Settling the issue

Victory Gallop solved DQ question by a nose

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Posted: Sunday June 07, 1998 07:10 PM

Trainer Elliott Walden strokes the Belmont-winning nose of Victory Gallop (AP)

NEW YORK (AP) -- A lot of people were unhappy about the result of the Belmont Stakes, but everyone seemed satisfied that Victory Gallop and Real Quiet settled it by themselves.

"I'm very glad the stewards didn't make a decision,," winning trainer Elliott Walden said Sunday.

Victory Gallop won on his own Saturday, beating Triple Crown contender Real Quiet by the narrowest of noses.

The stewards posted an inquiry because Real Quiet had drifted out and bumped Victory Gallop twice in the deep stretch of the 1 1/2-mile Belmont. But the order of finish saved them from making a decision on disqualifying Real Quiet.

"I'm glad the stewards didn't have to make a decision," said Bob Baffert, trainer of Real Quiet, who thought he knew what the decision would have been.

Baffert said he told dejected jockey Kent Desormeaux, "It would have been worse if you had won and your number had been taken down."

The inquiry was flashed immediately after the finish and before it was known who had finished first.

Asked about disqualifying a Triple Crown winner, the three stewards said in a statement, "The judgment can't really be interpreted because of the Triple Crown. The facts speak for themselves."

Baffert said Gary Stevens, Victory Gallop's jockey, had told him that he had told the stewards he intended to claim a foul if the photo showed he had finished second.

"Gary rarely calls a foul," he said of the jockey who rode Silver Charm when that Baffert-trained colt missed winning the Triple Crown last year, finishing three-quarters of a length behind Touch Gold in the Belmont.

Real Quiet led by four lengths with an eighth-mile remaining, but that eighth was upstream for the colt nicknamed The Fish. He became rubber-legged, and Desormeaux whipped him left-handed.

"Kent really tried hard to get his horse home," Walden said. "If they hadn't made contact, Victory Gallop would have won by a half-length.

"It was a great thrill to run in the three races. We were fortunate to win one of them. We were unlucky in one of them, the Derby, and with a little bit of luck we might have been going for the Triple Crown."

Victory Gallop had to race wide for most of the 1 1/4-mile Derby and missed catching Real Quiet by a half-length. Real Quiet's win over Victory Gallop in the 1 3/16-mile Preakness, however, was a decisive 2 1/4 lengths. Alex Solis rode Victory Gallop in the Derby, and Stevens was aboard in the Preakness.

"These horses are very close to one another," Walden said of the two colts who battled before the third-largest Derby crowd (143,215), a Preakness-record crowd (91,122), and the second-largest Belmont crowd (80,162). The Belmont record of 82,694 was set in 1971, when Pass Catcher denied Canonero II the Triple Crown.

Real Quiet was bidding to become the 12th Triple Crown champion and first since Affirmed in 1978. Instead, he became the 14th 3-year-old to win the Derby and Preakness, then lose the Belmont.

"I saw the race once [on tape]," said Baffert, who showed up at the barn at Belmont Park about 7:30 a.m. Sunday, even though Real Quiet had left an hour earlier for Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. "We just got beat, that's it.

"We're getting closer. You get a bit down, but you got to move on. If it was the Derby, I would have been very depressed. To me that's the race. This [the bid] for the Triple Crown was a little history."

Desormeaux said he thought he made his move too soon Saturday, and some agreed. Not Baffert, though.

"Kent is just so hard on himself," the trainer said. "He's a very emotional guy. He rode a great race."

Added Walden: "I don't think Kent rode him poorly in any fashion. He rode him like he did in the first two races."

Walden, who lives in Louisville, said Victory Gallop would go to Churchill Downs and the colt could start in the Travers on August 29 at Saratoga.

Baffert said Real Quiet might start in the Haskell Handicap on August 9 at Monmouth Park, as might Indian Charlie, third in the Kentucky Derby. Baffert also mentioned the Travers for Real Quiet.

A victory in the Belmont for the Mike Pegram-owned Real Quiet would have been worth a $5 million bonus for winning the Triple Crown.

Victory Gallop was timed in 2:29, and paid a winning mutuel of $11.

Thomas Jo finished third, six lengths behind Real Quiet, and was followed by Parade Ground, Raffie's Majesty, Chilito, Grand Slam, Classic Cat, Limit Out, Yarrow Brae and Basic Trainee.

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