Real Quiet’s Career Might Be Finished

DEL MAR —  A week after a ligament injury ended the career of Victory Gallop, Real Quiet has been sidelined by a crack in his right foreleg.

The 1998 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner will be sidelined for at least three months, and then a determination probably will be made whether to retire him or race him as a 5-year-old in 2000.

Scheduled to make his next start here in the $1-million Pacific Classic on Aug. 29, the same race Victory Gallop was being aimed toward before he was hurt, Real Quiet probably suffered the injury while working seven furlongs in 1:23 2/5 at Santa Anita last Sunday.

“We’re just going to keep him in the barn at Santa Anita and ice him and let that thing heal up,” said trainer Bob Baffert, who sent the son of Quiet American to work in Arcadia because he wasn’t pleased with the way the colt was working on Del Mar’s main track.

“It probably happened in the work. He was fine until then. There was a little [swelling] when he cooled out after the work.”

After X-rays revealed the crack, veterinarians told the trainer the injury would take 90 days to heal and that surgery would not be required.

Owned by Mike Pegram, Real Quiet missed a Triple Crown victory by a nose last year when beaten by Victory Gallop in the most thrilling Belmont Stakes since Affirmed edged Alydar in 1978.

He was second in his first two starts of 1999, defeated Free House, who suffered a career-ending injury in the race, in the Pimlico Special on May 8, then was third behind Behrens and Running Stag in the Massachusetts Handicap at Suffolk Downs three weeks later.

In what may turn out to be the final start of his career, Real Quiet overcame trouble to win the Hollywood Gold Cup on June 27.

The victory was the sixth in 20 starts for Real Quiet and increased his earnings to almost $3.3 million.

Real Quiet is the second Kentucky Derby winner Baffert has lost in two months.

In June, Silver Charm, who won the Derby and Preakness in 1997, was retired after a lackluster effort in the Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs, a race won by Victory Gallop.

*

With Victory Gallop and Real Quiet gone, Mazel Trick figures to be a solid favorite in the ninth Pacific Classic as he tries to give trainer Bobby Frankel his fifth win in the Grade I.

Nominations closed for the 1 1/4-mile race Wednesday, and besides Mazel Trick, 20 others were nominated.

Baffert has three nominees, topped by Santa Anita Derby winner General Challenge, who worked a mile in 1:36 2/5 earlier this week in preparation for the race.

Frankel, who has won the Classic with double winner Tinners Way, Missionary Ridge and Bertrando, also may start Barter Town, who was second in last month’s Bel Air Handicap at Hollywood Park.

Horse Racing Notes

Former jockeys Bill Shoemaker and John Longden will be honored before Saturday’s races with the installation of plaques near Del Mar’s saddling area. Shoemaker is racing’s leading rider with 8,833 victories and Longden, 92, finished his career with 6,032. . . . Enjoy The Moment, who won the A Gleam Handicap at Hollywood Park in her last start, drew the outside post among six fillies and mares entered Thursday morning for Saturday’s $150,000 Rancho Bernardo Handicap at 6 1/2 furlongs. From the rail out, the Grade III also attracted Snowberg, Royal Shyness, A.P. Assay, Stop Traffic and Love That Jazz. Snowberg and A.P. Assay will race coupled in the wagering. . . . One of the items on the agenda at today’s monthly meeting of the California Horse Racing Board is the allocation of race dates for 2000.