Obituaries--Real Quiet

1998 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Real Quiet, 15, died September 27 following a particularly horrible paddock accident:

“He broke five cervical vertebrae from C-5 through C-9, which is basically from his withers to his head,” said Jester, who served as stallion manager.

"I asked our stallion manager Chuck (King) what happened when he took Real Quiet to the paddock, and he said the horse walked toward his water, stood out in the middle of the paddock, and looked across the field to some mares on the hill like he always does. He wasn’t out there five minutes when it happened. He had to have reared up, slid, and fell on his left shoulder, and his left shoulder blade drove into his cervical spine area and fractured the vertebrae, which is how New Bolton described it.

“We walked around in the paddock after it happened, and there’s not a skid mark or anything like that. He wasn’t close to the fence. He was right in the middle. He was a smart horse, in great shape, and never did anything stupid.

“Either on the racetrack or as a stallion, Real Quiet always performed at the highest level. He will be greatly missed."

The 1998 Belmont Stakes, where he lost by a bob of the head to winner Victory Gallop, was one of the great heartbreakers in racing history:

 

Preakness 1990-1999

Summer Squall 1990:





Hansel 1991:






Pine Bluff 1992:







Prairie Bayou 1993. The 1993 series is especially tragic, for Union City broke down in this race and had to be put down. Even more heartbreaking was the winner's owners talked about how bad they felt for Union City's connections when they were in the winner's circle, but just three weeks later, Prairie Bayou broke down in the Belmont Stakes and had to be euthanized. He was a gelding. It was just tragic that year. I have a hard time watching this race and the 1993 Belmont:






Tobasco Cat 1994:






Timber Country 1995:




Louis Quatorze 1996:




Silver Charm 1997. This was one hell of a race, nearly a three-way tie, and from one of the better foal crops in recent years:






Real Quiet 1998:







Charismatic 1999:

Kentucky Derby 1990-1999

1999: Charismatic:



1998: Real Quiet:



1997: Silver Charm:



1996: Grindstone:



1995: Thunder Gulch:



1994: Go For Gin:



1993: Sea Hero:



1992: Lil E Tee:



1991: Strike the Gold:



1990: Unbridled:

Triple Crown.

There have been six near-misses of the Triple Crown in the past 11 years, to say nothing of the near-misses in 1979 (absolutely no excuse for Spectacular Bid's loss), 1981 (Pleasant Colony), 1987 (Alysheba), and 1989 (Sunday Silence).

The most heartbreaking, as I have mentioned, was Real Quiet's extremely narrow loss in 1998 to Touch Gold. It still makes trainer Bob Baffert and jockey Kent Desormeaux sick after all these years because it was so damned close. A bob of the head would have clinched the Triple Crown for Real Quiet.

I don't know why War Emblem wasn't mentioned in the article. He was one of the six near-misses.

Belmont Stakes.

Big Brown's jockey Kent Desormeaux hopes his horse will remain healthy enough to win the June 7 Belmont Stakes and become the 12th Triple Crown winner.

This year's Belmont will be the second time he is positioned to win the Triple Crown. The last time was in 1998 aboard Real Quiet, who lost by a nose. Desmormeaux was heavily criticized for his ride, but I believe it was not justified. A mere bob of the head would have made the difference in that race.

Desormeaux shouldn't beat himself over the head with it.

For Fun,

here is the 1998 Belmont Stakes which Real Quiet almost won but for being edged out by Victory Gallop:




Kent Desormeaux was his jockey, and Bob Baffert was the trainer.

I Headed Over to Carson City

to attend the grand opening of a new casino called Bodines, at the intersection of Highway 395 and Highway 50. The Carano family who owns the Eldorado Hotel and Casino in Reno are partners in the new venture.





I normally wouldn't go to a grand opening of anything, but I did today because of who else was going to be there. Top thoroughbred trainer Bob Baffert (left), who trained Silver Charm and Real Quiet to win the 1997 and 1998 Kentucky Derby and Preakness respectively but both horses came up short in the Belmont, was there as I came around the front of the building. Baffert is easy to spot with his white hair. He was talking to the media as well as talking to fans. I got a chance to shake his hand and speak with him for a bit. He seems to be a very nice, very approachable person.




Also on hand for the ribbon-cutting ceremony was famous jockey Laffit Pincay (right), who rode many top horses including Affirmed and Secretariat's old rival, Sham. I didn't get a chance to speak with him. He still looks good for 61. Until he was passed by Russell Baze, Pincay won more races than any other jockey, with 9,530 wins. He retired five years ago.

Anyway, three other jockeys were supposed to be there, including Mike Smith and Kent Desormeaux (the jockey of this year's Derby and Preakness winner Big Brown), but I didn't see them at the ribbon-cutting ceremony. As I was eating hors d'oeurves, which were damned good, I heard somebody say the jockeys were eating and they were going to be out in "about ten minutes." Well, I hung around with other people outside for probably a half an hour, and by that time, Baffert and Pincay had already gone back inside. I had gone inside the casino, which isn't very big, but I didn't see anybody familiar. There was, however, a restaurant which was above the casino area, but I wasn't going to snoop around there and get into trouble.



I went back outside, and in the meantime picked up a free cap with the Bodines logo on it. I had wished I had had something for Baffert and Pincay to have signed. I sat around a few minutes, then I went back inside the casino again. As I was walking near the restaurant where the jockeys ate, I saw what appeared to be a jockey heading towards the men's room. I thought, no, it couldn't be...but I went towards the men's room and saw about five or six people who were standing there waiting. Yep, the person I saw go into the men's room was none other than Kent Desormeaux. I decided to hang out with the other people, including a couple of the casino staff, to wait for him to come out. After a few minutes, which seemed to take forever, Desormeaux came out and met with us and signed autographs. I took a picture of him with a couple of other people, though the picture is slightly blurred. I gave him my red Sharpie and my cap, and wished him good luck in the Belmont. Then Kent (I don't want to type his last name because it is too hard to spell correctly) asked me if I knew "Mike Pegram." I said I hadn't heard of him. Kent said, "You know Real Quiet." I said yes and said I met his trainer Bob Baffert outside. Kent told me, and this was interesting, that Pegram, the co-owner of this casino, was the owner of Real Quiet, and told me I should come there often. Then he signed the cap in big, red letters with his name, and the name of Big Brown on it. I thanked him. It was great he was so nice to do that. Pegram's racing connections explain why these racing greats came out to Carson City.




I never did meet Mike Smith or David Flores, however.