Real Quiet set for Triple Crown run

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Posted: Saturday June 06, 1998 01:22 PM

Triple play: Real Quiet trainer Bob Baffert (right) will bring a horse with a shot at the Triple Crown to the Belmont for the second year in a row (AP)

NEW YORK (AP) -- After two decades of waiting and wondering, is it finally time for another Triple Crown winner?

"I do believe in the racing gods and the Triple Crown gods," trainer Bob Baffert said Friday. "So far, no excuses. Real Quiet likes the track, he likes the Big Apple.

"Racing luck, that's all we need."

Baffert's Real Quiet takes on 10 challengers in Saturday's Belmont Stakes as the bay colt attempts to become racing's 12th Triple Crown winner and first since Affirmed in 1978.

"I had a great run 20 years ago, and I'll be pulling for him," Steve Cauthen, who rode Affirmed, said. "Maybe it's time for it to happen again."

Baffert and Silver Charm nearly pulled it off last year, with the big gray colt winning the Kentucky Derby and Preakness before losing the Belmont to Touch Gold by three-quarters of a length.

This time around, Baffert says Real Quiet, the early 6-5 favorite, is stronger than Silver Charm was in '97, and the colt is ready to run into history with a victory in the 1 1/2-mile Belmont (ABC-TV, 5:27 p.m. post time).

"Get me around the first turn without a mishap, get me around there clear," Baffert said he told jockey Kent Desormeaux, "and I'll guarantee you the rest of the way."

If Baffert sounds confident, he is.

Victory Gallop may be the horse that knocks off Real Quiet (AP)

After the Derby, Real Quiet lost weight, but following the Preakness, the colt gained back about 30 pounds.

"It's unbelievable," Baffert said. "I hope I didn't get him too fat."

Since Affirmed's Triple Crown, five horses have won the Derby and Preakness, but failed to complete the sweep in the Belmont.

Prior to Silver Charm, the others were Sunday Silence (1989); Alysheba (1987); Pleasant Colony (1981), Spectacular Bid (1979)

"We hope to make history," Desormeaux said.

Real Quiet is certain of that, it just depends which list he'll show up on, the one that makes him the 12th Triple Crown winner or the one that makes him the 14th to take the first two legs and fail in the Belmont.

A win would also be worth a Visa-sponsored $5 million bonus.

The Belmont won't be a breeze, though. None of the 11 Triple Crown winners faced more than seven opponents in the Belmont, and only one of 13 Derby-Preakness winners, Canonero II in 1971, faced as many horses as Real Quiet.

Of the Triple Crown winners, Sir Barton and Count Fleet each faced two challengers; Gallant Fox and Whirlaway faced three opponents; four went against Omaha, Secretariat and Affirmed; Assault faced five; War Admiral six; and Citation and Seattle Slew faced seven.

Not today: Hanuman Highway was scratched because of a case of colic (AP)

The field was reduced to 11 this morning when Hanuman Highway was scratched because of a case of colic and Hot Wells because his owner was not licensed in New York. Both were listed at 30-1 in the morning line

Despite the two scratches Saturday, there were challengers aplenty, beginning with Derby and Preakness runner-up Victory Gallop, the 7-2 second choice.

Although the colt developed a skin rash after the Preakness and trainer Elliott Walden fractured his right ankle playing basketball in New Jersey, Victory Gallop appears ready to try again.

"He's righted himself, and I feel really good about him right now," Walden said. "I think he's feeling like he was before the Derby."

Don't count out trainer D. Wayne Lukas. He's got two horses entered, Peter Pan Stakes winner Grand Slam and Illinois Derby winner Yarrow Brae.

Grand Slam, who sustained a deep gash to his left rear leg in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, hopes to improve off his win in the Peter Pan on May 24 at Belmont.

"The fact that he's 4-for-4 on this track is something you'd better put in your handicapping," Lukas said.

And never count out trainer Allen Jerkens, who saddles 10-1 shot Limit Out, third in the Withers on May 2 but a winner in four of five career starts. Jerkens has trained horses to upsets of Secretariat, Kelso and Buckpasser.

The field, from the rail out, with odds and jockeys, is: Thomas Jo (Chris McCarron, 30-1); Basic Trainee (Joe Bravo, 99-1); Chilito (Robbie Davis 30-1); Parade Ground (Pat Day, 20-1); Classic Cat (John Velazquez, 15-1); Limit Out (Jean-Luc Samyn, 10-1); Real Quiet (Kent Desormeaux, 6-5); Raffie's Majesty (Jorge Chavez, 20-1); Victory Gallop (Gary Stevens, 7-2); Yarrow Brae (Mike Smith, 20-1); and Grand Slam (Jerry Bailey, 6-1).

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