Monday, Aug. 30, 2004 | 10:04 a.m.
Ralph Siraco's horse racing column appears Monday and his Southern California selections run Tuesday-Sunday.
When Belmont Stakes winner Birdstone returned to the winner's circle at Belmont Park on June 6 after shocking the racing world by having the audacity to run down Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner Smarty Jones, you could have heard a pin drop. The deafening silence of a record crowd in disbelief that some mortal equine had taken away their Triple Crown moment from the no-longer-invincible Smarty Jones was more than even the sportiest race goer could bear.
As the numb crowd started getting its blood flow back, the silence was broken by a resounding chorus of boos as Birdstone and victorious jockey Edgar Prado were jogging their way back to the massive grandstand for what became an apologetic celebration in the winner's circle. Sensing the tension, Prado immediately started the apologizing bandwagon in a television interview while still on horseback moments after the stunner.
Trainer Nick Zito, who had just won his first Belmont Stakes after 11 failures, looked as if his pocket had just been picked with a wallet full of hundreds as he headed to the victory enclosure while New York socialite Marylou Whitney gave more praise to Smarty Jones in defeat than her Birdstone's sensational win. Mother Nature delivered an overcast sky as an omen of the day.
Before the "official" sign flashed on the infield toteboard, the masses began arguing that Smarty Jones had been triple-teamed by others who set up the race for Birdstone to pick up the pieces. They lamented that jockey Stewart Elliott gave Smarty Jones a bad ride, contributing to his first career loss.
More concluded that Birdstone's Belmont victory was a "fluke." He was in the right place at the right time, they said, and he would never win another Grade I stakes race again. No one gave Prado or Birdstone his due credit for engineering one of the sport's true upsets.
The son of 1996 Kentucky Derby winner Grindstone had ended Smarty's party, and so began the Birdstone bashing brigade.
Shortly thereafter Smarty Jones was retired from racing and a rubber match with Birdstone, who finished eighth in the Kentucky Derby, would never be realized.
On Saturday, as the skies opened over Saratoga Race Course, probably the most vilified Belmont Stakes winner in recent times beat the deluge of rain and beat down his most avid critics with a most satisfying and gratifying victory in the most prestigious race of the historic racing emporium. Birdstone proved once and for all that he was -- and certainly is -- no fluke as he rolled to a redeeming 2 1/2-length win in the Travers Stakes.
Silent from the Belmont to the Travers, Birdstone came off an 84-day layoff to once again give 56-year-old Zito his first victory in a race that had eluded him throughout his career -- this one for almost a quarter-century. In this 135th running of the 1 1/4-mile "Mid-Summer Derby," Zito had to worry only about more Zito, as another trainee, The Cliff's Edge, finished second.
Again, Mother Nature set the table for what was to come. Dark, ominous clouds crept toward the track throughout the day, and by post time for the Travers they had arrived. As Birdstone crossed the finish line the startling claps of thunder gave way to a torrential downpour, so bad that the final race on the card was canceled. However, this time the crowd of 48,894 roared with approval and the drenched winner's circle ceremony was viewed as heaven-sent as the flashes of lightning were outpaced by the flashes of camera bulbs bursting.
The smiles on the faces of Zito and Prado told the story. This was more than winning a Grade I race. It was more than the $1 million purse and it was more than becoming a piece of Saratoga history. It was much more. This was long overdue justification. Zito summed up almost three months of frustration as he answered those who questioned Birdstone's Belmont victory: "Well, guess what -- it was no fluke!"
All but one in the seven-horse Travers field had raced and failed against Smarty Jones. Travers favorite Lion Heat, who was injured in the race, runner-up The Cliff's Edge, third-place finisher Eddington, Purge and Sir Shakleton trailed in Smarty's jet stream.
Now they may be trailing a Bird that makes them turn to Stone -- and that's no fluke.
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