1998: Real Quiet

Just one year after he came up short with Silver Charm, Bob Baffert got a second chance at the Triple Crown with Real Quiet. He was born on March 7, 1995 and was sold for the low price of 17,000 dollars due to a less than stellar pedigree and crooked knees.

A slow starter, RQ raced seven times before he finally won a race. He then performed well but not victoriously in a couple other races before finally winning the Hollywood Futurity at two. Although the he posted the highest Byer speed figure of any two year old that year, he was not considered one of the top horses going into the Kentucky Derby. The crooked legged colt shocked the world with easy victories in both the Derby and the Preakness, displaying a burst of speed that could not be matched by his rivals each time.

He had been a gangly, skinny colt, but by this time he had bloomed into a big beautiful horse.

In the Belmont Stakes, the excited call was spoken by Tom Dirken and heard by nearly 90,000 spectators: "Twenty Five years of waiting and a furlong to go!"

Real Quiet had at one point in the stretch opened up a four length lead. Many people believe that had Kent Desormeaux waited a little longer to turn on the boosters, he would've held on. But Victory Gallop caught him by just a bare nose, and Real Quiet became the closest triple crown loss instead of the triple crown winner he should have been. Even with replays, it was too close a race to call with the naked eye.

Victory Gallop had been second to him twice in both the Derby and Preakness, and finally bested him with everything on the line. The horse that spoiled the crown continued his success through his four year old season, and RQ enjoyed great success for the remainder of his career, including a notable victory over Free House. He was a top contender for the Breeder's cup Classic, but was unable to run due to injury.

Unfortunately, his breeding career was far less impressive than his racing career, and he died at fifteen after a bad fall. Autopsy revealed that she he fell on his shoulder, the bone shifted into his neck and dislocated or broke 5 cervical vertebrae.

Real Quiet was so painfully close in 1998, that it is difficult to speak of. He certainly would have belonged on the list of the greatest horses in triple crown history. Real Quiet will likely always remain the closest near miss in the history of an unpredictable sport. Of all the close calls we've had, he was the one that hurt the most. 1998's Triple Crown was the one that got away.