Who was closer to the Triple Crown...Smarty or Alex?
 

I'm guessing some here will think this is a ridiculous question.

In 2004, Smarty Jones won the Derby, Preakness, and then lost by one length to Birdstone, falling just short of winning the elusive Triple Crown.

In 2005, Afleet Alex lost The Kentucky Derby by 1 1/2 lengths, and then won the Preakness and Belmont easily.

I realize I am being a Monday Morning quarterback, but in those two scenarios, which horse was closest to winning the Triple Crown?

On one hand Smarty led until the very end of the Belmont. Could his jockey have done something to run a better race or was that truly an effort of everything Smarty had to give.

On the other hand, did Jeremy Rose run the best race he could of with Alex in the Derby? Of course Jeremy Rose redeemed himself in the Preakness for matching AA's superb athleticism when they clipped heels with Scrappy T.

So again, my question is Who was closer to winning the Triple Crown or which horse could have won the Triple Crown?

Yeah man I'm warning you. Some posters on this site will slay you for posting about hypotheticals. I posted before that even if nothing woulda happened to Barbaro in the Preakness, I think Bernardini would have beaten him that day. I got destroyed for making a comment on something that never happened. So be prepared for the same...

With that being said- Probably Afleet Alex. Because the Derby was a freak race with a freak pace scenario. Plus Rose was weaving Alex through the lane which prolly took extra out of him. But otherwise, AA didn't have any "true" foes. He wrecked everyone else in the 3 year old division.

On the Flip side, eventhough Smarty won the first 2 legs fairly convincingly- but Birdstone turned out to be the real deal. The pace was forced on Smarty, and he finally ran out of gas. But Birdstone was validated by the Travers win (whether you wanna say he beat a weak group or not, I don't care, he won it). So Afleet Alex was closer in my eyes.

Definitely Afleet Alex. Definitely. He should have won the Derby, but luck was not with him.

Alex, still not sure why he didn't fire in the stretch there when it was there for the taking. Smarty would have had a tough time beating Birdstone on that day at 12 furlongs even if he'd been able to run more reasonable fractions.

Smarty! Come on, if Bailey AND Solis dont ride out of their way in the Belmont to screw him over, he wins the Triple Crown.

Hey Reppin.......my dad played basketball for Duquesne. By the way, how did Smarty get screwed over?

Real Quiet.

Wouldn't a better question be who was closer to the Triple Crown between Going Wild and Cupecoy's Joy?

I do agree with the point about Bailey riding his horse into the ground in the Belmont to ruin Smarty's chances... we're justt all conspircay theorists here aren't we? But then again... is it really much different than what Spanish Chestnut did to all the pace setters (including Bellamy Road) in the Giacomo/AA Debry? Or what Shake the Bank does for Better talk Now?

Watch the way that Bailey rides Eddington and Solis rides RH10. Neither seemed to be trying to win the race for themselves. Their sole purpose in there was to gun at SJ early and it didnt matter if they wore out their own horses - which they did - just so long as he didnt win. Also, how coincidental is it that neither rode their respective mounts again?

Isn't that part of sports though:
In the NBA, they purposely foul Shaq.
In MLB, they throw at the batter or intentionally walk.
In the NHL, a team assigns a goon to shadow a high scoring superstar.


By the way....Go Steelers!

Yeah, I have to go with Smarty on this one too.

Agreed...
Ta;lent level aside they were pretty much used for the same purpose though. But I agree... I guess "techincally" the didn't do anything illegal. It just sucks that they prolly didn't let their owners in on it lol.

I could be wrong but in 2004 Bailey lost his Derby mount when Wimbledon was scratched .... weren't there some last minute rumblings before the Derby about Bailey riding Smarty for the Triple Crown?

A horse has to win the KY. Derby first to have a chance to win the TC.....;)

Although I wasn't a Smarty fan, Smarty hands down...

What a game animal he was...

ALYDAR:D I think he was far superior to the two good horses you named.