[1] Born at Fairthorne Farm in Chester County, Pennsylvania, the horse was named after Milly "Smarty Jones" McNair, the mother of co-owner Pat Chapman.
He is a third-generation descendant of Mr. Prospector, and as such Smarty Jones is related to many recent Triple Crown hopefuls including Funny Cide, Afleet Alex, and Fusaichi Pegasus.
Also included in his pedigree are Triple Crown winners Secretariat, Count Fleet, War Admiral, Gallant Fox and Omaha, and such other Triple Crown race winners as Northern Dancer, Foolish Pleasure and Man o' War, who is #1 on the list of Blood-Horse magazine List of the Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century.
[3] Servis led him back into training and by early November 2003, the colt had recovered completely and was ready to make his racing debut at nearby Philadelphia Park.
Canadian-born jockey Stewart Elliott was hired to ride Smarty Jones initially for the Bensalem race but took over a more permanent position when the horse began his winning streak.
Two weeks later, he won the Pennsylvania Nursery Stakes by 15 lengths, earning the best speed figure of his generation and among the best of any Derby winner as a 2 year old.
In January 2004, now racing as a three-year-old, Smarty Jones was given his first major test in the Count Fleet Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack in New York City.
In February, Smarty Jones was shipped to Oaklawn Park racetrack in Hot Springs, Arkansas in preparation for the Kentucky Derby.
[4] On May 15, after appearing on the cover of Sports Illustrated, Smarty Jones won the second leg of the Triple Crown with a victory at the 2004 Preakness Stakes by a record margin of 11+1⁄2 lengths, becoming the first odds-on favorite to win the race since Spectacular Bid in 1979.
After his Preakness victory, Smarty Jones' popularity increased and he became, arguably, the #1 fan favorite to aspire to win the Triple Crown since Affirmed won it in 1978.
However, on June 5, 2004, Smarty Jones finished second in the Belmont Stakes, upset by a late charge by 36-1 long shot Birdstone.
Speculation arose that the loss was a result of Elliott allowing Smarty Jones to assume the lead too early when being challenged by several competitors.
However, neither Servis nor the Chapmans ever blamed his own jockey (Race video revealed that Elliott had a tight hold on the reins, and did not urge Smarty Jones until the quarter pole).
Smarty Jones ran the opening mile and a quarter in a time that would have won all but 3 Kentucky Derbys in history and was 8 lengths in front of the show horse.
Smarty Jones was voted the 2004 Eclipse Award for Outstanding Three-Year-Old Male Horse and was one of the top 5 searched words/terms on Google for that year.
Smarty Jones stood at stud at Three Chimneys Farm in Midway, Kentucky, and at one point occupied the same stall that had previously housed Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew.
He now stands at Rodney Eckenrode's Equistar Farm near Annville, Pa. and has sired numerous stakes winners, many graded, including Grade I winner Centralinteligence (bred by Pat Chapman, breeder/owner of Smarty Jones), Singapore Derby winning filly Better Life, Japanese record setter Keiai Gerbera, Panama Champion Smart DNA, Uruguayan Champion 2 years Bamba y Bamba and Backtalk, winner of the 2009 GIII Bashford Manor Stakes at Churchill Downs and GII Sanford Stakes at Saratoga Racecourse and a stallion at Bridlewood in Florida, to name a few.