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Associated Press 19y

A year after Derby win, Smarty Jones still has many fans

MIDWAY, Ky. -- It's happened more than once during the past
year: trainer John Servis is sitting at a restaurant with his
family when a stranger walks up, stops and stares.

"Finally, when you acknowledge them," Servis said, "They go,
'Aren't you John Servis?'

"I can't even imagine movie stars or celebrities, how they
handle it."

If only Smarty Jones could talk, he could commiserate with
Servis, jockey Stewart Elliott and owners Roy and Pat Chapman. All
became overnight celebrities last year during Smarty's ultimately
unsuccessful bid for the Triple Crown.

A year after Smarty became the peoples' horse with his win in
the Kentucky Derby, the memories remain vivid for those connected
with the chestnut colt -- as does their sense of wonder.

"The other morning, something happened, and I was remembering
the Kentucky Derby," Pat Chapman said. "I was thinking, 'Did this
really happen, or am I dreaming?' It was a strange feeling."

Servis understands what she's talking about. Before Smarty, the
trainer toiled in virtual anonymity for many years at tracks such
as Philadelphia Park in his hometown and Oaklawn Park in Arkansas.

"There's a lot of good horsemen in this business that never get
the opportunities that I've got because they don't have the
clients, so I feel very blessed as far as that goes," Servis said.
"I enjoyed flying under the radar for a long time. Now, it's a
little more demanding and a little tougher."

Two weeks before last year's Kentucky Derby, Servis walked
unrecognized through a crowd of more than 31,000 people at
Keeneland Race Course in Lexington. It's a safe bet that wouldn't
happen now. But Servis' personality hasn't changed a bit despite
the fame, said Rick Porter, who owns Servis' latest star
3-year-old, Rockport Harbor.

"He takes it all in stride," Porter said of Servis. "He's
laid back."

Servis almost made it back to the Derby this year with Rockport
Harbor. But injuries limited the gray colt's training time and he
finished sixth in the Lexington Stakes, the last major Derby prep
race. Servis took him off the Derby trail.

"It would have been great for horse racing again" if Rockport
Harbor had made it, Pat Chapman said. "The fans are all behind
John."

They also loved the Chapmans: Roy, the Philadelphia car dealer
who uses a wheelchair and goes everywhere with an oxygen tank
because of emphysema, and Pat, who still tries her best to answer
every letter about Smarty, "because I appreciate the fans. It was
the fans that claimed him as America's Horse."

When the Chapmans retired Smarty in July because of chronic
bruising in his hooves, they took plenty of grief from media and
fans who expected them to keep their promise to race Smarty as a
4-year-old.

"I think some of the reporters were angry we retired an injured
horse," she said.

The hubbub eventually quieted -- although the backlash from their
decision arguably cost Smarty the Eclipse Award for Horse of the
Year, which instead went to Ghostzapper.

Of all the major characters in Smarty's story, Elliott, the
jockey, has had the bumpiest ride.

Since riding Smarty, the 40-year-old Elliott -- who toiled at
small tracks in the Northeast for much of his career -- has received
more prominent riding offers. But with his anonymity gone, so too
was his privacy.

Soon after the Derby, Elliott's past became known, including a
guilty plea on assault charges from 2001. That was followed by an
admission he abused alcohol.

In December, the Canadian-born Elliott was detained at a New
York airport by immigration officials after a database flagged his
name as an alien who had committed a felony -- a result of his 2001
guilty plea. Under U.S. law, he could be deported because of that
conviction.

Elliott, a permanent resident of the United States, has a
hearing with immigration officials scheduled for late June, said
his spokeswoman, Kelly Wietsma.

As for Smarty, he's continued changing lives at his new home,
Three Chimneys Farm in Midway.

"I'm almost a celebrity by proxy," said Dan Rosenberg, the
longtime farm president.

Three Chimneys already was a prominent thoroughbred farm before
Smarty arrived. Seattle Slew lived at the farm for 17 years before
his death in 2002 and plenty of fans visited the 1977 Triple Crown
winner.

But Smarty -- who lives in the stall formerly occupied by Seattle
Slew -- has taken fan appeal to a much higher level, Rosenberg said.

Since Smarty's arrival on Aug. 16, Three Chimneys has enlarged
its parking lot, built an addition to a house to serve as a
visitors center and hired a full-time person to handle matters
related to Smarty.

Erika Justus, who moved to Kentucky from upper Michigan,
sometimes refers to herself as "Smarty's administrative
assistant." She answers the occasional fan letter to the horse and
handles bookings for farm tours.

The tours, conducted five days a week and consisting of 25 to 30
people per day, are booked into mid-May. Weekend tours are almost
fully booked until the end of July.

"I usually have to turn down 20 to 30 people a day," Justus
said.

During the tours, some of the farm's other prominent stallions,
including Point Given, Sky Mesa and Yes It's True, are paraded in
front of the fans. Few, if any, pictures are taken.

When Smarty comes out, so do the cameras.

"He looks a lot less impressive than I thought he would, but
he's cute, actually," said 15-year-old Grace Talbot-Davis of
Portland, Ore., who visited Three Chimneys with her mother and
younger sister.

It was easy to root for Smarty, Talbot-Davis said: "He was an
underdog."

Sandy Hatfield, Three Chimneys' stallion manager, said Smarty
handles the attention remarkably well.

"I think all good horses know they're special, and he does,"
Hatfield said. "He's a smart horse. We have 50 people in here at
one time and he's really good. He gets tired at the end of it, but
he stands up there and he lets them take the pictures and talk to
him and pet him. Some stallions wouldn't stand out there so nice
and quiet. Nothing fazes him."

Smarty was syndicated for $39 million after his retirement.
Under the syndication agreement, Rosenberg said, Smarty will be
bred to 111 mares per year with a stud fee of $100,000 per live
foal.

But Smarty would seem to be worth much more than that simply
because of the goodwill he generates among fans, something
Rosenberg said he tries to remember as outsiders continue pouring
onto the farm.

"We have to be very mindful of what our core business is,"
Rosenberg said. "We have work to do and a business to run that
doesn't depend on giving tours or interviews.

"We have to be careful not to let the tail wag the dog, but
having said that, it clearly is the fan going to the race track and
putting $2 through the window that pays my salary. I do not have a
job if it isn't for racing fans. Certainly all this publicity and
attention is very valuable not only to Three Chimneys Farm but to
the thoroughbred industry as a whole."

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