Tom Durkin did a great job with the call expressing the tremendous excitement we all felt and the momentous letdown that came at the end. "And Smarty Jones enters the stretch to the roar of 120,000! But Birdstone is gonna make him earn it today! The whip is out on Smarty Jones! It's been 26 years, it's just one furlong away! Birdstone is an unsung threat! They're coming down to the finish! Can Smarty Jones hold on? Here comes Birdstone, Birdstone surges past! Birdstone wins the Belmont Stakes!"
"Birdstone commences a rally" is amazing too, seeing what happened after. It is that rally that undid the hero and brought him low at the very last. It makes for one of the saddest and most beautiful sporting moments ever.
I’ll never forget this day at Belmont. I was only 12 years old but I remember every moment. The roar of the crowd from start to finish. Heartbreaking finish. Heartbreaking!
One of the great sports callls of all time....any sport. Has to be right at the top for all time horse racing calls, as it wpi;d be hard to top this. Durkin knocked it out of the park here. I will remember forever how he said Birdstone...wins...the Belmont...Stakes.
I’ve been following sports announcers ever since I heard Brent Musburger announce a game in 1998 and agree this call here by Durkin is as good as it gets, for any sport. Absolutely perfect way to tell this story and capture the moment. The call starting at the top of the stretch is obviously the famous part, but I also love how he set it up earlier saying, “Smarty Jones has to hold onto that lead for just one minute more.”
Edgar was such a humble man during this win. Valiant attempt Smarty, but Birdstone just caught you that day. I was 9 when I watched this race from my family room.. it was my first horserace heartbreak!!
+RidingWithRuffian It's really the only time I can remenber a jock apologizing for winning. We've seen other TC bids foiled and the jocks never felt bad. I think Edgar really did here. Good guy.
@@raygordonteacheschess5501 no it wouldn’t... Sham ran with secretariat in all 3 races... Smarty was a great horse and shoulda been triple crown winner... but these cheats have to steal for no other reason than to steal
It's funny a lot of people totally forgot and probably still till this day that Birdstone at the start of April was the favorite for the Kentucky Derby. A week before the Blue Grass he developed a high white blood cell count and became pretty ill to where he almost never ran in the derby. Then he ran in the derby and blew 2 shoes along with Zito trainee The Cliff's Edge. I found it very odd that both Zito horses lost shoes. So literally for 2 months at the wrong time Birdstone found himself some bad luck. But when able to run healthy and trouble free he was hard to beat. Not to say he beats Smarty in any of the other races but he was no slouch and proved that when he came back and won the Traver's.
After seeing Funny Cide and Smarty both come up short in a heartbreak fashion, we were finally redeemed twice in a decade with American Pharaoh and now Justify. What an awesome turn of fortune!
The whip is out on Smarty Jones! It's been 26 years! It's just one furlong away! Poor Tom Durkin. Now he'll never call one of these. I feel for the guy.
Billy Brownstar Sorry the truth hurt ya here. Maybe Larry will call a Triple Crown this Saturday but it won't be Durkin or Donna Brothers who wanted it given to Smarty.
+Martin Brady I was there that day and all anyone could say was who was that as they checked their programs....don't tell me you knew who that was coming through on the rail covered in mud
I have watched this video no less that 30 times and I still feel that the next time I watch it the outcome will be different. I still feel like Durkin wants to finish the race by saying, "BIRDSTONE wins the Belmont fu%^&&* Stakes"
+P Magee Absolutely. One of the greatest race calls of all time. He conveys the pulse of the race and you just know he felt it seemed too good to be true as he inherited the lead, suggesting that all he needed to do was ride out the clock...it rarely goes that way in the Belmont.
I thought I was the only one who does that, I always felt like Durkin sounded like distained in his voice due to him winning. Durkin want's to be part of history like anyone else and Birdstone winning wasn't going to bring it, just my thought's on it.
one of the most emotional, greatest, beautiful horseraces i ve ever seen...everytime i watch this...i cant explain it...bitter sweet...by the way fantastic call by tom durkin, as he is calling the race from the beginning to the end i can feel my heart beating faster and faster
David Saldana Glad Birdstone broke his and Donna Brothers heart. People like YOU and them wanted it given to Smarty. When he had to earn it, he couldn't.
bnegs521 I think the better horse won this race. Birdstone had won at Belmont prior to this race and should not have been such a longshot. I'm not in the camp of those people who feel you have to run all three legs of the triple crown. Tom Durkin's call was passionate and wishful but I think he represented the feelings of many viewers. Job well done in my opinion.
