Smarty Jones' jockey remains small after his biggest victory

BENSALEM, Pa. -- In the heady aftermath of the Kentucky Derby, hours after guiding Smarty Jones to the winner's circle, Stewart Elliott spotted an acquaintance at a party.

Weaving his way through well-wishers, Elliott grasped Ralph Riviezzo's hand and shook it. The trainer began congratulating him on a brilliant ride, but Elliott changed the subject:

"I just wanted to thank you," the 39-year-old jockey told the longtime Philadelphia Park trainer.

For what? Riviezzo asked.

Nearly 20 years ago, Riviezzo slipped Elliott a $100 tip after the rider brought home one of his horses. Elliott never forgot.

"I couldn't believe it," Riviezzo recalled last week at Philly Park. "He's just won the Kentucky Derby, and he says to me: 'I was going through a little bit of a bad time, things were going slow, and I won a race for you. You handed me a hundred and told me to take out my girlfriend. That was real nice of you."'

That, says Riviezzo, is all you need to know about Elliott: "A class act all the way. What a mind-set."

Ask people about Elliott, and the same words keep coming up repeatedly: dedicated, loyal, modest, reserved. And, of course, talented.

"This is what I do, I ride horses," Elliott said last week at a favorite restaurant near his home in Washington Crossing, Pa. "I work hard at it. It's all I know. I gave up my education for this. I've been through a lot, but I've been very fortunate."

The ultimate journeyman jockey, Elliott is now part of this season's most riveting racing story.

Undefeated entering the Preakness

Smarty Jones is the first undefeated Derby winner since 1977 Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew, and with Elliott and trainer John Servis along for the ride of their lives, the speedy chestnut colt looks to be in top form for Saturday's Preakness Stakes.

Should Smarty party home first in the second leg of the Triple Crown, it would set the stage for the sixth Triple try in eight years at the Belmont Stakes on June 5. The last Triple Crown winner was Affirmed in 1978.

"I still think he's overwhelmed by all this," said Lauren Vannozzi, Elliott's fiancee and a former jockey. "None of this is going to sink in until we have some time to sit down and take it all in. But I can tell you he's very deserving of all this."

Elliott has won more than 3,200 races since dropping out of school after eighth grade to pursue a riding career. He started riding three years later at 16 and has climbed aboard thoroughbreds at nearly 30 racetracks in the Northeast -- from Canada to New England, from New Jersey to Florida.

He's broken collar bones and legs and punctured a lung. After a horse flipped at the start of a race at Calder in the 1980s, Elliott landed back-first on the rail. His weight ballooned during his recovery, and he quit riding. He exercised horses in several states for two years before making it back.

"I didn't know what else to do, so I just found a way to ride again," he said.

Elliott was born into a racing family. His father, Dennis, was a jockey for 23 years and now has a farm in Ocala, Fla. His mother, Myhill, is an assistant trainer at Woodbine in his native Toronto.

When Elliott was 6, the family moved to Hong Kong for about five years. They returned and bought a 25-acre farm in Mount Pleasant, N.J.

"My mom gave riding lessons and dad got some thoroughbreds and started training," Elliott said.

By 1981, Elliott was riding at Philly Park and in New Jersey. In fact, he was the leading rider at Atlantic City, beating out another apprentice, Shannon Sullivan, whose agent just happened to be Servis.

"You could see he had some talent even back then," Servis said. "We seemed to hit it off and remained friends even when he left for Boston and Florida and wherever."

After bouncing around several tracks with moderate success, Elliott returned to Philly Park about 10 years ago. He became Servis' regular rider. He bought a house. He met Vannozzi about four years ago, and an August wedding is in the works.

He's been Philly Park's leading rider three times, and is well on his way to a fourth title.

Servis loves the way Elliot rides. He's poised, patient and powerful, especially when it's time to make a move in the stretch.

"He's very laid back, very soft spoken, but completely different when he puts that helmet on," Servis said. "It's almost like 'The Sword in the Stone.' When he puts that helmet on, he portrays confidence, and when it's off, you see him around he doesn't have a lot to say."

Elliott won't bite: "I don't think so. I'm pretty much the same person."

Servis stuck by Elliott all the way through the Derby preps. Small-time riders, after all, are nearly always replaced by stars when the stakes are raised, especially when it involves America's greatest race. But Servis told Elliott all he needed to do was convince Smarty Jones' owners.

"It's the biggest race in our lives. There's going to be 20 horses, there's going to be a zillion people there. Can you tell me you're confident with Stew going into the race?" owner Roy Chapman asked Servis a few weeks before the Derby.

"Absolutely, there's no doubt in my mind," the trainer replied.

Elliott was grateful.

"I couldn't think of any reason that they would have let me stay on the horse, other than John," Elliott said. "Trainers have owners to deal with and they don't want to go to the Derby with some jockey from Philly Park. But they took John's word. And that was very big of them."

Elliott, Servis and Pete Von Trump, Smarty's exercise rider, have been relying on each other for years. Not only do they work together, they hunt together -- for deer and turkey, with a bow.

"I can't remember how many times I went hunting last year, but when I did, Stew was usually with me," Servis said.

While trying to enjoy his newfound fame, Elliott found out everything isn't a blanket of roses.

He pleaded guilty to assault three years ago, but failed to disclose the information when filling out his jockey application to ride at Churchill Downs. It will not affect the outcome of the Derby, although Elliott faces disciplinary action.

For his part, Elliott said he made a mistake and is looking ahead. Yes, there's the Preakness and the Belmont, but there's also a career to manage. He says he's got another five or six years of riding left, and he's going to try to make the most of it.

"I've been riding mostly at cheap tracks and on mostly cheaper horses," he said. "This will give me an opportunity to make some money for retirement."

He's moving this month to Monmouth Park, the track where his fiancee began work a few days ago as an exercise rider for Servis' brother.

Elliott, it seems, is not about to wander too far from his friends.

"Winning the Kentucky Derby is one of the greatest things that can happen, and it's even greater to win it with your buddies," Elliott said. "We started off here in Philly, went to Arkansas and made it all the way to the Derby. This is not about business, and being a client. We're pals, and we did it together."