Smarty Jones will shuttle to Uruguay

Smarty Jones, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner and champion 3-year-old male of 2004, will shuttle to Uruguay this year for stallion work.

Smarty Jones, sire of Risen Star Stakes favorite Rogue Romance, relocated from Kentucky’s Three Chimneys Farm to Ghost Ridge Farms in his native Pennsylvania last August. Owner Pat Chapman previously has said she did not want Smarty Jones, a 10-year-old Elusive Quality horse, to leave the United States.

Chapman did not immediately return calls seeking comment Thursday.

The Uruguayan newspaper El Pais reported Wednesday that agent Ricardo Colombo had brokered a lease that will see Smarty Jones stand at Haras Cuatro Piedras during the Southern Hemisphere season. According to El Pais, he will cover mares from Cuatro Piedras, Haras Nahuel, and Haras la Virginia before returning to Pennsylvania.

Smarty Jones currently ranks 18th on the North American general sire list. His best U.S. runners to date include Grade 3 winner Rogue Romance, Grade 2 winner Backtalk, and Grade 1-placed runners Gilded Gem and Be Smart.

Smarty Jones entered stud at Three Chimneys after Pat Chapman and her late husband Roy struck a syndication deal worth $39 million that also made them the majority shareholders. Under the terms of that agreement, the dual classic winner was limited to a book of 110 mares and could not shuttle to the Southern Hemisphere.