Real Quiet

Thoroughbred racehorse infobox
horsename = Real Quiet


sire = Quiet American
grandsire = Fappiano
dam = Really Blue
damsire = Believe It
sex = Stallion
foaled = 1995
country = United States flagicon|USA
colour = Bay
breeder = Eduardo Gaviria
owner = Michael E. Pegram
trainer = Bob Baffert
record = 20: 6-5-6
earnings = $3,271,802
race = Hollywood Futurity (1997)
San Felipe Stakes (1998)
Hollywood Gold Cup (1999)
Pimlico Special (1999)

American Classic Race wins:
Kentucky Derby (1998)
Preakness Stakes (1998)
awards = U.S. Champion 3-Yr-Old Colt (1998)
honours = Real Quiet Stakes at Hollywood Park Racetrack
updated= April 6, 2008

Real Quiet (born March 7, 1995 at Little Hill Farm in Ocala, Florida) is an American Champion Thoroughbred racehorse. He was nicknamed "The Fish" by his trainer, due to his narrow frame.

He was bred by Eduardo Gaviria, a Colombian proprietor of two stud farms: one near Bogotá in Colombia and another in Ocala. Gaviria purchased Really Blue at the 1990 Keeneland November sale for $37,000, in foal to Spend A Buck. After a careful study of pedigrees, Gaviria decided to breed Really Blue with Quiet American. The result was Real Quiet. However, the colt's crooked knees prompted Gaviria to sell Real Quiet at a yearling auction to Michael E. Pegram for only $17,000.

Trained by Bob Baffert, racing as a two-year-old in 1997 Real Quiet started out slow, needing seven races before getting his first win. However, he improved considerably and won the Hollywood Futurity, an important Grade 1 stakes race.

Although still lightly regarded in a year with many quality three-year-olds competing, in 1998 he was ridden to victory by jockey Kent Desormeaux in the Kentucky Derby. His Beyer Speed Figure recorded in the Hollywood Futurity proved to be the highest Beyer rating of any two-year-old horse that went on to win the Kentucky Derby. He then won the Preakness Stakes by a convincing margin. The weeks leading up to the Belmont Stakes, the third and final leg of the coveted Triple Crown, were full of excited speculation on Real Quiet's chances, but he lost his bid for racing immortality when Victory Gallop beat him by a nose in the final stride of the race.

No horse had come closer to taking the Triple Crown since Affirmed's victory in 1978 and, as of the 2008 Triple Crown, this remains true. Kent Desormeaux was criticized for his jockeying in the Belmont Stakes. Many believed he moved out too fast at the start, causing Real Quiet to tire in the final strides of the longer-than-average Belmont course. For his performances in 1998, Real Quiet won the Eclipse Award for best three-year-old colt.

As a four-year-old, Real Quiet won the Hollywood Gold Cup and the Pimlico Special. He was the first horse in 50 years to win the Preakness Stakes and the Pimlico Special. He also managed to place third in the Massachusetts Handicap at Suffolk Downs and second in the New Orleans Handicap. Real Quiet was considered to be a strong contender in the Breeders' Cup Classic and was entered in the Pacific Classic. However, he was injured and unable to race for the rest of the year.

He was retired at the end of the season and in 2003 stood at stud at Taylor Made Farm in Nicholasville, Kentucky. In 2005, he was relocated to Regal Heir Farms in Pennsylvania. He has produced a prime runner in the Philippines named Real Spicy who is owned by Hermie Esguerra. The horse is a strong contender for that country's own version of the 2005 Triple Crown Championship. Although Real Quiet's progeny has not been nearly as successful in the United States, he managed to produce Pussycat Doll, who won the La Brea Stakes and the G1 Humana Distaff Handicap (defeating her stablemate Behaving Badly), No Place Like It, winner of the U.S.A Pine Oak Stakes, and Wonder Lady Ann L, winner of the 2006 Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) at Belmont Park. He also sired 2007 Breeders Cup Sprint winner, Midnight Lute.

References

* [http://www.stallionregister.com/sr_sire_page.asp?refno=4005090&origin=singlesearch Real Quiet] profile on the Stallion Register
* [http://www.regalheir.com/real-quiet.shtml Real Quiet] profile at Regal Heir Farms
* [http://www.pedigreequery.com/real+quiet Real Quiet's pedigree with photos]
* [http://www.kentuckyderby.com/2006/derby_history/derby_charts/years/1998.html Real Quiet's Derby]
* [http://www.infoplease.com/ipsa/A0112907.html Preakness winners]
* [http://www.bloodhorse.com/eclipsewinners/pdf/1998_3-Year-Old_Male.pdf Real Quiet: Three-year-old Male of the Year]