MIDWAY, Ky., Aug. 3 (UPI) -- Philly's favorite race horse, this year's Kentucky Derby and Preakness champ Smarty Jones, has moved to Kentucky to begin a new career as a daddy.
Despite the stated desire of owners Roy and Pat Chapman of Pennsylvania's Someday Farm to race Smarty at least one more time, they have decided their charmer will stand at stud, published reports said Tuesday.
Smarty, who won eight of nine career starts, earned the Chapmans $7,613,155 before Birdstone beat him by a length in the Belmont Stakes. He also earned a place in the hearts of U.S. fans, especially those in Philadelphia where Smarty was based.
In June, after the Belmont, the Chapmans sold 50 percent of the colt's breeding rights for more than $20 million to Three Chimneys Farm near Midway, Ky.
The decision to retire Smarty to Three Chimneys rather than continuing to race him arose from bruising on all four of his ankles, or "fetlocks," the New York Times said.
There also may have been a financial incentive. Experts say Smarty will get $75,000 to $150,000 per "date," and about 100 mares would be available during the time Smarty might have kept racing.
