FAME CAN BE DEFEATING; FINANCIALLY HIT TRACKS CAN'T CASH IN ON STAR POWER.

Byline: KEVIN MODESTI Horse Racing

Last summer, before Bob Baffert knew how good Real Quiet could be, the trainer shipped the winless 2-year-old from California to Santa Fe (N.M.) Downs and ran him in a new race called the Indian Nations Futurity.

Real Quiet wasn't favored, he finished third to a gelding who hasn't won since, and he soon returned to California. Yet the brush with greatness is a source of pride for the New Mexico racing industry, which can stretch the truth only a bit and claim to have ``produced'' a Kentucky Derby winner.

Now that the late-blooming colt is one victory from the first Triple Crown sweep in 20 years, the marketing department at little Santa Fe Downs should be poised to cash in on fact that Real Quiet slept there.

Only one problem: Last fall, after years of financial losses, Santa Fe Downs went out of business.

``We're disappointed,'' New Mexico Racing Commission executive director Julian Luna said this week. ``It would have been a great marketing and advertising advantage this year.''

That's horse racing these days: Good things are happening on the tracks, but there's a lot of red ink in the front offices.

In New Mexico, as elsewhere, the industry is losing the competition with simpler forms of gambling and more accessible televised sports.

There's hope for a revival. New Mexico recently empaneled a gaming commission, under which tracks may be allowed to install slot machines as early as 1999, a move that has helped racing in other states.

But it may be too late to save Santa Fe Downs, a one-mile track that opened in 1971.

The Pojoaque of Pueblo Indians, who own the track, decided last fall not to apply to the state for their traditional summer racing dates. Even if the Pojoaques sell the property, it couldn't reopen until next year.

As for the Indian Nations Futurity, it appears to be dead, too. Sunland Park in El Paso, Texas, wanted to host the race, but the northern New Mexico tribes who put up the half-million-dollar purse weren't enthusiastic.

Talk about bad timing. Real Quiet's Derby victory was the first by a horse who had raced in New Mexico. He actually raced twice there, finishing third to General Gem in the Futurity Trial and third to Grady in the Indian Nations.

The closest the state came to Triple Crown glory before this was in 1981, when Santa Fe Futurity winner Pass the Tab finished sixth in the Derby, and Ruidiso Downs and Albuquerque futurity winner Bold Ego finished 10th in the Derby and second in the Preakness.

Because of Real Quiet, a staffer at the New Mexico Racing Commission said with an ironic laugh, ``We're getting the best publicity we could ever want.''

Too late.

The opponents: It appears the Belmont Stakes will include nobody Real Quiet shouldn't beat - or hasn't beaten already.

Victory Gallop, the Derby and Preakness runner-up, and Classic Cat, third in the Preakness, are the strongest horses aiming for the 1-1/2-mile race June 6 in New York.

Others include Thomas Jo, the best Maryland 3-year-old to skip the Preakness, and Yarrow Brae, Nationalore and Raffie's Majesty. Hanuman Highway and Dice Dancer will stay for the Belmont if they do well Saturday in the 1-1/8-mile, $150,000 Peter Pan.

Hot Wells, Limit Out and Basic Trainee are other possibilities.

Quest will wait: Coronado's Quest might have run in either the $500,000 Metropolitan Handicap on Memorial Day or the Belmont Stakes, but trainer Shug McGaughey said he'll skip both. The announcement came after the colt's Thursday morning gallop at Belmont, his first time on the track since the hoof bruise that kept him out of the Preakness.

McGaughey said Coronado's Quest will run instead in the $125,000 Riva Ridge, a 7-furlong race for 3-year-olds on the Belmont Stakes undercard.

The weekend: The $400,000 Hollywood Turf Handicap on the Memorial Day holiday Monday will be one of seven stakes at Hollywood Park this weekend.

The same day, at Belmont, the Metropolitan Handicap will find Richard Mandella-trained Wild Rush trying to build on his Carter Handicap victory at Aqueduct.

This is the 30th running of the 1-1/4-mile Turf Handicap, whose winners include national champions Fort Marcy, Cougar II, Typecast, Dahlia, John Henry and Steinlen.

