Smarty Jones captured hearts on the 2004 Triple Crown trail. He’s been elected to the Hall of Fame

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. (AP) — It’s time for another Smarty party.

Twenty-one years after Smarty Jones won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, the chestnut colt has been elected to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.

The Hall of Fame announced Thursday that he was the lone candidate in the contemporary category to appear on the majority of ballots, with 50% plus one vote required for election. It was his first year on the ballot.

Bred in Pennsylvania, Smarty Jones won eight of nine career starts and won the Eclipse Award for 3-year-old males in 2004.

That year he became the first undefeated Kentucky Derby winner since Seattle Slew with a 2 3/4-length victory. Two weeks later, Smarty Jones won the Preakness by a record 11 1/2 lengths to set up a Triple Crown bid. His hard-luck story captured hearts along the way, with schoolchildren writing letters wishing him luck and people throwing Smarty parties.

But he was beaten by a length in the Belmont Stakes by 36-1 shot Birdstone in front of a record crowd of 120,139 in New York.

Smarty Jones retired after the Belmont with career earnings of $7,613,155. He was owned by Roy and Pat Chapman, trained by John Servis and ridden by Stewart Elliott.

Also elected were racehorses Decathlon and Hermis and trainer George H. Conway by the 1900-1959 Historic Review Committee. Edward L. Bowen, Arthur B. Hancock III and Richard Ten Broeck were elected by the Pillars of the Turf Committee.

The newest Hall of Fame members will be enshrined on Aug. 1 in Saratoga Springs, New York.

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AP horse racing: https://apnews.com/hub/horse-racing