasing in recent years, largely because six of the last eight Belmonts have featured potential Triple Crown winners.

The Belmont attracted actors Bill Murray, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Joe Pesci. Television journalists Diane Sawyer, Charlie Rose, and Stone Phillips, and singer Roberta Flack also made arrangements through NYRA's customer service office to attend the race.

New York politicians were out in force, including former New York City Mayor Rudy Guiliani and his successor, Michael Bloomberg, and Gov. George Pataki. Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell came to Belmont to root for the state's pride and joy, Smarty Jones.

Porcelli and crew work overtime

Nobody was tuned into the Weather Channel more the last 24 hours before the Belmont Stakes than track superintendent Jerry Porcelli. Porcelli and his crew did all they could to provide a safe surface for Saturday's Belmont Stakes card.

Following the races Friday, the main track was sealed and rolled, with the hopes that any rain that fell overnight would simply roll off the sealed surface. No rain fell over night. At 4 a.m., Porcelli was told by meteorologists that only one-tenth of an inch of rain was expected by 9 a.m., so he opened the main track for training as scheduled at 5 a.m.

Porcelli put orange traffic cones up, referred to as dogs, and kept the first 30 feet from the rail sealed, while harrowing the outer part. Thus, all horses who trained Saturday did so in the middle of the track. When it appeared rain would move in by 8 a.m., Porcelli ordered the track closed at 7:30 - 45 minutes before it was scheduled to close - and the track was sealed and rolled again. Only a few drops of rain fell during the morning hours.

Since no significant rain fell by first post, Porcelli had the maintenance crew harrow the track, though "not as deeply as we normally would, to try to keep some of the bottom compacted if we do get some heavy rain later," Porcelli said.

Porcelli said only a half-inch of rain was expected, unlike last year on Belmont Day, when about an inch fell beginning around 1 p.m.

"This is similar to what happened last year," Porcelli said. "By the third race, it started to rain pretty good, and we just started sealing it with the floats. We ended up with an inch of rain last year. Although the Belmont was pretty sloppy, I thought the surface was pretty good for the whole day. We didn't get any complaints."

- The pools for Belmont Park's two $1 million guaranteed bets Saturday easily exceeded the guarantees. The pick six pool was $1,487,744, and the pick four had a pool of $1,739,609. All the races in both bets were graded stakes races. The pick four had a $1 minimum bet, and the pick six had a $2 minimum. It was the first time a racetrack has held two $1 million-guaranteed bets on the same card.

- additional reporting by David Grening and Karen M. Johnson

Smarty Jones heads into Saturday's 136th Belmont Stakes having won all eight of his starts, including the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. He is now trying to go where no horse has gone in 26 years, since Affirmed became the 11th and last Triple Crown winner in 1978.

In the past few weeks, Smarty Jones has become a national phenomenon. Interest in this Belmont is at a fever pitch. Belmont Park officials are expecting a record crowd, well above the 103,222 who attended in 2002. A record 1,400 Belmont Stakes media credentials have been issued, eclipsing the 1,200 issued last year, according to Glen Mathes, the New York Racing Association's director of communications.

Smarty Jones got a sneak preview of the excitement early Thursday morning. En route to the main track to gallop and get his first feel of Belmont's main track, Smarty Jones encountered a phalanx of photographers lined across the path leading to the track like the front line of Pickett's Charge in the battle of Gettysburg. After they finally yielded to Smarty Jones and exercise rider Pete Van Trump, Servis - who was alongside Smarty Jones while on the pony Butterscotch - looked over and said sarcastically, "That's all right. He don't kick too hard."

The atmosphere figures to be festive on Saturday, though there is a chance of rain showers during the day, according to the National Weather Service. The high temperature is expected to be 68 degrees. With Smarty Jones expected to be bet in the vicinity of his morning-line price of 2-5, it can be safely said that just about everyone at the track, and watching the race on television, will be pulling for him. If Smarty Jones wins, he will set off a raucous celebration at Belmont Park. If he loses, a deflating hush will fall over the most disappointed crowd this side of an Eagles football game.

