Triple Crown Heartbreak: Real Quiet and Victory Gallop

Respect was slow to come for Real Quiet. A thin looking horse, the son of Quiet American didn’t break his maiden until his seventh start. He lost two races in Sante Fe, New Mexico before finally coming around at the tail end of his busy juvenile season. Even after a victory in the Grade 1 Hollywood Futurity, he came back with a last place finish in the slop at Golden Gate Fields to begin his sophomore season. The Bob Baffert trainee continued to improve, though, and after a second place finish in the Santa Anita Derby, the horse with a 2-for-12 record came to Louisville as one of the horses to consider. Sent off at 8-1, he was not the preferred horse of his barn, but on the first Saturday in May, Real Quiet put it all together to defeat Indian Charlie and all the rest to win the Kentucky Derby by a determined half-length over the hard charging Victory Gallop.

Two weeks later, The Fish, as his trainer called him because of his narrow frame, validated the Derby success with an even more impressive win in the Preakness. His new friend, Victory Gallop, who went off favored in racing’s Middle Jewel, again ran second, but this time it was not nearly as close. The Mike Pegram owned Real Quiet left Baltimore as the toast of the racing world. He arrived at Belmont finally appreciated and as a heavy favorite to become the first Triple Crown winner in 20 years. As has been proven time and time again since 1978, clinching the Triple Crown in New York is never easy. The Belmont Stakes of 1998, of Real Quiet and his familiar foe, Victory Gallop, would become the stuff of legend.

With every heart pounding stride it was becoming painfully evident that the quest for racing’s holy grail was in jeopardy. Only seconds before, Real Quiet had seemed home free, as he and rider Kent Desormeaux had stormed to a commanding lead early in the stretch. He was on the verge of becoming the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed had outfought his great rival Alydar to the Belmont Stakes wire twenty years earlier. While Affirmed had to best his great rival in three straight classic races, Real Quiet’s Alydar was Victory Gallop. The late developing son of Cryptoclearance may have finished behind Real Quiet in both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, but was back to fire his best shot in the twelve furlongs of the Belmont. The two proud colts were now in the midst of thrilling the second largest crowd to see the race in the rich history of the Belmont Stakes. The thrilling duel down the Belmont stretch, brought the crowd first to a fever pitch, and then to an eerie silence on a gorgeous June afternoon in New York.

Immortality would slip away from Real Quiet on that day, as Victory Gallop methodically reeled him in during the final few strides of the Belmont Stakes. In the end, Real Quiet had been beaten a scant nose, and in that tiny margin, the hopes of millions of race fans, desperately seeking a new hero, were dashed. Adding to the drama of the closest Belmont since the Affirmed/Alydar epic, was the announcement after the race that stewards might have disqualified him if he had won the race, due to bumping Victory Gallop twice nearing the finish. Would they have actually have taken down a Triple Crown winner if Real Quiet had won the photo? We will never know for sure.

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It marked the second year in a row that Bob Baffert was denied after coming agonizingly close to completing a Triple Crown. He had been turned away the year before when Silver Charm was passed by Touch Gold late in the race. This near miss was closer though, much closer. I could not help but feel for Real Quiet and his connections. I was not alone in my disappointment. You cannot come any closer to winning the Triple Crown than this ...