Jackson passes on Belmont with Rachel Alexandra

[Rupert Pupkin]

Originally Posted by philcski

Smarty Jones was retired after a phantom "bone bruising" injury which takes 15-30 days to recover from, if even that. Unfortunately for Three Chimneys and the Chapmans, Dr. Larry Bramledge 'accidentally' blew the lid off their moneygrab by saying that it was something that horses come back from after rest all the time, and doesn't require surgery. If you think I'm sounding bitter, you're right. We were cheated of seeing a potentially GREAT horse for no reason whatsoever. I followed him from his first start ever, is probably my favorite horse of all time, and talked to everyone 'in the know' about it. There was NOTHING wrong with him, other than the normal risks of racing. The thing they were worried about was SJ was never really cut out to be a great sire, and unfortunately for his fans (myself included of course) it's proving to be true as he hasn't even had a US stakes winner yet despite some decent maiden winners.

In comparison from the same year, Stronach had no reason to try to bring back Ghostzapper at 5, as he was already proven to be the best horse of the generation and was a home run as a stallion, yet made the attempt anyways. He actually got hurt and had to be stopped on, but at least we got to see one more dynamite race.

And in no way am I suggesting that this has anything to do with Rachel, because I feel going to the Belmont isn't the right move for her anyways. She deserves a break and will come back to dominate again.

Even if Smarty Jones only needed 30 days at the farm, by the time he would have been ready to run again, it would have been November. He would have missed all the good races. He was retiring at the end of the year any way so it was pointless to bring him back. I don't have a problem with an owner retiring a horse at the end of his 3 year old year. It's a business and if you get a big stud deal, sometimes it makes more sense to retire than to run.

From what I have heard, Smarty had more than a bone-bruise. I heard that his cartilage looked terrible on the x-rays and he would not have had many races left in him.