In the run up to the 2015 Kentucky Derby, the Thorobros took a good hard look at the past 20 years of Derbies and tried to rank the top twelve. We were able to arrive at this highly scientific ranking through a complicated logarithm that generated a foolproof list of the best Kentucky Derbies of the past two decades. This year’s renewal of America’s most famous horse race looks to be particularly strong – perhaps we will have a new addition to these rankings come May 3, 2015.
Number 8: Real Quiet (1998)
When I think about Real Quiet, I can’t help but think about the ’98 Belmont – not the Kentucky Derby. So, so close. I really can’t imagine what Bob Baffert, Mike Pegram and Kent Desormeaux must have been thinking in the moments after they finished four inches short of a Triple Crown. Fourteen year old me, of course, was jumping up and down – I loved Victory Gallop, and as a native Saratogian, took a dim view of Mr. Baffert and west coast racing in general. The east coast bias changed (a little) as I got older – one trip to Del Mar will tend to have that effect – and nobody can deny the success of Baffert, Pegram and Desormeaux over the years. But I digress – this series is about the Kentucky Derby, and the 1998 renewal was a classic.
Prelude
Real Quiet, a son of Quiet American, got off to a solid but unspectacular start to his racing career. Breaking his maiden in his second start, going a mile and a sixteenth at Santa Anita, he was sent directly to Churchill Downs to compete in the Kentucky Jockey Club. He came in third, losing to Cape Town and Time Limit, but encountered trouble in the race and lost by just a length and a quarter. He also posted a very respectable 93 Beyer speed figure. That effort was solid enough for his connections to wheel him back sixteen days later in the Hollywood Futurity, which really put Real Quiet on the map. He won the race by a solid length, over Artax, and was given a 102 Beyer speed figure – putting him near the top of the two-year old class as his two-year old season drew to a close. He had improved his Beyer in every start of his career, had gone at least a mile in every one of his starts, and finished the season as a Grade 1 winner – he had been stamped as a Kentucky Derby contender.
After a month off, Real Quiet was brought back to the races at Golden Gate in the Golden Gate Derby. He encountered a sloppy track for the first time, and let’s just say that things did not go well. The DRF comments in his past performances read “dull effort,” and that may be generous, as Real Quiet got smoked by more than 22 lengths and was assigned a 59 Beyer speed figure. The connections went back to the drawing board, giving Real Quiet a nearly two month break before the San Felipe.
I am not sure whether it was the rest or getting away from a wet track, but when Real Quiet came back, he was a monster. He posted a 108 Beyer in the San Felipe, although it was not good enough for the win, as Artax turned the tables on him. He fired right back in the Santa Anita Derby, running a 107 Beyer, but again was bested – this time by Indian Charlie. Nevertheless, although he had not returned to the winner’s circle since December ’97, Real Quiet was rounding into form, and would be coming into the Kentucky Derby on his third start after a layoff, ready to explode.
The Race
Real Quiet left the gates in the Derby as the 8/1 fifth choice, behind the 7/2 favorite and Santa Anita Derby winner Indian Charlie. Halory Hunter, Cape Town, and Favorite Trick were also preferred by bettors on May 2, 1998. Those who did find their way to Real Quiet, however, would be rewarded. As I re-watch the race, I am struck by how good of a ride Real Quiet got from Kent Desormeaux. Desormeaux puts him in a perfect spot on the rail after breaking from post position two, and calmly settles him in mid-pack as Rock and Roll, Old Trieste, and Chillito contest the pace. Indian Charlie and Favorite Trick both get very nice positions in behind the leaders, as the race moves to the Churchill Downs backstretch.
The first half-mile went in 45 second and change – fast, but not out of line with standard Kentucky Derby fractions. The best part of the race on the backstretch, however, is that the ABC television coverage briefly breaks into an “on horse view” from what appears to be a camera on the jockey’s helmet. The horse is not mentioned, and the view is only provided for a couple seconds. I love sports television in the 90s – this was the heyday of the “blue halo” around the hockey puck – it’s like producers had cool new technology and were compelled to use it without thinking at all about whether it would improve the viewer’s enjoyment of the race. The brief cutaway during the ’98 Derby is at best worthless and I found it to be super annoying.
Just before the 3/4 mile mark, Indian Charlie makes a bold move, and that is followed nearly immediately by Desormeaux’s move on Real Quiet, which is just spectacular. He blows by Indian Charlie and hits the lane with the lead – just a perfect Kentucky Derby ride. Once Desormeaux gets Real Quiet in front, it was theirs for the taking. Victory Gallop makes an impressively strong move after being last early, but runs out of real estate and ultimately finishing second by a half-length, though foreshadowing the move that would deny Real Quiet immortality in a matter of weeks. It was Baffert’s second Derby in a row and Desormeaux’s first – though both would play significant roles in Triple Crown lore in the years to come.
Aftermath
Real Quiet rolled into Pimlico, dispensed with the Preakness field with a professional win, drawing off to win by two and a quarter lengths, again over Victory Gallop, who was beginning to look like his generation’s Alydar. Real Quiet posted a 111 Beyer in victory, and moved to the Big Apple as an odds-on favorite to capture racing’s first Triple Crown in 20 years. It was not to be, however, as Victory Gallop finally got his revenge, winning by a desperate nose over Real Quiet, as history was denied (Tom Durkin’s call of “Too close to call” is fantastic, and it really is impossible to tell who wins at the wire – the entire track must have been on pins and needles to see whether they were a witness to history). That heartbreaking defeat was the end of Real Quiet’s three year old season, but it was good enough for him to win the Eclipse Award for best three year old.
Real Quiet returned for his four year old season, winning the Pimlico Special and the Hollywood Gold Cup, both Grade 1 races. His win over Free House in the Pimlico Special was one of the great races of the past 20 years, featuring an epic dueling stretch drive. A true road warrior, Real Quiet also hit the board in the MassCap, the New Orleans Handicap and the Texas Mile during his four year old campaign. Unfortunately, Real Quiet suffered an injury to his splint bone that precluded him from participating in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. He was retired to stud, standing in Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Australia and Uruguay over the years. Although his stud career has been somewhat nondescript, he did produce Pussycat Doll (G1 winner), Wonder Lady Ann L (G1 winner) and Midnight Lute (G1 winner, multiple Breeders’ Cup Sprint Champion). Real Quiet passed away in September 2010 at the age of 15.
