This is crazy, Birdstone jockey apologizes for winning Belmont

[ringmastery]

http://sports.yahoo.com/rah/news;_ylc=X3oDMTBpZTVxN2k3BF9TAzk2MDY4Mzc1BHNlYwN0bQ--?slug=ap-belmontstakes&prov=ap&type=lgns

Prado, aware the crowd desperately wanted Smarty Jones to win, was apologetic afterward.

``I'm very sorry, of course,'' he said, ``but I had to do my job, that's what I'm paid for. I'm very sorry that I had to win.''

[Fenris]

1. Fix your link.

[ringmastery]

6. I dunno how

everytime I enter it, it comes out like that. Copy and paste the entire link into your browser, it should work

[teach1st]

8. Working link

click here

[Corgigal]

2. I heard it also

and the owner, older lady with gray hair, had tears in her eyes saying she was sorry also.

Weird, eh.

[trumad]

3. He was just being a good guy

who knew that America wanted Smarty to win... He felt bad that America didn't get it's feel good story... That's all...

[RobinA]

10. Plus,

I think everybody involved thought a Triple Crown would be good for racing.

I found it refreshing.

[Dookus]

4. that's sorta sweet

and an acknowledgement of the obvious - the crowd was disappointed that Smarty lost.

I think it was classy to recognize that.

[EndElectoral]

5. He's a friend of the other jockey

I thought it was a class act thing to say. He knew what it meant to Elliott.

[Corgigal]

7. Smart thing to do actually

when Funny Cide was beat last year New Yorkers were throwing beer cans at the trainer of winner.

[trumad]

9. Actually I think it was Empire Maker

[liberalhistorian]

11. I'm sorry, but I agree,

that's just crazy! He won the damned race fair and square, he and the owners should be permitted to enjoy their tremendous victory without being made to feel guilty, sad and ashamed over something they have no reason to feel guilty, sad and ashamed over. That's ridiculous.

[SmileyBoy]

12. Exactly. I'm pissed that Smarty lost too, but...

That doesn't mean the guy can't enjoy HIS victory with HIS horse.

[Awsi Dooger]

13. Absolutely, don't apologize for exposing an overrated horse

I was shrieking at my TV when the wimpy procession of trainer, owner and jockey of Birdstone felt compelled to apologize for preserving the integrity of the Triple Crown. It was tremendous that eight gutsy competitors showed up to make Smarty earn his slot in history. That made for an extremely interesting tactical race, with waves of pressure on the front end that included a blazing 23 second quarter mile between 4 furlongs and 6 furlongs.

Smarty Jones admirably ran his heart out, but basically pitched a tent at the 8th pole, as his breeding virtually guaranteed and I forecast here several times. His final quarter mile was a hedgehog 27 seconds, disgraceful at that level. Birdstone did not do anything special down the stretch, a dawdling 26+ seconds for the final quarter.

In virtually any other year, Smarty Jones would have succumbed by 3+ lengths in the Belmont. This is a weak year and we will never hear anything from Birdstone again. An Empire Maker or especially a Point Given would have toyed with Smarty at a mile and a half.

Unlike the pretenders who keep sweeping the first two legs, Point Given was a special, Triple Crown caliber horse who inexplicably ran a wide and dull Derby in 2001. The next Triple Crown winner will be obvious by November of his 2 year old campaign, a freak show on dirt. That's what happened in the Super '70s. Apparently, most DUers are too young to remember and keep trying to squeeze greatness out of very good.

Most of all, Birdstone came through for the awesome Seattle Slew, preservng Slew's status as the only undefeated Triple Crown winner. I could not have taken decades of inane Slew/Smarty comparisons. I won plenty opposing Smarty today, but wish I could have isolated Birdstone. He fittingly won the Champagne Stakes last fall at Belmont, the race that launched Seattle Slew to prominence in 1976.

[trumad]

14. Thank you

It's refreshing to read from a knowledgeable Horse Racing Fan...

BTW: I cut my teeth in the sport as a young teenager who snuck into Hialeah Racetrack and watched the morning workouts... I saw all the greats...Spectacular Bid, SEATTLE SLEW, Secretariat who wintered at Hialeah before the Derby, Alydar, etc...

