Along with some 120,000 other fans, I was lucky enough to witness the 2004 Belmont Stakes first hand. Below is a letter I wrote after the race to Mr. and Mrs. Chapman, Smarty Jones' owners, as well as his trainer, John Servis, and his jockey, Stewart Elliott.

I received a lovely response from Pat Chapman on June 22nd!

This letter was also featured by The Philadelphia Inquirer on June 13th and The Bucks County Herald on June 24th.

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Chapman, Mr. Servis, and Mr. Elliott,

I just wanted to write you and express my sympathy for your loss at Belmont Park yesterday. It was a terribly disappointing loss for all of us; I was one of the 120,000 in attendance yesterday and heard first-hand the hush of the crowd as Birdstone raced across the wire in the biggest upset of our time.

But I also wanted to let you know that Smarty Jones is still loved and admired, and that all of us, the true fans, will continue to follow his career with avid interest and enthusiasm.

He has certainly inspired me. I work at a New Hope bed and breakfast and rearranged a tough weekend schedule just to make the trip to Belmont. My friend and I woke up at 4:45am in order to guarantee a swift trip to Elmont, where we luckily retained a picnic table on the backstretch by 8:30am, then patiently waited over nine hours for a glimpse of the legendary chestnut colt. And what do I think now? It was well worth it!

I have been a racing fan since I was 8 years old (now 24) and never has a living Thoroughbred inspired me in any proximity. I was the proud owner of a 17.2 hand Thoroughbred gelding, Regal Destroyer (or Puppy, as we called him) until his death in 2002. Puppy had a much less impressive five-year career racing six-furlong races in the finger lakes of New York. Being a stalker, not a sprinter, he of course rarely won at that distance, but always had a write up of "fought hard at the end, but outrun."

That is unfortunately how Smarty's run could've been described yesterday. But considering that Smarty held the lead for nearly one and a half miles, completely shut out the contenders of Rock Hard Ten, Eddington, and Purge, and went on to only lose by a length to a horse that had five weeks to train and rest at Belmont, it's still amazing to see what he has accomplished. His story is highly reminiscent of Seabiscuit (a horse who could not even participate in the Triple Crown, but is very famous), and his Preakness win brought back memories of the great Secretariat. While the timing is most unfortunate, it is important to remember that no horse is ever 100% unbeatable. This will just make him more human and relatable. Like all the greats, even Seabiscuit and Secretariat, he lost. But he lost fighting like a champion all the way.

I just wanted to say thank you to all of you, Team Smarty Jones, for your continued inspiration to all of us. I look forward to seeing Smarty run later this year. It's my feeling that this will be the only time we ever see this little horse beaten on the oval, and that is something to hope for.

Best wishes,

Diana Tuorto

Click here for photos from the 2004 Belmont Stakes!