I remember watching in my parents living room, where we watched American pharaoh win it all. I was hoping frosted wouldn't pull a birdstone. Not this time!
Stewart Elliott is still an excellent jockey and a class act. I hopes he gets another shot at a triple crown. Edgar Prado was classy in victory as well.
I remember watching this as a kid with my grandma I knew nothing about horse racing all I remember is there was a lot of hype around the race and smarty jones being undefeated at the time, had to look it up for memories sake
I was sooo uset when this happened, but watching it now I can appreciate more how great of a race Smarty still ran. Smarty got really rank early in the race and never settled, everyone else kind of race rode him from that point on and made him go too fast the rest of the race. Still only beaten by one length. Not bad at all.
I cried so hard when I watched this for the first time. I couldn't believe he lost. I heard his jockey say that he held him back because he didn't think he has the energy to win it. That is really strange losing by one length? How much did he have to hold him back? Just let him run just like his grandfather, Secretariat? Or, don't hold back so much and let him win by a nose?
sparklingmichele Smarty Jones raced against several horses in the beginning, also he was rank. Horses who are rank can't settle down, and a horse who keeps on fighting his jockey is using more energy than running the race. Picture it like you jogging a mile and a half with a sprint at the end, compared to jogging the same distance pulling about 110 pounds behind you. It wears the animals out a lot faster and makes them more tired. Between the pace which admittedly wasn't bad, but you see the pacesetters drop back to last after using their energy, and then at the end a closer comes in after fighting the jockey, after beating the other horses, after a mile and a half,and there's no horse.
"Birdstone wins the Belmont Stakes"......... Those 5 words still eat me alive to this day.The next Derby will be 10 years since Smarty Jones,for me it feels alot longer.You were something else Smarty,thanks for the memories,Buddy!
The most charismatic horse since Secretariat. Rock Hard Ten and Eddington were more intent in punishing Smarty with those early fractions then with winning the race.
My first love followed by my first heartbreak. But it made me fall deeply in love with the sport and appreciate all these magnificent animals give when they run their hearts out. So much so I cried when I witness the first 3-crown winner in my lifetime American Pharoah.
What makes the Triple Crown so special is the three races are so different from each other. Birdstone was a proven "router", a horse who can compete in longer races, and showed it.
Most exciting race because of the high expectations, still gives me goose bumps all these years later. Tom Durkin with an all time great call, you can even hear the disappointment in his voice,
I watch this every now and then just to hope that maybe smarty jones actually wins it. That call would have put the announcer(I forget his name) in the hall of fame. "To the roar of a hundred and twenty thousands!"
I wanted the best horse to win and the best horse was Birdstone on this day. Zito and Prado need not apologize for their victory and the call should be unbiased. It can be dramatic but the announcer should not take sides. I love when Birdstone passes Smarty. Note the silenced crowd. I love the horse who wears the black hat!
Loved the fact that Zito was celebrating the great win. Too often we expect the winners to look like they're at a funeral when they spoil a Triple Crown bid...
Sometimes when I win a chessgame after swindling a weaker player who should have beaten me I'll say "I was rooting for you" but I had to do my best to trick him or the win means nothing.
Nope, I had Birdstone too. When betting the Belmont, I always ask myself "If the favorite doesn't win, what will the race look like?". In a 1-1/2 mile major stakes race, you HAVE TO do that, IMHO.
I was never so depressed after watching a Derby race as I was after this one. Smarty Jones was born in my home state of PA and I wanted him to win so badly, especially after all he endured after a serious head injury a year earlier.
I dumped on Lion Heart in the Derby futures at 16-1 because I couldn't see a Pennsylvania-Bred based at Parx winning the race. From 2004-2008, the Mid-Atlantic supplied more board finishes in triple crown races, and the PA Nursery gave us both Smarty and Hard Spun (who sired Spun to Run who just won the BC Dirt mile). Barbaro and Eight Belles also came from this region back then.
I love the way Birdstone stuck a stake right through everyone's hearts, especially Durkin I could tell he was about to cry. Also I loved how Donna Brothers was crying after the race. You play to win, she wanted it to be given to Smarty. The Chapman's are good people though. And to Tom Hammond, Prado wasn't sad after the race he was just being gracious. BIG DIFFERENCE!
@@sekualtyranosaur8581 wait a minute. They didn't do anything. It was Smarty Jones and the jockey who could have waited and saved a little at the end. Damn horses and jockies run their own race. He didn't have to run up front the whole way. Like the jockey said. Birdstone just came got us today.
My favorite horse is still Affirmed, but I was hoping Smarty Jones had won the TC making an even dozen to do so. Hooray for little guys like Smarty!! It was too bad that Smarty couldn't race after the Belmont.