Look...Smarty was a nice little story but he certainly wasn't a top tier horse... I agree that Point Given was a much stronger horse with much stronger competition. His Belmont win at 2:26 2/5 was the 4th fastest ever, beating Affirmed and Seattle Slew's times for that race. The horse was clearly one of the best horses to come along since Spectacular Bid....

Yesterdays time was 2:27.50... That's a big margin in horse racing....

[Awsi Dooger]

15. I hit Hialeah in the afternoons -- watching Slew, Alydar and Bid

It was perfect timing for me, a terrific age of thoroughbred racing while I was in high school in Miami. I saw Slew break a track record at Hialeah, Ronnie Franklin park Bid behind a wall of horses at least three times in the Florida Derby at Gulfstream, and Alydar dominate enough to grab the Derby favorite's role from California-based Affirmed.

You might remember Luther Evans, who covered the 'Canes for the Herald for decades until they switched his beat to thoroughbred racing. I went to sleep every Sunday night listening to his talk show on WKAT 1360, usually about racing.

I'm extremely envious regarding the AM workouts, trumad. Visions of foggy mornings and oldtimers checking stopwatches. I never even thought about barging into those.

And I had forgotten Secretariat wintered in Florida. I don't think he raced there.

Nowadays, I kick back at terrific Saratoga late July/early August. Weather in the 70s and golf unfortunately higher.

[trumad]

16. I lived on 4th Ave just across the street for a while

and it was easy getting in in the morning.... Early Morning... And yes it was foggy most of the time... Hialeah Track was beautiful back then... It' a shame it went under... I also did valet parking for Hialeah, Gulfstream and Calder racetracks... I sold the Greensheet at Calder. I love Horse Racing and try to get down to South Florida from Orlando as much as possible to hit the track.

I am pleased that the movie Seabiscuit and Smarty Jones hit in the same year... Everyone who loves the sport wants to see it thrive and this year because of the movie and S. Jones, it has become popular again. GOOD!

My goal is to finally do the Derby next year. I've got relatives who live in Louisville and they have great connections to the Derby. I'm going...

[Awsi Dooger]

17. We lived not far from the old Tropical Park racetrack

Bird Road and the Palmetto. It closed as a racetrack in the early '70s while I was in elementary school. I still remember getting free tickets from Publix, listing horse numbers that you hoped matched the winners on the weekly Publix TV show, showing actual races from Tropical.

Hialeah's demise is a national tragedy, at least on the level of sporting venues. We used to go there in the offseason on Sundays, viewing the remarkable grounds and having a buffet brunch. Nothing I have seen -- Santa Anita, Saratoga, Del Mar, etc. -- compares to Hialeah in its heyday.

The Derby and the Masters are atop my must-do list. One summer I went to Louisville and saw Churchill Downs and visited the Kentucky Derby Museum, but the track was not in session.

[trumad]

18. Ahhh good old Bird Road and the Palmetto

I try very hard to stay from that section of town when I'm down there... WHY? Because of the traffic... That stretch of the Palmetto from Hialeah to South Miami is some of the worst traffic on the planet. LOL

I remember when Tropical Park was kicking... It closed right around the time Calder opened and now Calder has the Tropical racing dates... I love driving Bird road through Coral Gables.... Miracle Mile still has the charm and if you drive a bit further past the mile you can have a Cuban Sandwich at the famous Latin America restaurant. I love it down there but I'm glad I live up here... Too many Fffing people down there....

BTW: I was born in North Shore Hospital in 1957.. I am a rare Florida Cracker.

[Awsi Dooger]

19. I was born in Coral Gables, Doctor's Hospital

Just a few years later.

Agreed, that drive though the Gables is majestic, with all the tree cover, impressive older homes and the Spanish street names on those stone markers at street level. My dad grew up in Coral Gables and always insists on touring the Biltmore Hotel and playing its classic Donald Ross golf course when I'm in town.

Nothing wrong with that stretch of the Palmetto, at about 4 AM. Otherwise, I allow close to an hour just for the drive, when I'm heading to Miami International. In the '70s it took us about 15 minutes to get to the Orange Bowl, especially on Friday nights when the Canes played.

[trumad]

20. Don Shula Expressway...

I was an original member of the McCarther Dairy Huddle Club during the Phins glory days.... Season tickets for members of that club (Kids only) were only 15 bucks. Endzone seats about 20 rows up...

[BBradley]

21. Notice how he said that HE won. Just an observation.