Not long after Smarty Jones was foaled, Roy 's trainer, Bob Camac, was murdered along with his wife at their New Jersey farm. It caused a setback for Roy , prodding him to think about leaving the racing business altogether.

In 2003, the Chapmans sold all of their racing stock save for two horses, one of which was Smarty Jones. Says Roy : “I, thank God, decided to keep him and not sell him. He just had that look in his eye.”

The two horses were sent to Florida to be broken for racing, and then found themselves in Philadelphia at the barn of John Servis, a friend of Camac. John is a native of Charles Town, West Virginia, who scored his first win as a trainer with Belle River in 1984 at Philadelphia Park . In 2000, he saddled Jostle to sweep the Coaching Club American Oaks at Belmont Park and the Alabama Stakes at Saratoga .

One day in July, at the age of two, Smarty Jones was in the midst of a schooling session at the starting gate at Philadelphia Park , gearing up for his first career start. Here, he met a horrible accident and nearly lost his left eye. Smarty Jones reared up and slammed his head on an unpadded iron bar, getting his skull fractured and his orbital (eye socket) bones shattered.

The recent Derby may well hark back to that accident, what with two of the other entrants lacking sight in one eye. Smarty Jones could have been the third but fate had other plans for him.

Following the mishap that broke his skull, Smarty Jones underwent several months of professional care at the New Jersey Equine Clinic. On November 9, 2003 , he made a significant comeback in Philadelphia , winning by 7 ¾ lengths in his debut. Only two weeks later, in his second start, he romped by 15 lengths.

Right then, his owners knew: Smarty Jones would go places, and the Derby would certainly be one of them. “He did not deviate one inch,” said Roy . “He ran it just the way he was going to run it that day.”

Indeed, John Servis and the Chapmans took him places, races that would set Smarty Jones up for the $5 million payday. Prior to the Kentucky Derby, he had already earned five championship titles this year.

On January 3, in the Count Fleet Stakes at Aqueduct, he won by a widening 5 lengths as the 2-5 favorite. Then on February 28, he took Oaklawn's Southwest Stakes by ¾ of a length as the 1-2 favorite. He won the 1 1/16 mile Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park on March 20, by 3 ¼ lengths. And again, he triumphed at the 1 1/8 mile Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park on April 10.