It’s a Powerful Performance by Real Quiet

BALTIMORE —  The massive power outage that crippled Pimlico Race Course for hours Saturday didn’t mean a watt to Real Quiet.

Making a move on the far turn that impressed jockey Kent Desormeaux more than his winning burst in the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago, the lightly regarded, much-derided colt added the Preakness to his treasure chest with a 2 1/4-length victory and put his trainer, Bob Baffert, in position again to sweep the Triple Crown.

A year ago, Baffert got only two-thirds of the loaf when Silver Charm was outrun by Touch Gold in the Belmont Stakes. Now Baffert launches another crusade for racing’s Holy Grail with Real Quiet, the slim-lined colt who cost only $17,000 at auction but who looks like $5 million today. That’s the Triple Crown bonus that owner Mike Pegram, Baffert and Desormeaux will tap into if Real Quiet wins the Belmont on June 6.

“The Fish [Real Quiet’s nickname] has turned into a shark,” said Baffert, who became the first trainer to win the Derby and Preakness in successive years. There have been only 11 Triple Crown champions, none since Affirmed swept the three races in 1978.

By the time the Belmont is run, perhaps Real Quiet will be the favorite in one of those races. He was 8-1 in the Derby. Had Baffert elected to bring his third-place Derby finisher, Indian Charlie, to Pimlico, that colt probably would have been favored Saturday.

As the horses were going to the gate, Pegram, the fast-food tycoon from Mt. Vernon, Wash., by way of southern Indiana, was shocked that the record Preakness crowd of 91,122 and off-track bettors had made Real Quiet the third choice at 3-1 for much of the wagering before settling as the 5-2 second choice to Victory Gallop at 2-1.

“I can’t believe it,” Pegram said to Bob Lewis, the owner of Silver Charm, who was sitting nearby.

“In two minutes they will believe it,” Lewis said.

Actually, it took Real Quiet 1:54 3/5 to negotiate the 1 3/16 miles, a fifth of a second slower than Silver Charm and well off the Preakness record of 1:53 2/5, shared by Louis Quatorze and Tank’s Prospect. Saturday’s running was hand-timed, because the Pimlico Teletimer, and a lot of other electrically powered things at the track were knocked out of commission when a transformer at a city power substation blew at about 1:30 p.m. EDT, after four races had been run and four hours before the Preakness.

There was no betting in the darkened grandstand after that. In 96-degree heat, air conditioners were disabled, elevators didn’t work, the track announcer was unable to call one of the early races and security guards with flashlights helped spectators climb up and down jammed stairways.

Off-track betting wasn’t affected, but at the track the handle dropped by $1.2 million and Preakness betting fell off by about $400,000 from last year’s totals.

Trainers of horses in the Preakness instinctively looked up at the toteboard Teletimer to see how fast Baquero was leading the field around, but found no information there. Baquero became the pace-setter by default, after Coronado’s Quest, the expected favorite, was withdrawn from the race Friday because of a bruised foot. Earlier in the week, Indian Charlie, tired after his third-place Derby finish, and the injured Halory Hunter were also withdrawn.

“We can sit here all night and debate what would have happened if all the horses had stayed in,” said Wayne Lukas, who trains Preakness also-rans Cape Town and Baquero. “But the point is, Real Quiet was the best horse at 5:30. He’s a super horse to have run two good races in a row like this.”

Before the Triple Crown, Real Quiet had won only two of 12 starts and had been defeated twice at obscure Santa Fe Downs in New Mexico. Desormeaux started riding him last October, the day he broke his maiden at Santa Anita in his seventh start. That was also the first time Baffert raced the Quiet American-Really Blue colt with blinkers.

Real Quiet won the Hollywood Futurity in December and this winter turned in two strong races at Santa Anita, including a second-place finish behind Indian Charlie in the Santa Anita Derby.

At Pimlico, Real Quiet drew the unfavorable outside post position in a 10-horse field. Baffert stewed over that for days.

Desormeaux was able to move Real Quiet slightly to the inside after the break, but they were still wide all the way around, including six horses wide entering the stretch. Real Quiet, in fifth place, made his move on the turn, at a time when the first three horses--Baquero, Cape Town and Basic Trainee--were backing up. In fourth place was Gary Stevens, riding Victory Gallop, the fast-closing Derby runner-up.

Victory Gallop held a short lead coming out of the turn, and Stevens believed he might win.

“But then I looked over at Kent and could see that he had taken hold of his horse,” Stevens said. “Real Quiet’s got some acceleration, that son of a gun.”

At the eighth pole, Real Quiet moved ahead by half a length and pulled away. Victory Gallop was second by three-quarters of a length over Classic Cat, and then it was 3 3/4 lengths back to Hot Wells in fourth.

Real Quiet, earning $650,000 in the first $1-million Preakness, paid $7 to win.

Desormeaux’s first Derby win was sweet, but the Preakness was sweeter, coming at the track where the transplanted Cajun forged a national reputation before moving to Southern California in 1990.

“I had the utmost confidence that I could pass [Victory Gallop] any time I wanted to,” Desormeaux said. “Then I pushed the Baffert magic button and away he went. I don’t care if they make this horse 100-1, I’ve got all the confidence in the world in him.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

The Finish

Real Quiet

Win 7.00

Place 3.60

Show 2.80

Victory Gallop

Place 3.20

Show 2.80

Classic Cat

Show 4.80

In Pursuit of the Triple Crown

The 11 Triple Crown winners: *--*

1919 Sir Barton 1930 Gallant Fox 1935 Omaha 1937 War Admiral 1941 Whirlaway 1943 Count Fleet 1946 Assault 1948 Citation 1973 Secretariat 1977 Seattle Slew 1978 Affirmed

*--*

The 15 horses who have won the first two legs of the Triple Crown--the Kentucky Derby and Preakness--but not the Belmont:

1932: Burgoo King did not run Belmont; Faireno won

1936: Bold Venture did not run; Granville won

1944: Pensive was second, half a length behind Bounding Home

1958: Tim Tam was second, 6 lengths behind Cavan

1961: Carry Back was seventh, with Sherluck winning

1964: Northern Dancer was third, with Quadrangle winning

1966: Kauai King was fourth, with Amberoid winning

1968: *Forward Pass was second, 1 1/4 lengths behind Stage Door Johnny

1969: Majestic Prince was second, 5 1/2 lengths behind Arts And Letters

1971: Canonero II was fourth, with Pass Catcher winning

1979: Spectacular Bid was third, with Coastal winning

1981: Pleasant Colony was third, with Summing winning

1987: Alysheba was fourth, with Bet Twice winning

1989: Sunday Silence was second, 8 lengths behind Easy Goer

1997: Silver Charm was second, three-quarters of a length behind Touch Gold

* won Kentucky Derby on disqualification of Dancer’s Image (illegal medication)

Post Positions For Preakness Stakes

*--*

PP Horse Jockey Trainer Odds 1 Spartan Cat Rick Wilson Richard Dutrow 99-1 2 Black Cash Shane Sellers Patrick Byrne 7-1 3*** Classic Cat Robby Albarado David Cross 12-1 4 Cape Town Jerry Bailey Wayne Lukas 3-1 5 Basic Trainee Cornelio Velasquez Jorge Romero 63-1 6 Baquero Pat Day Wayne Lukas 14-1 7 Hot Wells Edgar Prado Tom Amoss 25-1 8 Silver’s Prospect Frank Douglas Jean Rofe 98-1 9** Victory Gallop Gary Stevens Elliott Walden 2-1 10* Real Quiet Kent Desormeaux Bob Baffert 5-2

*--*

*1st place

**2nd place

***3rd place