Track was rock-hard that day and there were very fast times. The fractions were reasonable under the circumstances; Birdstone just came up and got Smarty Jones.
Ugh...I was there! Came all the way out from Oregon. Totally thought he had it at the top of the stretch. Absolutely heartbreaking! Hope Chrome can do it for us!!
Hearing that collective groan in the stadium, the announcer's voice and even the sadness in the voice of the winning jockey for the horse (SJ) that he just defeated is an incredible experience.
+ginger It's devastating because it was so close and they only get one shot. But that's why this is the test of the champion and they shouldn't change a damn thing. Only the true greats take down the TC. Fortunately last year we saw one!
As a person who watched Birdstone break his maiden at Saratoga and immediately called him my Derby horse. All 4 Zito horses throw shoes in that one I’m happy to say I had this race 1-2-3-4 exactly. Never was a doubt in my mind when Zito said it doesn’t Mayer we’re all racing for 2nd.
This is the first time I've seen this since 2004, still gives me chills. I love Smarty Jones. And, I've been haunted by the announcers voice since then, the sound of him saying "Birdstone wins the Belmont Stakes" was EXACTLY how everyone was feeling. Complete and total sadness and disappointment.
badgernation74 and btw, who approves the horses' names? Rock Hard Ten? It's more than a little porn-ish, no? What's next? Double D's, Money Shot, Gang Bang...
Hard to believe how casually Smarty Jones' jockey took his loss, especially when compared to the emotions of the winning rider. I'm not one to pick on jockeys, but watching the replay it's hard to not wonder if Smarty would've fared better with a more patient ride.
Why did Funny Cide and Smarty Jones feel that they had to go to the lead in the belmont? They didnt do that in the KD or the Preakness can someone explain this to me? im confused
Smarty Jones would of romped in this year's Belmont, no doubt about that! The way Palice Malice and others came home was obvious that breeding is turning the industry into a sprinter's game more and more by the day. Soon if a horse can get a mile we'll be impressed, the direction the game/sport is going. JMO!
If Birdstone wasnt in the race they would call this a dominating performance. He put them all away and opened up many.......the narrative would have been totally different, and Smarty would have run the same exact race.
That horse had so much heart. His Derby win was all heart. You could tell Elliott was trying to hold him. Maybe he should have let him out earlier and maybe would have put it away earlier, who knows. That horse deserved to be recognized as one of the greatest ever. shame. damn shame.
Although I won this race I had the chance to visit Belmont Park for the first time I went there with the intention that I was going to witness a triple crown winner live, they really pressed Smarty Jones early into a speed duel the whole way. I really believe if they had came early to Belmont and spent more time there instead of bragging in there own back yard Stewart Elliot would have realize how long and big the distance was, once we parked and rode the shuttle to the front gate I realized what people meant about Belmont being two races in one, just the turn is a whole other race. Everything we assumed was wrong The triple crown winner won't start his campaign in New York he just has too be Great and he brings the track with him. Nick Z needs to go rub on Birdstone because I cannot remember the last time I seen him win a race in NY.
The world would have been a much better place if Smarty Jones had won this race. Watching him lose at Belmont was one of the most depressing moments of my life.
It's amazing how Birdstone takes off and/or Smarty Jones slows down right when Stewart E hits Smarty near the end, I think Jones just didn't have it left at that point. Birdstone shouldn't have been a 36-1 shot in that race, if you watch the video of Birdstones races you'll see how well he did, it was the perfect storm for Smarty Jones sadly, it's still hard to believe he lost even though I know why now.
Why was it necessary to go 1:11 for the 6 furlong split? I know Smarty was a speed horse, but why open up on the far turn when you've got over 3 furlongs left to run down that long Belmont stretch?
It wasn't the 6f in 1:11.76 that cost him. It was the next quarter, run in 23.68, that did him in. To run the 4th quarter in a 12f race that fast is just insane.
So do I. Imagine how impressive a victory Smarty would of had, had Birdstone not been there. Not only would he of won the TC, he would of vanquished them all while doing it. :(
This reminds me of Danica Patrick at the Indy 500. The media only cared about Danica Patrick instead of the guy Dan Wheldon who actually won the Indy 500.
What Smarty Jones needed was Lion Heart to front run like the other 2 races and Smarty Jones to overtake the lead down the final stretch. Its the jockey Stewart’s fault for front running early.
What they did to this horse is criminal. They send TWO rabbits at him the entire way and it took a fresh horse to beat him in the run down. He was the best horse that day hands downs.
