Smarty Jones Classic

[smuthg]

Originally Posted by blackthroatedwind

Maybe you are right, but I always felt that Oaklawn was a pretigious meet, and of course have found the recent comparisons to Smarty Jones amusing....as if somehow by racing on a particular surface one horse is somehow comparable to another.

The Lone Star comparison doesn't seem particularly out of line except that Oaklawn has been around for quite a while and Lone Star opened about a week ago. To be perfectly honest, changing one of their prep races to the Smart Jones seems like at best a cheap publicity stunt....which thankfully they have so far avoided.

Well said. Given that it is the closest "real" track to me, I have a special place in my heart for Oaklawn and I think that you, like most knowledgeable racing fans, appreciate the meet. However, as with most things between the Mississippi River and the Rockies, until Smarty came along most casual fans either ignored and/or failed to give the meet its due credit; I don't think that is the case anymore... That being said, I can see your point on the "cheap publicity stunt" and agree the Smarty comparisons are out of control, but I would like to see something at Oaklawn "memorializing" his accomplishments and maybe you're right a race is not it...

[randallscott35]

How on earth did they have a Breeders Cup at Lone Star?

[Bystander]

I feel like this has been said over and over and over, the Smarty Jones hype generated online and in print was overwhelming, and somewhat nauseating.

I liked the colt, I was a fan, but after a while it was like revisionist history at work, as Santa would ride the Easter Bunny to a ghastly and unfair loss in the Belmont. It's all about perspective. Since Smarty other racing media "stars" have popped up with the same sort of annoying fervor- remember Rocky? Smarty Jones was a neat horse who deserved some media attention, but not the amount of hype that makes a regular race fan cringe. I'll fall off my chair if he's inducted in the Hall of Fame.

Oh, and I dedicate this to Mortimerdexterfoxworthy.

[Mortimer]

Originally Posted by Bystander

I feel like this has been said over and over and over, the Smarty Jones hype generated online and in print was overwhelming, and somewhat nauseating.

I liked the colt, I was a fan, but after a while it was like revisionist history at work, as Santa would ride the Easter Bunny to a ghastly and unfair loss in the Belmont. It's all about perspective. Since Smarty other racing media "stars" have popped up with the same sort of annoying fervor- remember Rocky? Smarty Jones was a neat horse who deserved some media attention, but not the amount of hype that makes a regular race fan cringe. I'll fall off my chair if he's inducted in the Hall of Fame.

Oh, and I dedicate this to Mortimerdexterfoxworthy.

I would like to give you a nice kissy-poo.

[Bystander]

Originally Posted by mortimerdexterfoxworthy

I would like to give you a nice kissy-poo.

It is nice to see that your remedial internet sessions have finally paid off.

[Mortimer]

Well I didn't exactly have the greatest instructor in the world.

[Bystander]

Originally Posted by mortimerdexterfoxworthy

Well I didn't exactly have the greatest instructor in the world.

True, but you shouldn't speak ill of your "good friend."