NO KEEPING UP WITH THIS JONES DERBY WINNER OVERCOMES RAIN, TRAGIC HISTORY.

Byline: Kevin Modesti Staff Writer

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Smarty Jones and his two-legged teammates came so far and overcame so much just to get to the 130th Kentucky Derby that when the blue-collar colt swung into the muddy homestretch with a rival and a quarter-mile between him and history, he might have thought the challenge ahead looked easy by comparison.

He proceeded to make it look easy to 140,054 fans at Churchill Downs.

Sweeping past front-running Lion Heart and pulling away, Smarty Jones and jockey Stewart Elliott turned this most contentious Kentucky Derby into a runaway Saturday, winning by 2 3/4 lengths and leaving 17 other 3-year-olds strung out nearly 40 lengths on a stormy evening at Churchill Downs.

``Lion Heart was sitting,'' Elliott said of the moment on the final turn when the two leaders were coiling for the sprint to the wire, ``but I knew I had a loaded gun underneath me, and I was waiting.''

The record book will show that Smarty Jones was the bettors' favorite, that the Arkansas-Kentucky derby double wins his owners and handlers a $5 million bonus check, and that his 7-for-7 record makes him the first undefeated winner of America's most famous horse race since the great Seattle Slew in 1977.

But nothing about the Smarty Jones story was expected, plush or regal until the very end.

The man who arranged his breeding, Bob Camac, was murdered. The grieving owners, Roy and Patricia Chapman, nearly got out of the sport. The jockey once quit the game because of weight problems. The horse fractured his skull in a starting-gate accident.

The whole group had to get over doubts that a Pennsylvania-bred son of Elusive Quality from gritty Philadelphia Park by way of Arkansas could compete with the big colts, that owners and a trainer and a jockey who had never competed in the Kentucky Derby could win it.

When Churchill Downs announced the Derby morning-line odds on Wednesday, unbeaten Smarty Jones was only the second choice behind The Cliff's Edge, who'd been competing in more prestigious races. Fans had a different idea, making Smarty Jones a 4-1 favorite, and they turned out to be right. It's only the second time in a quarter-century that the favorite has won the event.

``I just hope he gets his due now,'' said Roy Chapman, a Philadelphia car dealer.

Smarty Jones paid $10.20 for a $2 win bet. His 2:04.06 clocking for the 1 1/4 miles, the slowest Derby-winning time in 15 years, can be blamed on the sloppy surface. Lion Heart finished second and Imperialism third.

Chapman, 77, suffers from emphysema, wears an oxygen tube in his nostrils and moves about in a wheelchair. But he spoke robustly about the achievement of the couple that lives at a place called Someday Farm.

``From horse No. 1, every horse, it was a dream to get to the Kentucky Derby. Did we ever think we'd get here? No,'' Chapman said. ''We've never raced at this level and we never planned to do it.''

Trainer John Servis was just as emotional.

``I'm like any trainer,'' Servis said. ``I've dreamt about this my whole life. Never knew if I'd get here. ... When (Smarty Jones) came to the eighth pole in front, if my knees weren't buckling, I'd have jumped out of the box.''

And jockey Elliott sounded overwhelmed.

``Sure, I'd dreamed about it,'' said Elliott, the first jockey to win the Derby on his initial try since Spectacular Bid's Ronnie Franklin in 1979. ``But it was only a dream.''

Because Smarty Jones had won the Arkansas Derby on a muddy track, his handlers hoped the Louisville rain forecasts were right.

Were they ever: About two hours before the Derby, a cloudburst accompanied by thunder and lighting shook Churchill Downs and knocked ESPN's telecast off the air. Ankle-deep puddles formed near the saddling paddock, shirtless fans swam in freshly formed ponds in the infield, and the track's no-umbrellas policy drew a few thousand curses. Water streamed from the roof of a half-completed add-on to the clubhouse, part of Churchill's ongoing $121 million renovation.

The rain lightened by race time but the track remained shiny-wet, a condition that can help front-running horses.

Hollywood Futurity winner Lion Heart and jockey Mike Smith, out of post 3, seized a clear lead quickly. Smarty Jones, from post 13, fought his way out of a bumping second flight to give chase down the backstretch. By the turn for home, it was a two-horse race, with long shot and eventual seventh-place finisher Read the Footnotes leading the battle for third.

``I just got beat by a better horse today,'' Smith said.

Imperialism and Kent Desormeaux rallied from 17th to third, but some notable stretch-runners stalled - Blue Grass winner The Cliff's Edge finished fifth, Wood Memorial winner Tapit ninth, Santa Anita Derby winner Castledale 14th.

``It was horrible,'' said Shane Sellers, rider of The Cliff's Edge. ``When the rain came, it was going to be good for some horses and bad for others. It wasn't good for The Cliff's Edge. When he falters in the stretch, that means he didn't have a chance.''

That's what people said about Smarty Jones for three years, that he didn't have a chance. Too much pain. Too much doubt. Too little Derby dirt in his handlers' boots.

Now he's going to Baltimore for the May 15 Preakness as the only horse with a chance to win the second leg of thoroughbred racing's first Triple Crown sweep since Affirmed in 1978.

Kevin Modesti, [phone]

kevin.modesti(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, 2 boxes

Photo:

(1 -- color) Smarty Jones, left, with Stewart Elliott aboard, drives down the stretch to victory in the 130th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on Saturday.

Al Behrman/Associated Press

(2) Smarty Jones, front, with jockey Stewart Elliott aboard, drives down the stretch to victory in the 130th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on Saturday.

Darren Cummings/Associated Press

Box:

(1) DERBY PAYOUTS

(2) KENTUCKY DERBY CHART