Belmont Stakes

No matter what the draw, `Jones' the one to beat

Crown hopeful gets No. 9 post

foes say they're running for 2nd

ELMONT, N.Y. - How do you beat Smarty Jones?

"You can't beat him. He'd have to beat himself. I think he can win by double-digit lengths, especially if he gets an easy lead. He'll look like Secretariat."

Bobby Frankel, Hall of Fame trainer, uttered those words yesterday after nine horses, including his Master David, were entered in the Belmont Stakes on Saturday at Belmont Park. That seemed an odd thing to say for a trainer trying to derail Smarty Jones' attempt to win the Triple Crown.

But then Jason Orman, trainer of Rock Hard Ten, said: "I don't know how we're going to beat him."

And Todd Pletcher, trainer of Purge, said: "I can't tell you how we're going to beat him. So far, it hasn't been done."

And Nick Zito, trainer of Birdstone and Royal Assault, said: "Where do I sign now for second? There's nothing wrong with finishing second to a hero."

That so-called hero, Smarty Jones, arrived at Belmont yesterday about the time he drew starting post 9 for the final leg of the Triple Crown. He was anointed the 2-5 morning-line favorite, and the coronation began.

Smarty Jones is the sixth horse in the past eight years competing in the Belmont after winning the Kentucky Derby and Preakness. The previous five lost the Belmont, failing to become the 12th Triple Crown winner and first since Affirmed in 1978.

With those five horses - Silver Charm, Real Quiet, Charismatic, War Emblem and Funny Cide - racing fans hoped for a Triple Crown winner. With Smarty Jones, they almost expect it.

Smarty Jones is undefeated. He has won eight races at five different tracks on fast, muddy and sloppy surfaces. And he keeps getting better. His last race was his best, an 11 1/2 -length romp in the Preakness. That was the largest margin of victory in Preakness history.

"I'd be very happy to finish second to him," Frankel said. "Spectacular Bid is the only one I had this much confidence in coming into the race."

Spectacular Bid, however, lost the Belmont in 1979. It was discovered the morning of the race that he had stepped on a safety pin, and during the race his jockey, Ron Franklin, sent him rampaging after an 85-1 long shot. Spectacular Bid's shocking defeat - he finished third - seemed to give opposing trainers hope that Smarty Jones, too, could be beaten.

"It's hard to find a chink in his armor," said Pletcher, trainer of Purge. "But it's a horse race, and you never know what's going to happen."

Pletcher had vacillated about running Purge in the Belmont after his impressive score 12 days ago in the Peter Pan Stakes at Belmont. He said yesterday the horse would run, despite finishing behind Smarty Jones twice in stakes at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark.

"We went to Arkansas twice, and Smarty Jones whipped us pretty good," Pletcher said. "We've got to change tactics."

In the Oaklawn stakes - the Rebel and the Arkansas Derby - Purge charged to the lead only to be overtaken by Smarty Jones. This time, Pletcher said, Purge and his jockey, John Velazquez, will let Smarty Jones gain the early advantage. Maybe Purge will be more effective coming from behind, Pletcher said.

Other trainers said they're also changing tactics. Orman said Rock Hard Ten, who finished second in the Preakness after rallying from seventh, will try to stay closer to Smarty Jones. Mark Hennig, trainer of Eddington, has trained the colt sharply since his third-place Preakness finish, hoping for more speed and focus.

"He disappointed me in the Preakness because he completely lost his train of thought or focus for a large portion during the middle of the race," said Jerry Bailey, Eddington's jockey. "He's like a dumb kid. All the tools are there. It's a question of when the light bulb will go on."

Even if Eddington, who has never won a stakes races, suddenly gets it together in the Belmont, Bailey said, he's not sure he can beat Smarty Jones. Just in case, the Hall of Fame jockey said, he's planning to stop by Smarty Jones' barn in the next day or two.

"I want to get a good look at his face," Bailey said, "because all I've seen is his backside."

NOTES: John Servis, Smarty Jones' trainer, said he was happy with the outside starting spot. The colt won the Arkansas Derby breaking from Post 11 in the 11-horse field. "He can sit out there and get comfortable and see what's going on," Servis said, referring to Smarty Jones, as well as his jockey, Stewart Elliott. "Then he can decide what he wants to do." ... Like Pletcher, Frankel had vacillated about running Master David. He said he decided to enter the colt after hearing that Allen Jerkens, the Hall of Fame trainer, had said the horse he liked to upset Smarty Jones was Master David. "Allen said if he was his horse, he'd work him long and run him," Frankel said. "So I took him out the next day and worked him long, and now we're running."

At a glance

What: 136th Belmont Stakes, third leg of thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown

Where: Belmont Park, Elmont, N.Y.

When: Saturday

Post time: 6:38 p.m.

Distance: 1 1/2 miles

TV: Chs. 11, 4; 5:30 p.m.

The field

PP Horse Trainer Jockey Odds

1 Master David Bobby Frankel Jose Santos 20-1 2 Purge Todd Pletcher John Velazquez 5-1 3 Caiman Angel Medina Ramon Dominguez 50-1

4 Birdstone Nick Zito Edgar Prado 15-1 5 Rock Hard Ten Jason Orman Alex Solis 8-1 6 Royal Assault Nick Zito Pat Day 20-1

7 Tap Dancer Edward Allard Javier Castellano 50-1 8 Eddington Mark Hennig Jerry Bailey 10-1 9 Smarty Jones John Servis Stewart Elliott 2-5