True Hollywood Story

The Michener Museum celebrates ‘Smarty Jones: Heart of a Champion.’

By: Matt Smith

Smarty Jones races to victory in the 2004 Preakness Stakes. The James A. Michener Art Museum in Doylestown, Pa., is spotlighting the famous Bucks County horse.

   Only the most hardened cynic could turn a cold shoulder to the compelling saga of Smarty Jones, the Bucks County horse that defied the odds to win the 2004 editions of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes.
   Smarty overcame the murder of his first trainer, a fractured skull at age 2 and the near-retirement of his owners, Roy and Pat Chapman of Someday Farm in New Hope, Pa. Under the eye of new trainer John Servis and jockey Stewart Elliott, the small-but-determined colt won his racing debut at Philadelphia Park in Bensalem, Pa., in November 2003 and entered last year’s Kentucky Derby unbeaten. Smarty captured victory in that race and at the Preakness, with only a narrow second-place finish in the Belmont Stakes keeping him from Triple Crown glory.
   The James A. Michener Art Museum is celebrating the Delaware Valley’s favorite horse with Smarty Jones: Heart of a Champion, an exhibit of photographs, artifacts and memorabilia on view May 8 to June 19.
   "It’s heartbreaking," says Erika Jaeger-Smith, associate curator of exhibitions at the Michener of Smarty’s Triple Crown disappointment. "For example, in the exhibit we have uncashed tickets from all three races of the Triple Crown. Those three tickets would be worth far more uncashed than if cashed in (if Smarty had won the Belmont Stakes).
   "Smarty came back from so much adversity," Ms. Jaeger-Smith continues, "the skull fracture, the death of the first trainer. He was considered small in stature… It’s still a really wonderful and inspiring story. It’s cinematic."
   The exhibition was organized by and first displayed at the State Museum of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg, Pa. It has been reconfigured for its stay at the Michener, where it is the first exhibit to ever take up two galleries. Now featured in Heart of a Champion are a replica of the Garland of Roses, on loan from the Kentucky Derby Museum in Louisville, and the Triple Crown trophy won by Seattle Slew in 1977, as well as photographs not previously exhibited and program booklets from all three of Smarty’s Triple Crown races.
   "The curator of popular culture (at the State Museum, Curt Miner) really delves into the story behind some of the cultural happenings that occur in Pennsylvania," says Ms. Jaeger-Smith. "Anything they do that is relevant to Bucks County we love to bring here.
   "It’s unbelievably exciting," she continues. "These artifacts are of a different kind that those with monetary value. The have cultural significance. When the exhibit opened in Harrisburg, the State Police escorted them on the drive up from Bucks County."
   Late last year a leg injury ended Smarty’s career and he entered retirement at Three Chimneys Farm, a breeding farm near Midway, Ky. Time magazine named him one of the "People Who Mattered" in 2004, and Smarty’s legacy will live on in Bucks County.
Smarty Jones: Heart of a Champion is on view at the James A Michener Art Museum, 138 S. Pine St., Doylestown, Pa., May 8-June 19. Museum admission costs $6.50, $6 seniors, $4 students. Museum hours: Tues., Thurs.-Fri. 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Wed. 10 a.m.-9 p.m.; Sat. 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sun. noon-5 p.m. For information, call (215) 340-9800. On the Web: www.michenerartmuseum.org