Three Year-old Season
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 2011 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.
Read more about this topic: Real Quiet
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