Birdstone or Smarty Jones
Which will be three-year-old champion at the end of the year? “With Smarty Jones retired prematurely to the breeding shed, and his Triple Crown spoiler Birdstone ready to take a crack at older horses in the $4 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Oct. 30, Eclipse Award voters may even have to rethink their Horse of the Year options if Birdstone wins at Lone Star Park,” writes Sherry Ross in the New York Daily News.
Hold on, Mike Watchmaker says in the DRF: “Let’s keep a lid on the ‘Birdstone for champion 3-year-old’ movement, however. It is to Birdstone’s credit that he is the only one who ever defeated Smarty Jones, and unlike Smarty Jones, Birdstone is still in the game punching. But, you can’t make believe that Birdstone’s 15 1/4-length loss to Smarty Jones in the Kentucky Derby never happened. Smarty Jones’s Derby and Preakness victories are still the standard by which this 3-year-old class is measured.”
Sounds like quite an argument shaping up.
