By JENNIE REES
The (Louisville, Ky.) Courier-Journal

ELMONT, N.Y. - Of all the scenarios bandied about before Saturday's 129th Belmont Stakes, almost none included Birdstone.

Birdstone, left, with Edgar Prado aboard, crosses the finish line ahead of Smarty Jones, right, with Stewart Elliott up, to win the Belmont Stakes Saturday. (AP photo)

The vast majority of the Belmont Park record crowd of 120,139 thought they were attending a coronation of Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Smarty Jones as racing's 12 Triple Crown winner and first in 26 years.

Birdstone? He was that little bitty horse who won New York's most important 2-year-old race, the Grade I Champagne Stakes, last fall.

But since then, he'd only won a minor allowance race, ran a poor fifth as the heavy favorite in Turfway Park's Lane's End Stakes, missed Keeneland's Blue Grass when his blood was off-kilter and finished a non-threatening eighth in the Kentucky Derby while losing a shoe.

Which was why Birdstone was 36-1 and the third-longest choice in the field of nine.

However, calling on a distance-oriented pedigree, the class of a Grade I winner and benefiting from the collapse of the horses in front, Birdstone and jockey Edgar Prado methodically chased down Smarty Jones inside the final sixteenth-mile for a length victory.

It was another eight lengths back to Royal Assault, giving trainer Nick Zito the 1-3 finishers in the biggest 3-year-old race at his hometown track.

If few people gave Birdstone any chance, Prado said he actually was "very confident coming into the race."

"The day I rode him in the Derby, he was gaining in the stretch. So today I feel very comfortable. He was training really well in Saratoga, and he worked beautifully the other day, and he was fresh. He's a small horse, but he's got a lot of heart. Plus he lost a shoe in the Derby."

Birdstone, a son of 1996 Derby winner Grindstone and the half-brother to 2003 Kentucky Oaks winner Bird Town, now is 4-0-0 in seven starts, earning $975,600 with the $600,000 payday for owner Marylou Whitney, a grand dame of racing.

"I had a good feeling," said Zito, who had five seconds and a third with his prior 11 Belmont starters. "I thought both horses would run well today. Sure, I would have been happy with another second place. I'd have said, 'I'll keep trying.' It's really sweet.

"I knew in the Belmont Stakes, he was going to keep persevering, which he did. I couldn't believe it (through the stretch). What could I say? I just was happy and grateful my horse was running so well as my horse was running."

The race went off 10 minutes later than the scheduled post, in part apparently at NBC's behest but also when Rock Hard Ten - who had delayed the start of the Preakness - again refused to load, kicking up his heels and finally having to be blindfolded before going into the starting gate.

Smarty Jones broke sharply from his No. 9 post and was quickly joined by Purge, Rock Hard Ten and longshot Caiman, with Eddington up in the mix.

Prado's confidence only increased when he saw the gaggle of leaders. The first quarter-mile went in a legitimate 24.33 seconds. The pace quickened with the half-mile going in 48.65 and six furlongs in 1:11.76.

Smarty Jones clearly was a marked horse, with the other leading contenders staying right alongside. Down the backside, it was Smarty Jones, Rock Hard Ten and Eddington in a pack, with Birdstone in striking position back in fourth and everyone else seemingly out of it.

"I had a clean break and I was about five lengths off the lead," said Prado, who won the 2002 Belmont with 70-1 Sarava, in which War Emblem's Triple Crown was thwarted. "When I saw three horses going head and head, I just sat right behind and bided my time. I was very comfortable. It was a similar scenario to Sarava's trip. I knew I had a chance to win about the eighth pole."

John Servis, trainer of Smarty Jones, was concerned even as his horse went down the backside with a short lead. He didn't see Smarty Jones relaxing the way he did for jockey Stewart Elliott in the Derby and Preakness.

"That was one of the things I was concerned about the whole three weeks," he said. "They got the half (mile) fairly slow. I thought maybe we'd still be OK. And coming to the far turn when I saw those horses press him and Stew really had him bent in half, I knew he wasn't settling."

Elliott also was worried, but said he didn't want to get into a wrestling match with the colt, which could have taken a bigger toll.

"My horse broke very sharp," Elliott said. "I just gold a hold of him, tried to get him to relax. A couple of horses come up on my inside, which kind of kept him on the bit a little bit more than I wanted. I had a little trouble getting him to settle. I figured if I could get into the backside and get a clear lead, maybe then he'd relax. And then I had a horse on either side. He just never got a break, and the mile and a half just got to him. He never got a break the whole race."

But on the second turn, the Smarty Party appeared to be breaking out, with Rock Hard Ten and Eddington fading. With Smarty Jones powering to a 3-1/2-length lead turning for home, the already raucous record crowd exploded into a deafening roar. People began hugging and crying, thinking they were seeing history in the making.

