Like many unraced 2-year-olds, this one didn't like the look of the starting gate or the strange feeling of confinement. So Smarty Jones freaked and reared up, to the horror of his trainer. The hot-blooded colt smashed his head into an iron bar running across the top of the gate, causing multiple skull fractures and severe damage to his left eye.

"For no reason, he just went straight up and hit the bar hard," John Servis said Tuesday. "The first thing I thought was that he was dead. All four legs were buckled underneath him, and his head was actually underneath him in between his legs.

"He was out cold and I'm like 'Oh, my God, this horse just killed himself.' When we finally got him up, blood was just pouring out of his nostrils. We got him back to the barn [at Philadelphia Park] and the vet started working on him. The whole left side of his head was swollen so bad that the eyeball was gone and there was just tissue pushing out of the eye socket. That's when I said 'We've got to get this horse out of here.' ''

The orbital bone that holds the eyeball was badly broken, and doctors at the New Jersey Equine Clinic at first thought he'd lose the eye. Servis feared his promising chestnut colt wouldn't survive. "I was panicking, but Dr. [Patricia] Hogan called me the next morning and said, 'I think he's going to be all right. I don't see anything that's life-threatening.' And she was right."

The clinic's staff nicknamed Smarty Jones Quasimodo last spring because of all the bandages on his head. Medication helped save his eye, and three weeks later he left the hospital. It would be more than six months before the Pennsylvania-bred's racing debut, a 7¾-length romp in a maiden-special Nov. 9 at Philadelphia Park. He was no secret to the bettors who made him even-money, but few others were watching that Sunday in Bensalem, Pa.

"When I ran him the first time, I knew he was a very talented horse," Servis said. "I had no idea he was this talented. But after his second race I'm watching a horse that's really immature and doesn't know what he's doing out there and he runs 7 furlongs in 1:21 and change and gets a 105 Beyer. And that's when I thought we might have something really special here."

Such animals rarely start off at Philadelphia Park, which draws little attention except from OTB players screaming "Gimme the 3-6, one time!" Called "The Factory" in its previous incarnation as Keystone, it's been spruced up considerably in recent years. The track just off the Pennsylvania Turnpike is a pleasant place to play simulcasts, but major 3-year-olds rarely set foot there. Having an unbeaten Kentucky Derby contender from "The Pha" borders on the fantastic. The emergence of this local hero for Philly is even more unlikely than Saint Joseph's No. 1 basketball ranking.

"I have great clients," Servis said. "I have guys that breed some really nice horses, and it's unusual for owners like that to be at Philadelphia Park. And the guys who say a good horse can't come out of Philadelphia Park haven't been watching my barn, I can tell you that."

Smarty Jones' connections have had much success but lack a national Q-rating. Servis, 45, grew up a mile from the track in Charles Town, W. Va., where his father, Joe, a former jockey, was a steward. The summer he was 14, John worked at a breeding farm, and at 17 bought his first horse. "I was hooked at a very early age," he said. "I've been dealing with horses for a long time."

After a stint as a jockey's agent, he became an assistant trainer to Mark Reid for five years before going out on his own in 1984. Before this spring, Servis' best-known horse was the filly Jostle, who four years ago took the Grade I Coaching Club American Oaks and the Grade II Black-Eyed Susan.

Smarty Jones' only jockey has been Stewart Elliott, a 39-year-old native of Toronto who has been Pennsylvania's leading rider the past three years. Elliott has more than 3,000 victories, mostly in the Mid-Atlantic region. He leaves Wednesday for Louisville and his Derby debut.

"I know Stewart has a world of confidence in my horse. I think they've developed a very good rapport,'' Servis said. "Stewart's a very good rider and a very good friend of mine. So far he's done absolutely everything perfect."

Co-owner Roy Chapman, 77, who made his fortune in auto dealerships, was born and bred in Germantown, Pa., near Philly. He and his wife, Pat, bred Smarty Jones at their Someday Farm. According to Servis, "The Chapmans have owned quite a few stakes-winners, but never had a horse of this caliber." Not on the flat anyway. In 1989, their jumper Uncle Merlin won the prestigious Maryland Hunt Cup, and the next spring they went with him to Liverpool, England, for the 4½-mile Grand National, the world's most famous steeplechase. Uncle Merlin led after three miles before landing awkwardly and losing his rider, so this isn't the Chapmans' first bid for glory on the international stage.

Smarty Jones was named for Pat's mother, Mildred McNair, who died in 1989. Pat's maternal grandparents, the Joneses, nicknamed Mildred Smarty, and the colt was born Feb. 28, 2001, the birthday of Mildred, and coincidentally, of Servis' mother, too.

The Chapmans' trainer, Bob Camac, had advised them to buy I'll Get Along, who would become the dam of Smarty Jones, and recommended the mating with Elusive Quality. In December 2001, Camac and his wife were murdered by his stepson.

"Bobby Camac was very well respected, and a good friend of mine," Servis said. "Mr. and Mrs. Chapman were devastated. They sold their farm and were down to two horses, and it turned out one of them was Smarty. One day she said to him, 'If we sell these two horses, we're out of the business.' And Mr. Chapman decided he wasn't ready to get out yet.''

Which is how Servis ended up with Smarty Jones. And you thought the wildly improbable saga of last year's Derby winner, Funny Cide, couldn't be topped.

It's hard to knock a 6-for-6 record by a total margin of 33¼ lengths. The questions about Smarty Jones involve his competition and his pedigree.

Winning twice at Philly Park, once at Aqueduct's inner track in January and in three stakes at Oaklawn Park is not the high road to Churchill Downs, which is why Servis went that way.

"The reason we decided to go to Arkansas was because we felt it would be the easiest route for my horse. He was very immature [in February] and I felt if we hooked into graded company too early that we'd take a chance of ruining him. We felt the slower we could bring him along, the more he'd mature at his own pace and the better he'd be."

When pedigree analysts see a horse by Elusive Quality from a Smile mare, they don't predict it will get 10 furlongs on the first Saturday in May. But freaks can outrun bloodlines, and few alleged experts thought a son of sprinter Distorted Humor would win last year's Derby.

"This horse is really pretty push-button," Servis said. "And if you dig a little deeper in the pedigree, you'll see some names in there that were 10 furlongs-plus. If you watch him train, you certainly won't have any apprehension about him going a mile and a quarter.

"Because he just doesn't get tired. This horse just goes and goes."

If Smarty Jones goes all the way May 1 in Louisville, it will mean a $5-million bonus from Oaklawn for sweeping the Rebel Stakes, Arkansas Derby and Kentucky Derby. Servis' cut would be 10 percent. Winning America's Race on his own terms with an underdog would be worth infinitely more.