A small field is expected - haven't we worn out that phrase yet? - with San Juan Capistrano winner Amerique (Eddie Delahoussaye riding), Hollywood Turf Cup winner River Bay (Alex Solis), Irish Wings (Chris McCarron), Six Zero (Corey Nakatani) and Storm Trooper (Kent Desormeaux) the probable starters.

Because Desormeaux committed to ride Storm Trooper for trainer Neil Drysdale, Jerry Bailey will take over Wild Rush in New York.

Wild Rush's opponents in the race sometimes called the Met Mile will include Churchill Downs Handicap winner Distorted Humor (Gary Stevens) and Oaklawn Handicap runner-up Frisk Me Now.

A WEEK AT THE RACES 

Hollywood Park standings: Jockeys: Corey Nakatani, 19 winners; J.C. Gonzalez, 14; Victor Espinoza, 13; David Flores and Garrett Gomez, 11. Trainer: Craig Dollase, 9; Barry Abrams, Bob Baffert, Paco Gonzalez and Mike Mitchell, 6; Jack Carava and Mike Harrington, 5.

Handicapper helper: Victor Espinoza has been a money rider at Hollywood Park, with winners paying $56, $17, $21.40, $141.40, $24.40, $17.20, $60.80 and, on Thursday, $56.20.

Upcoming stakes: At Hollywood Park: $100,000 Honeymoon Handicap, 3-year-old fillies, 1-1/8 miles on turf, and $84,000 Fastness Handicap, one mile on turf, Saturday; $100,000 Los Angeles Handicap, 6 furlongs, and $65,000 Great Lady M. Handicap, fillies and mares, 5-1/2 furlongs on turf, Sunday; $400,000 Hollywood Turf Handicap, 1-1/4 miles, $65,000 Harry Henson, 3-year-olds, 7 furlongs, and $65,000 Westchester, 2-year-olds, 4-1/2 furlongs, Monday. At Golden Gate Fields: $200,000 San Francisco Mile, one mile on turf, Saturday. At Belmont Park: $150,000 Shuvee Handicap, fillies and mares, 1 1/16 miles, Saturday; $150,000 Peter Pan, 3-year-olds, 1-1/8 miles, Sunday; $500,000 Metropolitan Handicap, one mile, Monday.

Mileposts: Silver Charm worked a fastest-of-the-morning 5 furlongs in :59 3/5 at Churchill Downs on Tuesday and is pointing for the June 13 Stephen Foster Handicap. . . . The winning superfecta on Belmont's ninth race Saturday paid $205,383; a 7-1 horse won over 90-1, 2-1 and 55-1 shots. . . . Favorites have won eight of the 14 stakes race at Hollywood Park. Jockey Eddie Delahoussaye leads with five stakes victories. . . . Trainer Jenine Sahadi's losing streak reached a DiMaggioesque 56. . . . Laffit Pincay returns tonight from a three-day suspension for a riding violation. . . . Gentlemen hasn't bled in any of his workouts since bleeding in the Santa Anita Handicap, his barn said. He's pointing for the June 28 Hollywood Gold Cup. . . . Halory Hunter, who has 12 screws and a plate in the leg he fractured in training for the Preakness, is heading back to trainer Nick Zito's barn; a decision on retirement was put off for a month. . . . Despite the blackout that cost about $2 million in wagers at Pimlico, the track set Preakness-day records for national wagering ($33.6 million) as well as attendance at the track (91,122), according to Daily Racing Form figures. . . . On the Preakness undercard, jockey Jerry Bailey and trainer Bill Mott teamed up to win stakes with Ajina, Yagli, Richter Scale and Acceptable. . . . Mike McCandless, accused of inserting sponges in Kentucky horses' nostrils to inhibit breathing, remained at large. . . . Different, a one-time top mare trying to recapture her winning form, ran second to Sonja's Faith in an allowance race Wednesday at Hollywood Park.

--- Kevin Modesti

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BOX: A WEEK AT THE RACES (see text)