Smarty Jones Classic

[zippyneedsawin]

Originally Posted by randallscott35

So would I. But Ralph will have to do. Wonder if they are related? "Unsafe At Any Speed"---by Bill Nader --a journey into the mind of jockey Mike Smith

LOL!!!

[randallscott35]

Originally Posted by zippyneedsawin

LOL!!!

I wonder how many people got that and knew the original. A young board here, not sure how well read either.

[slotdirt]

My apologies for not knowing who Laz Barrerra was. I was one when he made his mark on the sport. And that still doesn't mean he's meant more to horse racing than Smarty Jones did. There is at least anecdotal evidence on this very board that Smarty Jones directly brought more fans to the game than Laz Barrerra ever did.

We will never forget!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZcK-A8gpI8

[blackthroatedwind]

Originally Posted by Pillow Pants

We will never forget!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZcK-A8gpI8

Good stuff. Thanks.

[paisjpq]

Originally Posted by blackthroatedwind

Good stuff. Thanks.

I agree, I love those old photos...though I have to say I kept looking for the PP punch line.

[blackthroatedwind]

Originally Posted by slotdirt

My apologies for not knowing who Laz Barrerra was. I was one when he made his mark on the sport. And that still doesn't mean he's meant more to horse racing than Smarty Jones did. There is at least anecdotal evidence on this very board that Smarty Jones directly brought more fans to the game than Laz Barrerra ever did.

It's not a question of apologizing, it just speaks volumes that you are championing Smarty Jones's supposed place in history, while having never heard of one of the most successful and big name trainers in recent history. The truth is this is exactly why the Smarty Jones hysteria is misplaced. It is being done primarily by people with little to no perspective on the game.

You like him, fine, but don't tell others he was great when you have never even heard of, much less seen compete, some of the truly good horses of even recent history. Nothing personal, but you aren't qualified.

[slotdirt]

I didn't say Smarty Jones was a great horse. I said he brought a lot of fans to the sport. These are two entirely different topics.

[blackthroatedwind]

Originally Posted by slotdirt

I didn't say Smarty Jones was a great horse. I said he brought a lot of fans to the sport. These are two entirely different topics.

Sorry, then, I misunderstood.

Hopefully somebody can find a list of Laz Barrera's accomplishments for you. They were many. Besides Affirmed and Bold Forbes he also trained It's in the Air who defeated the mighty Davona Dale in the Alabama. He took over JO Tobin's training during his 3YO season and I believe was his trainer of record when he beat Slew in the Swaps. He was a major force in the game.

[randallscott35]

Quick Version
From Wikipedia, therefore no need to link it.

Born in Havana, "Laz" Barrera was one of nine brothers who went on to become involved in thoroughbred horse racing in the United States. While in his teens, he began working at a racetrack in his native Cuba and within a few years was one of the country's most respected young trainers. Seeking increased opportunities in a larger market, in the 1940s Barrera moved to Mexico to race horses at the Hipodromo de las Americas in Mexico City then emigrated to the United States where he trained his first Stakes race winner in 1971. In the ensuing years he built a solid reputation and in late 1975 was given Bold Forbes to train who had been that year's Puerto Rican two-year-old thoroughbred sprint champion. Racing in the U.S. in 1976 under jockey Angel Cordero, Jr., Bold Forbes won several important races for Barrera including the Wood Memorial Stakes in record time. He went on to win the most prestigious race of all, the Kentucky Derby, finished third in the Preakness Stakes and, for a converted sprinter, pulled off a dramatic win in the 1½ mile long Belmont Stakes.

Barrera's accomplishments led to an offer from Louis & Patrice Wolfson to take over as head trainer for their Harbor View Farm in Ocala, Marion County, Florida. There, Barrera took charge of a horse named Affirmed who, under 18-year-old jockey Steve Cauthen, would become one of the great horses in American racing history. Affirmed was a two-time Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year winner and won Eclipse Awards in each of the three years he raced. Laz Barrera won fourteen Grade 1 Stakes races with Affirmed, the most by any stallion in history, and earned racing immortality by capturing the 1978 U.S. Triple Crown.

In a career that lasted almost fifty years, Laz Barrera trained six champions and more than 140 American Stakes race winners. He was the leading money-winning trainer from 1977 to 1980 and in the process became the only trainer to ever win four consecutive Eclipse Awards. In 1979, he was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.

Laz Barrera passed away in 1991; the "Laz Barrera Memorial Stakes," a Grade II seven furlong race for 3-year-olds at Hollywood Park is named in his honor.