Ky. Derby prep: Smarty Jones offers points at a longer distance

Hot Springs, Ark.

It’s been 20 years since Smarty Jones put Oaklawn back on the national racing map with his wins in the Southwest, Rebel and Arkansas Derby before nearly capturing the Triple Crown with victories in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. Fittingly, the Hot Springs track will kick off its rich series for 3-year-olds with Triple Crown aspirations Monday with the $300,000 Smarty Jones Stakes.

In 16 previous runnings, no horse has come close to emulating the race’s namesake, but the track is hoping to change that by increasing the distance of the race from 1 mile to 1 1/16 miles. Last year, Angel of Empire finished second in the race before returning from Louisiana to win the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby. He went on to finish third in the Kentucky Derby as the favorite and fourth in the Belmont Stakes.

“Smarty brought a lot of attention back to Oaklawn,” Arkansas native and top Oaklawn trainer Ron Moquett said. “I think he brought the casual fans back to racing. The entire state of Arkansas was pulling for him in the Belmont Stakes.”

With the success of Smarty Jones in mind, Moquett believes the added distance of the race will only help its status.

Oaklawn president Louis Cella “wants Oaklawn to be the premier track for Kentucky Derby preps in the country, and making the race 1 1/16 miles can only help the Smarty Jones,” Moquett sqaid. “I think we’ll be seeing different horses now with the added distance.”

Moquett, who won the Smarty Jones in 2015 with the second wagering favorite Far Right, will try to pull the upset this time with H. Gus King’s Chaperone, who is coming off a maiden victory Nov. 30 at Remington Park.

“He’s doing good," Moquett said. “We’ve been pointing toward this race. We gave him the tightener at Remington and are excited to get him more distance. (Brad) Cox and (Steve) Asmussen always bring a bunch of bullets, but we’ll see if we can’t pass them.”

Cox and Asmusssen will saddle five of the nine runners between them. Cox, who has won two of the last three Smarty Jones Stakes, has Catching Freedom, Gettysburg Address and Fidget in the race, and Asmussen will saddle likely favorite Lagynos, the only horse in the field to have won at the distance, and Informed Patriot, third in the Street Sense Stakes (G3) at Churchill on Oct. 29.

Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas will seek his second Smarty Jones with BC Stables' Just Steel, who is likely to vie for favoritism after his impressive 2 1/2-length victory in the Ed Brown Stakes at Churchill Downs on Nov. 25. The son of Justify is the most accomplished horse in the field, with seven lifetime starts, and the only one to have faced Grade 1 competition. He was seventh in the Hopeful (G1) after setting the pace, but he showed a new dimension in the Ed Brown when he closed from fifth for the victory.

"He ran a very powerful race (in the Ed Brown),” said Lukas, who won the 2013 Smarty Jones with eventual 3-year-old champion Will Take Charge. “He had that one bad race (Breeders' Futurity), but he's done well since. That last one, he finished up real well. We're looking forward to it. I really like the horse."

Rounding out the nine-horse field are Mystik Dan, trained by Kenny McPeek, and Mo Winning, trained by Robertino Diodoro.