Smarty Jones Gets First Mare in Foal

Graded stakes winner Forest Heiress is the first mare to be checked in foal to 2004 champion and dual classic winner Smarty Jones  . A five-time stakes winner, 6-year-old Forest Heiress is owned by Mr. and Mrs. Robert McNair's Stonerside Stable and boarded at the Paris, Ky., nursery.

"We're thinking about roses in May," said Stonerside manager Bobby Spalding, alluding to the Kentucky Derby (gr. I). "She was bred on her foal heat, and we checked her in foal this morning (Feb. 22) at 12 days."

Forest Heiress (Forest Wildcat--Penniless Heiress, by Pentelicus) foaled a Mineshaft   colt, her first foal, in late January. She was bred one time, on February 10, to Smarty Jones.

Smarty Jones' book of mares will be limited to 110 mares, plus one Breeders' Cup season, as stipulated in the syndicate agreement. Smarty Jones' book includes grade I winners Fantastic Look, Heritage of Gold, La Gueriere, Mandy's Gold, and Serra Lake; plus the dams of grade I stakes winners Cuvee, Exogenous, Tactical Cat, Golden Ballet, Numerous Times, I Believe in You, Stephen Got Even, Distant Music, Silver Wagon, Volponi, and Bevo. He is also booked to 17 mares that are full or half-sisters to grade/group I winners.

Smarty Jones (Elusive Quality  --I'll Get Along, by Smile) retired in August with damage to the cartilage in his left front ankle and entered stud at Robert N. Clay's Three Chimneys Farm near Midway, Ky. "Smarty Jones has been as professional and proficient in his new career as he was on the racetrack," said Three Chimneys president Dan Rosenberg about the Kentucky Derby and Preakness (gr. I) winner. "As of this morning, he's bred 19 mares. He's a great horse and it's great to have him here."

The public interest in Smarty Jones continues to be strong. "We counted that he had over 5,000 visitors between mid-August and the end of 2004," Rosenberg said. "At one point this fall, our Saturday tours were booked six weeks in advance."

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