"I still thought I had a good shot," Elliott said. "My horse was running when I peeked over and saw Birdstone coming. I said, 'We might be in trouble here.' That horse was coming pretty strong."

In mid-stretch, Elliott broke out the whip as Birdstone and Prado loomed ever closer. The final eighth-mile came down to whether the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner could hold off Birdstone, perhaps the only horse smaller than the favorite in the field. The race was decided 12 strides from the wire, as Birdstone got his head in front and edged away in the late stages.

The time for 1 1/2 miles was 2:27.50, with the final quarter-mile going into 26.98 seconds after the first 10 furlongs went in a fine 2:00.52.

Birdstone paid $74 to win.

While Elliott will likely be second-guessed for moving too early, Servis is not among them.

"I think Stew did a fine job," he said. "I knew down the backside when he was dragging him out of the saddle, I had a bad feeling.

"You can't do that and get a mile and a half. That was one of the things that helped us so much going into the Derby and the Preakness. He relaxed so well. He just didn't do it today."

Elliott also didn't believe he could have done things better under the circumstances.

"Geez, it's easy to say after the race you could do something different," he said. "I don't think I had really any choice. I could have maybe drug him back, then I would have been fighting him more. That's horse racing. You do what you think is right at the time and if it works, it works. If it doesn't, you can't go back and rerun the race."

Royal Assault, ridden by Pat Day, came home to take third by three lengths over Eddington, who nosed out Rock Hard Ten. Peter Pan winner Purge, the third choice at 9-1, was through midway down the backside and came in last.

"He came running, tried hard and I thought ran a big race," said Day.

Asked about Smarty Jones, he said, "From my vantage point, it appeared that Smarty Jones was backing up a little bit. The winner and myself were the only two who were really running at the end. I've come to the conclusion that the only sure thing is that there is no sure thing. I'm sorry for racing and sorry for Smarty Jones' people that they weren't able to get that third leg of the Triple Crown. But my congratulations to Nick Zito and his team. They did an excellent job. I couldn't be happier except for the fact that I'd have loved to have won."

Jockey Jerry Bailey said Eddington just "gave in." Regarding Smarty Jones, he said, "It goes to show you how difficult it is to win a Triple Crown."

Bailey rode Birdstone in the Champagne, his three-length allowance race that kicked off his 3-year-old season and in his dull Lane's End - an effort that pretty much eliminated him as a serious Derby contender in many eyes. Bailey jumped off Birdstone to ride Eddington in the Wood Memorial.

Prado hence landed the mount on Birdstone.

Asked if he was surprised by Birdstone's victory, the ever candid Bailey said: "I couldn't pick him on the rerun, to be honest with you. But he ran a great race today."

Belmont results

Results of Saturday's Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park:

11th-$1,000,000, stk, 3YO, 1 1/2 miles. Weather: cloudy.

4 (4) Birdstone (E.Prado)	74.00	14.00	8.60
9 (9) Smarty Jones (S.Elliott)	3.30	2.60
6 (6) Royal Assault (P.Day)	6.10

Off 6:48. Time 2:27.50. Fast. Also Ran-Eddington, Rock Hard Ten, Tap Dancer, Master David, Caiman, Purge. Pick 6 (4-3-1-3-5-4) 6 Correct Paid $47,421.00, 5 Correct Paid $146.00. Pick 4 (1-3-5-4) 4 Correct Paid $7,309.00. Pick 3 (3-5-4) 3 Correct Paid $2,910.00. Daily Double (5-4 (ACORN/BELMONT) paid $466.00. Exacta (4-9) paid $139.00. Superfecta (4-9-6-8) paid $11,679.00. Trifecta (4-9-6) paid $1,589.00. Daily Double (5-4) paid $526.00.

Soooo close ...

Other recent horses that won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness but failed to win the Belmont Stakes since Affirmed's Triple Crown in 1978 (with place, distance behind and Belmont winner):

2003: Funny Cide (3rd, 5 lengths, Empire Maker).

2002: War Emblem (8th, 19 1/2 lengths, Sarava).

1999: Charismatic (3rd, 1 1/2 lengths, Lemon Drop Kid).

1998: Real Quiet (2nd, nose, Victory Gallop).

1997: Silver Charm (2nd, 3/4 length, Touch Gold).

1989: Sunday Silence (2nd, 8 lengths, Easy Goer).

1987: Alysheba (4th, 14 1/4 lengths, Bet Twice).

1981: Pleasant Colony (3rd, 1 1/2 lengths, Summing).

1979: Spectacular Bid (3rd, 3 1/4 lengths, Coastal).