2004 Belmont Stakes Winner

Major races: Belmont Stakes, Travers Stakes, Jim Dandy Stakes

Post Career: Retired from racing in 2005. Stood at stud at Gainesway Farm in Lexington, Kentucky. He has sired numerous stakes winners and has become a successful breeding stallion. Some of his notable offspring include Summer Bird, Mine That Bird, and Noble Bird.  Birdstone continued to stand at stud at Gainesway Farm until his death in 2020.

May 16 - Birdstone

Around 2005, one evening I'm painting in my studio in Florida and a call comes in. When I answer the first thing the person says is, "This is Mr. Marylou Whitney."

Ok, that's cute and I've never talked with any one of the Whitneys but it sure sounds like a prank from one of my softball buddies. I'm thinking it's Dermot Lynch as he knows a bit about horse racing, and it would be a typical Dermot-thing to do. I was tempted to bust on him but I figured it wouldn't hurt to play along.

Then, the man on the phone laughed and said, "This is John Hendrickson." And yes, that would be Mr. Marylou Whitney.

I've gotten to know John well over the past almost 20 years. He has a great sense of humor. If you ever received the post card (mini magazine that John & Marylou put out at Christmas), you know how they could laugh at themselves and make everyone a part of the fun.

On that day, the conversation turned to me painting Birdstone as Marylou's birthday present. If you recall, it was Birdstone who spoiled the Smarty Party when Smarty Jones seemed to be a lock to win the first Triple Crown since Affirmed. On TV, right after the race Marylou apologized for ruining everyone's party.

John's main request for the painting would be that Smarty had to be in the painting. It was time to search to find the best source photo. One photo gave me what I wanted in the two horses with Birdstone just getting clear of Smarty, but in another photo, I noticed the tote board with the odds. I figured John and Marylou would get a kick of showing the odds, look at Smarty's saddle cloth and then, look at the tote and see him at 1-5 odds! Then look at Birdstone's saddle cloth and his odds are 36-1. I love being lyrical, often criticized in school because I liked telling stories with my artwork. Well boo hoo, I still like telling stories with words or pictures and sometimes both!

After the painting reached the Whitney estate in Saratoga, John called to tell me that the Birdstone painting was, "Hanging between a Stubbs and a Troye, right where it should be."

The following year we made another birthday present for Marylou, this time it was Dear Birdie and her foal, baby Birdstone.

Birdstone is one of those horses whose career is remembered for a single race, but what a race it was. He was a small bay colt born in 2001 in Kentucky. His owner and breeder was Marylou Whitney, the famous society figure and lifelong racing fan who ran her stable on her Saratoga farm. His trainer was Nick Zito, the Hall of Fame conditioner from New York. His father was Grindstone, who had won the 1996 Kentucky Derby before suffering an injury that ended his racing career. His mother was a Storm Bird mare named Dear Birdie. Through both parents, Birdstone carried strong classic bloodlines, but he himself was tiny. He weighed only about 900 pounds, which is small for a Thoroughbred, and he often looked outclassed when he stepped onto the racetrack.

He started his career well as a two year old, taking the Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park in the fall of 2003. That win earned him a place on the early Kentucky Derby trail, but his three year old season got off to a rocky start. He had a rough trip in the Lane's End Stakes and then finished a tired eighth in the 2004 Kentucky Derby, the race won by Smarty Jones. He skipped the Preakness, which Smarty Jones also won. By the time the field lined up for the Belmont Stakes, Smarty Jones was a heavy favorite to sweep the Triple Crown, and Birdstone was a 36 to 1 long shot. What happened next still stings the millions of fans who were rooting for the Triple Crown. Smarty Jones took the lead well past the half mile pole, but he could not hold off the late charge from Birdstone, who closed under jockey Edgar Prado to win by a length. Marylou Whitney, who had spent decades in the sport, called it the most glorious day of her life, but she also famously apologized to Smarty Jones' fans through tears. Birdstone went on to add another classic to his record that summer when he won the Travers Stakes at Saratoga, the historic Mid Summer Derby.

Birdstone retired to Gainesway Farm in Kentucky as a stallion, and even though his fee was modest, he turned in one of the most remarkable first crops in modern memory. From only 70 foals, he produced seven stakes winners, including two that became American classics champions. Mine That Bird, a small gelding much like his father, shocked the sport with a 50 to 1 upset in the 2009 Kentucky Derby. Just a few weeks later, Summer Bird, another son of Birdstone, won the 2009 Belmont Stakes, the Travers, and the Jockey Club Gold Cup, earning the Eclipse Award as Champion Three Year Old Male. Birdstone became one of the only stallions in history to sire two American classic winners in a single year. His later crops never reached that level, but those first runners had already secured his place in racing history. He was pensioned in 2020 and joined his fellow Triple Crown spoiler Old Friends roster of beloved retirees. Birdstone never looked the part of a great horse, but he kept showing up at exactly the right time to remind everyone that size and odds do not always tell the truth.

Sources:

• Birdstone, Wikipedia

• Birdstone Upsets Smarty Jones in Belmont, BloodHorse

• Marylou Whitney on Birdstone's Upset of Smarty Jones, Belmont Stakes

• Birdstone, Old Friends Equine

• Birdstone, American Classic Pedigrees