BY BROCK SHERIDAN
Frances A. Genter’s homebred Smile, a highly accomplished and versatile 4-year-old colt with jockey Jacinto Vasquez aboard, broke sharply from the rail and immediately had company on the outside from filly Pine Tree Lane. The duel went into deep stretch before Smile edged away to triumph by a length-and-a-half.
Remarkably, Smile went into the Sprint at liberal odds of 11-to-1 after a dull effort on a sloppy track at Philadelphia Park after competing in longer races in his three previous starts. Smile’s Breeders’ Cup victory earned him Eclipse champion sprinter honors.
A Florida-bred by In Reality out of Sunny Smile, by Boldnesian, Smile began his career with seven straight victories at Calder for trainer Frank Gomez and the rest of his career between trainers Carl Nafzger in the Midwest and F.S. “Scotty” Schulhofer, the latter his trainer for the Breeders’ Cup.
