Real Quiet Was Real Deceiving

Gathered around a TV in the Del Mar press box last Aug. 24, a small group of fans agreed on one thing:

Despite its $571,000-plus purse, the Indian Nations Futurity Cup they had just watched on a simulcast from Santa Fe was one of the ugliest races they had ever seen.

Even though he had zigzagged his way through the stretch like a halfback making his way downfield, Grady had won by a neck in a race that was quick early and painfully slow late.

General Gem appeared to be home free in midstretch, but wobbled home and lost.

Neither of those 2-year-olds resembled a Kentucky Derby hopeful. And it took 39 seconds to complete the final three-eighths of a mile, so what did that say about those behind Grady and General Gem?

It turns out, those who saw the Indian Nations Futurity Cup were looking at a future Kentucky Derby champion.

Real Quiet, a maiden who had lost four times at three tracks-- Churchill Downs, Hollywood Park and Santa Fe--was third under jockey Scott Stevens, beaten by almost three lengths.

Don’t believe anybody who says he rushed to buy a Kentucky Derby future-book ticket on the son of Quiet American because of that day in New Mexico.

AROUND THE TRACK

Real Quiet didn’t win until his seventh race. He beat six other 2-year-olds Oct. 18 at Santa Anita. That was the first time Kent Desormeaux rode him. . . . Before his maiden win and after he finished third in the Indian Nations, Real Quiet was a distant fourth at Del Mar, behind Old Trieste, who finished 10th in the Kentucky Derby.

In his two other races at Churchill Downs before the Derby, Real Quiet had finished seventh of 10 in his debut last June 15 at five furlongs, then was third of 10 going six furlongs two weeks later.

Last summer at Del Mar, the two most hyped 2-year-olds owner Mike Pegram had with trainer Bob Baffert were Johnbill and Commitisize. Johnbill is on the sidelines because of an injury suffered late last year. Commitisize has won three of 10 but has distance limitations.

Watching the Derby, it was hard not to imagine how Event Of The Year, the unbeaten Seattle Slew colt who was injured eight days earlier, might have fared. The way the race was run, he might have been in the perfect spot, and he had shown he could finish at least as well as Real Quiet.

Desormeaux’s ride in his first Kentucky Derby victory was perfect, but had he and Real Quiet been caught in the final strides by Victory Gallop, second-guessers might have said Desormeaux had moved too soon. . . . Indian Charlie lost nothing in defeat and could well turn the tables on his stablemate in the shorter Preakness, run over a more speed-favoring track at Pimlico.

All those who said Favorite Trick was being asked to do too much running in the Derby in only his third start of the year, and that he wouldn’t handle 1 1/4 miles were right, but that doesn’t detract from his 2-year-old campaign. He went eight for eight and deserved to be chosen horse of the year over Skip Away, who lost seven of 11. . . .

That Cape Town and Halory Hunter didn’t finish in the top three verified what many believed all winter: The 3-year-olds that spent the winter and the early part of the spring in Florida and Kentucky weren’t top notch. Cape Town won the Florida Derby on a disqualification, the final three-eighths of a mile taking 39 1/5 seconds; and Halory Hunter beat an injured Lil’s Lad in the Blue Grass while benefiting from an ideal trip along the rail, the best part of the track at Keeneland.

There was plenty of action at Hollywood Park last weekend, but one exotic wager that wasn’t offered on the local menu was the Kentucky Oaks- Kentucky Derby double. For those interested, each $2 ticket coupling Oaks winner Keeper Hill with Real Quiet was worth $82.40. . . . In response to an item about a recent poll that said 69.1% of sports fans are not at all interested in horse racing, let it be noted that nearly 62,000 people were interested enough to show up at Hollywood Park and its satellites on Kentucky Derby day and bet more than $23 million. The next day, 25,362 attended and bet almost $13 million.