Real Quiet - Four Year-old Season

Four Year-old Season

As a four-year-old, Real Quiet won the grade one Pimlico Special and the grade one Hollywood Gold Cup. In the $600,000 grade one Special, Real Quiet was the second choice to Free House, who had won both grade one starts coming into the race that year including the Santa Anita Handicap. They dueled down the home-stretch, with Gary Stevens driving Real Quiet forward and Chris McCarron trying to hold his thin lead aboard Free House. In the final strides, Real Quiet poked his nose in front to win one of the closest Special Handicaps ever. I was afraid that Free House would get out front and steal it, Baffert said. It looked as though Free House didn't want to give it up. But we were just lucky to get by him. Real Quiet ran the mile and three-sixteenths in 1:54 1/5 returned $5.80 for a $2 bet to win and added $360,000 to a bankroll that passed $2.6 million.

He was the first horse in 50 years to win the Preakness Stakes and the Pimlico Special. He still remains one of only five horses to accomplish that feat along with four Triple Crown winners in Citation, Whirlaway, Assault and War Admiral.

That summer Real Quiet won the one million dollar grade one Hollywood Gold Cup defeating Budroyale and Malek over ten furlongs in 1:59.67. He also managed to place third in the grade two Massachusetts Handicap at Suffolk Downs losing to Behrens and Running Stag. He had two seconds in the grade three New Orleans Handicap and the grade three Texas Mile Stakes. 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 finished his four year-old season as a millionaire with a record of 2-2-1 in five starts and annual earnings of $1,101,880.