Servis Tries to Win Southwest With Bird of Trey
Trainer John Servis won the Southwest Stakes in 2004 with Smarty Jones. Servis will try to win Monday’s $500,000 Southwest Stakes (G3) at Oaklawn again with, of all things, a son of the only horse to ever beat Smarty Jones.
Bird of Trey, a son of 2004 Belmont Stakes winner Birdstone, is expected to be one of 14 horses running in the Southwest, a 1 1/16-mile race that is the second major local prep for the $1 million Arkansas Derby (G1) April 16.
In 2004, Smarty Jones won the Southwest, Rebel and Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn before capturing the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, the first two legs of the Triple Crown. But, in what would be his final career start, and only career loss, Smarty Jones was denied the Triple Crown when he was beaten a length by Birdstone in the Belmont.
Roughly a decade later, Van Buren, Ark.-based JRita Young Thoroughbreds (Rita and Everett Young) sent Servis a Pennsylvania-bred son of Birdstone named Bird of Trey.
“Listen, as long as they can run, I don’t care,” Servis said before training hours Friday morning at Oaklawn. “I told Mr. Young that when he told me he was sending me the horse. He goes: ‘You know he’s by Birdstone.’ I said: ‘I don’t care. If he can run, I don’t care who he’s by.”
Servis said Bird of Trey is only the second horse he’s had for JRita Young Thoroughbreds, following another Pennsylvania-bred “three or four years ago.”
Bird of Trey has a 2-2-1 record from six lifetime starts and earnings of $156,748. He won the $100,000 Pennsylvania Nursery StakesDec. 5 at Parx by 7 ¼ lengths in his final start at 2 (Smarty Jones won the race by 15 lengths in 2003).
“He’s a nice horse,” Servis said.
Bird of Trey, who enters the Southwest off a fourth-place finish in the $200,000 Jerome Stakes (G3) Jan. 2 at Aqueduct, is one of four horses Servis sent to Oaklawn last month.
In addition to Bird of Trey, Nasa, Percolator and Miss Inclusive are also housed in the Coaltown barn for Servis.
Nasa, a son of Smarty Jones, won an conditioned allowance race Thursday at Oaklawn.
In other Southwest Stakes news, Collected, who will be seeking to give trainer Bob Baffert his fifth victory in the race since 2010, arrived from California Friday afternoon, shortly after 1 p.m.
Source: Oaklawn Park