Second Place for Smarty Jones

As most of you know by now, Smarty Jones was defeated on Saturday in his bid for the Triple Crown. Smarty's loss came less than two hours after I heard of President Reagan's death, so it was a tough couple of hours for Wild Banshee. But, as Tennyson wrote "Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all."

I still love Smarty Jones and look forward to tracking the remainder of his career. Smarty Jones will probably take a month off to rest. Trainer John Servis says that Smarty will probably run in the Breeder's Cup in Texas and may run in the Pennsylvania Derby at Philadelphia Park on Labor Day as a thank you to his fans. The Chapmans, Smarty's owners, plan to continue to run Smarty Jones as a four year-old.

Good luck to you, Smarty, and thank you for 5 weeks of fun.

(AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)