Opponents Line Up to Take On Real Quiet

By BILL CHRISTINE

June 5, 1998 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

ELMONT, N.Y. —

Barry Irwin is convinced there’s going to be no Triple Crown sweep by Real Quiet.

“We’re going to shock the world Saturday,” Irwin said Thursday after 13 horses were entered for the 130th Belmont Stakes.

Trainer Bob Baffert, whose Real Quiet has won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, has stopped short of predicting victory for his colt, but Irwin, one of the owners of the 30-1 shot Thomas Jo, is predicting a win.

Thomas Jo is not one of the horses Baffert feels Real Quiet has to beat. In fact, Baffert has suggested that Real Quiet needs to beat only Victory Gallop, his second-place nemesis from the Derby and the Preakness, to win the Belmont.

“We’ve got a hard-trying horse who wins differently every time,” Irwin said of Thomas Jo. “And he wants to run all day. He’s got a ton of stamina and he’s a fresh horse, the kind that can win the Belmont.”

Real Quiet was installed as the 6-5 favorite at Thursday’s old-fashioned post-position draw. Since the Irwin-led Team Valor and Earl Macke bought Thomas Jo four races back, the Texas-bred gelding has gone undefeated. Three of the wins were at 1 1/8 miles--three furlongs short of the Belmont’s 1 1/2-mile distance--and the last victory, on the Preakness undercard at Pimlico, was at 1 1/16 miles.

Chris McCarron has been hired to ride. McCarron has won two Belmonts, with Danzig Connection in 1986 and last year with Touch Gold, who spoiled Silver Charm’s bid for a Triple Crown.

The forecast is for partly cloudy skies, with no rain and temperatures in the low 70s.

Belmont Draw

The post position for Saturday’s Belmont Stakes, with jockey and odds.

1. HANUMAN HIGHWAY

Jockey: Santos

Odds: 30-1

2. THOMAS JO

Jockey: McCarron

Odds: 30-1

3. BASIC TRAINEE

Jockey: Bravo

Odds: 99-1