NEWS
Smarty Jones’s biggest fan tours Three Chimneys - with video
Posted: Tuesday, July 21, 2009 10:12 AM
by Whitney Harrod
Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Smarty Jones recently met his “No.1 fan” at the Clay family’s Three Chimneys Farm in Midway, Kentucky.
Madison Scott, high school sophomore from Texas, has spent more than five years following Smarty Jones during his racing career and his time as stud. After years of email and phone interaction, Smarty Jones’s owner, Pat Chapman, invited Scott to come to Kentucky to meet Smarty Jones.
Scott watched Smarty Jones race for the first time in the 2004 Kentucky Derby (G1).
“My dad called me to watch the Derby, the first race I’d ever seen,” Scott said. “From then on, I was hooked.”
Through primarily Internet research and reading books on horse racing, Scott followed Smarty Jones’s attempt to capture the Triple Crown. When Smarty Jones retired from racing following his second-place finish to Birdstone in the Belmont Stakes (G1), Scott continued to follow his career in the breeding shed.
When Smarty Jones began his career at stud, Scott regularly e-mailed Three Chimneys two or three times a week for updates on her favorite Thoroughbred. Ann Hayes, tour director of Three Chimneys, forwarded the emails to Chapman, who lives in Pennsylvania where she bred Smarty Jones with her late husband, Roy.
“I wasn’t doing e-mail at that time, but I heard about her through staff, and I was very impressed with her knowledge,” Chapman said. “She told me things [about Smarty Jones] I didn’t even know.”
Chapman said Smarty Jones’s success created many young fans.
“People at Three Chimneys have grown to respect Madison, and I’ve learned she’s a very well-rounded girl,” Chapman said.
After an introduction to Chapman and Smarty Jones, Scott toured the farm and met other stallions such as champion Big Brown and the recently pensioned Rahy.
Smarty Jones, by Elusive Quality, raced in 2003 and ‘04, capturing two legs of the Triple Crown. He has two crops of racing age, including 77 two-year-olds. Smarty Jones’s leading progeny is Backtalk, who won the 2009 Bashford Manor Stakes (G3).
The Smarty Jones-themed tour continued at the Old Bradley Place to see an unnamed foal by Smarty Jones.
“Besides meeting Madison, certainly seeing my foals was a highlight of my trip,” Chapman said.
Currently, Chapman owns five broodmares, three at Three Chimneys and two in Pennsylvania.
Scott met with Three Chimneys’ broodmare manager, Richie Donworth to talk about raising foals. Donworth said most foals are weaned at four and kept in the pasture 21-hours-day.
Chapman and Scott’s other events included touring Lexington horse farms and Rusty Arnold’s barn at the backside of Keeneland.
Upon graduation from high school, Scott plans to attend a Kentucky college studying an equine-related field.
“I hope there’s a lot of Madisons out there,” Chapman said.
Whitney Harrod is a THOROUGHBRED TIMES editorial intern
