Real Quiet stirs debate about greatness

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Posted: Thursday June 04, 1998 08:50 PM

Real Quiet can become racing's 12th Triple Crown winner with a victory Saturday (AP)

NEW YORK (AP) -- Their laughter bounces from barn to barn and makes the stately old joint feel young again. It's exciting enough for the schoolkids just to glimpse the horse.

And what do they think about the debate that rages on? Uninterested. Totally. That seems to be one of those things only grownups care about. And care they do.

"Just because Real Quiet came from humble beginnings, some people don't want to accept the fact that he's a great racehorse," trainer Bob Baffert is saying at that moment.

A chill hangs in the air Thursday morning along the backstretch at Belmont, and Baffert has laid out the argument as succinctly as it can be done. Two days remain before the final race of the Triple Crown. Real Quiet's backers insist the bay colt is poised at history's doorstep. His critics insist the door is already nailed shut.

In one sense, at least, the critics are right. No matter how he fares Saturday, or the rest of his career for that matter, Real Quiet's funeral will never be broadcast worldwide, an honor that was accorded Man O' War some 50 years ago. He has no shot at being named TV star of the year, a distinction claimed by Native Dancer not long after that. And there's absolutely no chance he'll help save the Republic, something Secretariat was credited with doing 25 years ago when his pursuit of the Triple Crown gave the nation something to focus on besides Richard Nixon's imminent fall.

That's because thoroughbred racing no longer has the same grip on the sporting imagination it did once. But Real Quiet can restore a little bit of luster to a racket in need of a lot. And if his horse becomes the first in 20 years to accomplish what some of his most illustrious predecessors did, Baffert defies anyone to say Real Quiet does not deserve to be ranked among them. In his view, it's a matter of simple math.

The first triple was recorded in 1919 by Sir Barton and the feat has been matched 10 time since. Another 13 horses came to the Belmont with wins in the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness on their resume, only to get beat here, at the longest distance, over the most demanding strip.

It's very likely that nobody training thoroughbreds today has a better appreciation of the difficulties involved than Baffert, and nobody certainly has a fresher perspective. He came here last year with Silver Charm and the first chance in 10 years to complete the triple. They were beaten by three-quarters of a length.

One thing the experience taught him is that while there may be others, there is no more legitimate test of a horse's greatness than the Triple Crown. Some people counter that by saying a Triple wouldn't even be a possibility this year if the stars of Real Quiet's 2-year-old season -- Lil's Lad, Coronado's Quest and Event of the Year -- had stayed healthy. Baffert replies that simply making all three races enhances a horse's stature.

"It's like the Indy 500," he said. "Just because your motor blows, you can't say it's not a great race."

Being fair to the critics, though, even a victory here would leave gaping holes in Real Quiet's resume.

His legs were so crooked, even after surgery, that he was bought as a yearling for $17,000. The first time Baffert laid eyes on the horse he nicknamed him "The Fish" because he looked so much better from the side than the front. He lost 10 of his first 12 races. Even now, Real Quiet is just 4-for-14, a record that has inspired scorn and coaxed a dozen challengers out of the woodwork for Saturday's race.

"People just want to be part of history," says his owner, Mike Pegram.

There is confidence and there is cockiness and Pegram comes by both honestly. This "no-respect" shtick is absolutely fine with him. Three weeks ago, Real Quiet went off as the 5-2 second choice at the Preakness and Pegram cashed a win ticket that returned considerably more than he paid for the horse. And his high opinion of the horse is shared by more than just Baffert.

"Jealousy, that's all it is," said jockey Angel Cordero, who has won each of the Triple Crown races. "The strong survive. If he's got the endurance and wins all three, he's got my vote as a great horse."

If nothing else, Real Quiet has the kids and even the grownups trying to decide for themselves. That alone, Baffert contends, makes him great for a sport that needs all the attention it can get.

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Belmont Notebook: Father and son double up in Belmont Stakes Thumbnail sketches of Triple Crown Winners 1998 NTRA National Thoroughbred Poll
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