This race is not a walkover. Five times in the previous seven years, and nine times since 1978, a horse saw his Triple Crown bid end in the Belmont. And though Smarty Jones has won the Derby and Preakness by a combined 14 1/4 lengths, eight rivals, with various degrees of credentials, are entered against him.

But if Smarty Jones can pull it off, he will become the 12th Triple Crown winner, and owners Pat and Roy Chapman would earn a $5 million bonus from Visa, which sponsors the Triple Crown. Combined with the first prize money of $600,000 from the Belmont purse of $1 million, Smarty Jones would have a bankroll of $13,013,155, a North American record.

The Belmont is the 11th race on a 13-race card that begins at noon Eastern time. Post time for the Belmont is 6:38 p.m. It will be televised live by NBC Sports, beginning at 5:30.

The Belmont is the longest and most demanding of the Triple Crown races. It encompasses one lap of Belmont Park's mammoth, 1 1/2-mile main track. Smarty Jones is on the outside, in post 9. All eyes will be on him.

"Let's face it, there's a bulls-eye on our back," Servis said. "Other trainers could give off-the-wall instructions, because they've got nothing to lose. This is going to be an important race for Stew. Stewart has to shine. There's going to be horses making premature moves. He has to ride his race."

Elliott has little experience at Belmont Park. He has ridden in just 15 races at this track since 1997, and owns one victory. This will be his first mount in the Belmont Stakes, and he has no mounts on Saturday's card before the Belmont. There is plenty of pressure, but Servis thinks Elliott can handle it.

"We do a lot of trophy-hunting," Servis said. "When you do that, you have to pass on a lot of animals. You've got to be pretty patient, you've got to be cool. I've seen Stew get some big trophies and not show any emotion. He's a cool guy."

The pace does not figure to be quick. Both Purge and Smarty Jones, who have the most natural speed, have learned to stalk and then pounce. But one of them figures to inherit the lead.

"It looks like we could very well be in front, which is fine," Elliott said.

Servis said his biggest fears are Purge and Rock Hard Ten. Purge was defeated by Smarty Jones twice earlier this year in the Rebel Stakes and Arkansas Derby, races in which he set the pace. But in the Peter Pan Stakes two weeks ago, Purge rated just off the lead.

"Since then he's learned to do what makes my horse what he is today," Servis said. "I'm sure he's not the same horse I ran against in Arkansas."

Rock Hard Ten finished second in the Preakness, 11 1/2 lengths behind Smarty Jones, but there is reason to believe he will improve significantly in the Belmont. The Preakness was only his fourth lifetime start, his first race in six weeks, and he was forced to race wide on both turns. Plus, the extra distance of the Belmont Stakes should suit this large, powerful colt.

"I don't know if the layout of Belmont Park will give him much of an advantage, because he can handle mile tracks like Santa Anita," said Jason Orman, who trains Rock Hard Ten. "The only advantage would be if it's a disadvantage to the others. We have to hope our horse improves a bit, and [Smarty Jones] regresses a bit. Our horse is a big, long-striding, galloping kind of horse. We hope we can make up ground on him. Hopefully we can stalk Smarty Jones and our stamina will carry us through the last part."

Orman said Rock Hard Ten's most recent work this week "was the best I've seen him work." The colt had trained sharply at Santa Anita, and then especially so at Churchill Downs. Rock Hard Ten was entered in the Derby, but when the race drew more than 20 entries, he was excluded because of insufficient earnings in graded stakes races.

"We had to train around the Derby," Orman said. "If we knew we weren't going to get in the Derby, we probably would have run in the Derby Trial to give him another race. He only had three races going into the Preakness. What he's done has been pretty incredible so far. And it's been easier to make up a schedule going into this race.

Orman said he envisions Rock Hard Ten staying right off of Smarty Jones.

"I don't want to be too far off him," Orman said. "That horse is so tactical."

And, so far, Smarty Jones has been unbeatable. His victory margins have ranged from three-quarters of a length in the Southwest Stakes on Feb. 28, to 15 lengths in the Pennsylvania Nursery Stakes Nov. 22. Eight starts, eight wins.

Can he do it again?

"I don't care if he wins by a nose," Servis said. "As long as he wins."