Such is the case with yours truly, who fell in love with a big copper gelding named Smart Enough way back in April, 2006, when he made his debut at Pimlico Racecourse as the proverbial "good thing." Word had leaked onto the backstretch of Philadelphia Park that Dr. John R. S. Fisher was about to unleash a fireball, and I remember watching via simulcast as the son of Horse Chestnut (SaF) came running for third. From that point on, I kept track of Smart Enough, although he only rewarded me with a $4.40 payout in breaking his maiden at Pimlico in his next start, which was at one of his best distances and preferred surface - five furlongs on the grass. Even at that early point in his career, he displayed pizzazz and charisma, two traits that endeared him to me.
(photo by Rick Samuels; available through The Blood-Horse web site)
Bred by the late F. E. "Fitz" Dixon, Jr., Smart Enough campaigned for Erdenheim Farm until late summer of 2006, when Dixon passed away. While most of the Erdenheim horses were dispersed, Dixon's widow Edith retained Smart Enough, and kept him in Fisher's Fair Hill Training Center barn.
Dr. Fisher's careful training of the chestnut resulted in stellar performances in 2006 and 2007, with perhaps his finest moment coming in the September, 2007 renewal of the Turf Monster Handicap at Philadelphia Park, in which he set a new course record for five furlongs, sizzling the distance in :55.53. I remember watching in awe as he dominated this contest from start to finish, with Joe Bravo merely pointing him towards the finish line. Dr. Fisher referred to the massive, 1,260-pound gelding as the "fastest horse I've ever trained."
While Smart Enough's class and determination on the racetrack were what initially captivated me, his courage in the face of physical adversity earned my admiration. In his 2008 debut in the Gr. 3 Shakertown Stakes at Keeneland, Smart Enough finished second, and Dr. Fisher later discovered the gelding had suffered a small tear to the tissue in his left front ankle. After consultation with Dr. Dean Richardson, he of Barbaro fame, at the New Bolton Center of the University of Pennsylvania, and many months of caring for him, he finally returned to the racing wars in October, racing twice before being put back on the shelf.
Last year, Smart Enough raced three times, winning once - the Gr. 3 Highlander Stakes at Woodbine - and completed the year with an uncharacteristic off-the-board finish in the Pennsylvania Governor's Cup Handicap at Penn National in August.
"Not long after that race he couldn't even walk across his stall," said Fisher, an equine veterinarian. "We later found he had two large abscesses underneath his front shoulder blade, something I had never seen before in all my years with horses. We had to treat and drain them, so that's the reason his 2009 season was so short."
Smart Enough has been working steadily at Fair Hill for his 2010 debut, which Fisher hopes will be in the $70,000 Jim McKay Turf Sprint at five furlongs on turf on May 14 at Pimlico Race Course, the day before the Preakness Stakes. And he's currently in fine fettle - Fisher said he weighed him this morning and he topped the scales at better than 1,300 pounds.
The return of Smart Enough just makes this Triple Crown season even sweeter, and I will be eagerly awaiting his race in the McKay in just over two weeks. Here's wishing my favorite horse good luck, and Godspeed.
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