ELMONT, N.Y. - The morning after the Belmont Stakes, trainer Bobby Frankel questioned whether Birdstone, the Triple Crown spoiler, could defeat Smarty Jones if they met again. Frankel's comment, relayed to Nick Zito, drew an angry response from the trainer who notched his first Belmont win.
Frankel won the Belmont last year when Empire Maker knocked off Triple Crown aspirant Funny Cide, but Frankel's Master David finished seventh in a nine-horses field Saturday, trailing Birdstone by more than 30 lengths. Smarty Jones, who finished 1 length behind Birdstone, lost out on the Triple Crown and a $5-million bonus that would have accompanied a sweep of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont.
"If Birdstone had run in all three races, you could have slid him under a door," Frankel said of the slightly built colt. Throwing rocks at Birdstone did not sit well with the Brooklyn-born Zito, who had run 11 horses in the Belmont before winning.
"Where was (Frankel's horse Saturday)?" Zito said, throwing up his hands. "... Frankel needed Allen Jerkens to train his horse."
Zito's reference was to the Hall of Fame, Belmont Park-based trainer who liked Master David's chances in the Belmont. Frankel cited Jerkens' optimism as a reason for running Master David.
Birdstone was lightly campaigned this year, winning an allowance race at Gulfstream, finishing fifth in a stakes race at Turfway and running eighth in the Derby. Zito kept Birdstone out of the Preakness and saved him for the Belmont, which came five weeks after the Derby.
The week of the Belmont, Zito said there was a joke around his barn about "where we might find 100 pounds to put on Birdstone." Zito estimates Birdstone is well under 1,000 pounds.
Frankel and other trainers, including Smarty Jones' conditioner, John Servis, have exonerated Stewart Elliott, whose ride in the Belmont was questioned. Frankel said Smarty Jones is the best of the six horses who won the first two legs of the Triple Crown in the past eight years. "It's a shame Smarty Jones didn't win the Belmont," he said. "But don't blame the jockey. It's the Derby and the Preakness that got Smarty Jones beat. Bird-stone didn't have to run in all those tough races like Smarty Jones did."
RATINGS: The Belmont had its highest overnight rating in 27 years. NBC's telecast drew a 13.4 rating and 27 share, the best Belmont overnight rating since Seattle Slew's 1977 Triple Crown-clinching victory produced a 15.4 rating and 47 share. The ratings for the 5:30-7:15 p.m. broadcast were 29 percent higher than last year's 10.0 rating and 22 share for Funny Cide's failed attempt at the Triple Crown. The race segment, between 6:15-7:15 p.m., got a 15.6 and 31, up 32 percent from last year's Belmont. Overnight ratings measure the 55 largest TV markets in the United States. Each overnight rating point represents about 735,000 TV homes.
