Smarty's final work

[ronwar]

I was real interested to see what Smartys final work was going to be.  I remember that :58 he put up before the derby.  And I believe his work prior to that was a :58

I was worried he would throw in another, with Funny Cides :58 still fresh in my head.  But instead, according to DRF \"Smarty Jones was given an official time of 1:29.20, but he appeared to go a bit faster. The fractions reported were 26.60 seconds, 39.20, 51.20, 1:03.20, and 1:16.20. Clockers reported him galloping out one mile in 1:44.40\"

I\'m amazed he would relax like that.  I know there are no sure things in racing, but....
as long as he doesn\'t step on any nails or tacks, right?

[derby1592]

I had the opposite reaction but did not see a replay of the work so it is hard to tell. He has been working very fast(his last 3 works were 58 and change) and running very fast (4 straight negative figs) all year and now he suddenly has a real slow work. I am sure they were trying to get him to relax in his workouts before the Derby and he was still getting 58 and change while \"relaxed.\" This time it looks like he never got out of a gallop. That sort of sudden change for a normally very sharp work horse seems like a big negative to me.

I guess you can read it either way and I don\'t put a lot of stock in works anyway but maybe all those fast races have finally taken their toll...

Chris