Fewer lines, but Smith can still steal the show

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Meet Michael Earl Smith, philanthropist. Earlier this week, the Hall of Fame rider could be found hopping from one Breeders’ Cup event to another, signing bottles of booze, T-shirts, programs, photographs – just about everything this side of blank checks – as crowds gathered to support a variety of causes and bask in the glow of his sunshine smile.

Having just celebrated his 53rd birthday in August, giving lie once again to the deteriorating pressures of age, Smith is poised to deliver his most generous gesture of the week on Friday and Saturday when he rides in only four of the 14 Breeders’ Cup events at Churchill Downs. This gives the rest of the guys a whisper of a chance to play catch-up, but only a whisper.

Smith is far and away the leading rider in the history of the Breeders’ Cup. He has ridden in 25 of the 34 Cups presented since the dawning of the age in 1984, winning 26 races in 15 of those renewals, including three Classics and five Distaffs. Of his 135 Breeders’ Cup mounts, 82 have earned part of a purse, running up a total of $35.8 million and change.

For perspective – almost too much perspective – the closest rider to Smith’s numbers is John Velazquez, a mere lad of 46, who enters the weekend with 15 winners and purses topping $25 million.

Smith commences his labors on Friday in the $2 million Juvenile with his introduction to Well Defined for Gil Campbell’s Stonhedge LLC and trainer Kathleen O’Connell. The son of With Distinction won the 1 1/16-mile In Reality for Florida-sired runners at Gulfstream Park in late September by 7 1/2 lengths.

“I’ve watched all his races, and I loved the fact that his best race was going long,” Smith said. “He’s real forward-looking, too. If he’s not in front, it doesn’t take him long to get there.”

Smith has won Juveniles with Unbridled’s Song and Vindication. Well Defined drew post 5 and is listed at 20-1.

“Kathleen and I go kind of way back,” Smith said. “It would mean a lot to do well for her.”

If Bob Baffert has a good day Saturday, Smith will be along for the ride. They team right off the bat in the $1 million Filly and Mare Sprint with Marley’s Freedom, owned by Ron and Barbara Perry’s Cicero Farms. A daughter of Blame – the same Blame who handed Smith and Zenyatta a narrow defeat in the 2010 Classic at Churchill Downs – Marley’s Freedom is on a four-race roll that includes three graded stakes.

“She’s just so reliable, and we know the seveneighths won’t be any problem for her,” Smith said, alluding to their 3 1/4-length score in the Grade 1 Ballerina at Saratoga.

Marley’s Freedom is favored to join Finest City and Judy the Beauty as winners of the Filly and Mare Sprint for Smith, after which he can take a long nap before he saddles up six races later in the $2 million Distaff with Abel Tasman for Baffert and the China Horse Club.

A year and a half ago, Smith and Abel Tasman won their first race together in the Kentucky Oaks, then went on to earn a division championship. This season was looking like a repeat until, in the Zenyatta Stakes at Santa Anita, Abel threw in a fifth-place stinker.

“It’s funny, but when I think of her that race doesn’t even come to mind,” he said. “She didn’t run at all, and I knew it was happening right away. It wasn’t her.”

In the wake of the Zenyatta, Baffert said Abel Tasman was harboring a slight virus. She has come back to work to the trainer’s satisfaction, which gives Smith the confidence that she will be a good version of her unpredictable self.

“As you know, she can be a little funny,” Smith said. “If she doesn’t break well, she’ll want to make a big middle move. Then again, I wouldn’t be surprised if I was a length in front early, or last. There’s just no telling with her. The other guys don’t really worry about her because they don’t know where she’s gonna be until she’s there.” Yogi Berra would approve. Smith will look for a big finish in the $6 million Classic aboard McKinzie, a 3-year-old facing his elders for the first time. Smith has been aboard the Street Sense colt for his five starts, all for Mike Pegram and partners, including their win in the Pennsylvania Derby last time out.

“I’ve always felt there’s room to improve for him, and especially coming off his last race,” Smith said. “He’s really stepped up his training, his works are brilliant, and what I’m really excited about is him staying around and running another year.

“As for going up against older horses, you just don’t know until you do it. He’s no little onegutted 3-year-old, though. He’s probably bigger than most of the older horses.”

As for leaving so much money on the table, Smith tried being philosophical.

“Well, I think everyone should get a chance,” said the guy they call Big Money. Then he laughed.

“But really, I just love being here, and watching other people do well,” he said. “This is where a whole lot of people get to see some great riders from all over the world. To me, that sounds like fun.”