REAL QUIET SQUEEZES BY IN GOLD CUP; LATE CHARGE HOLDS OFF TIGHT FIELD.Byline: Kevin Modesti Staff Writer In a pleasant surprise after a week of hand-wringing over the tiny, all-local field, the 60th Hollywood Gold Cup The Hollywood Gold Cup is a Grade I stakes race for thoroughbred horses inaugurated in 1938 at Hollywood Park Racetrack in Inglewood, California. It was run as a handicap race until 1997 when it was switched to weight-for-age conditions. lived up to its name, and its winner's. Real quietly, Sunday's $1 million race turned into a highly tactical and hard-fought thriller in which each of the four horses looked like the winner at some point in the 1-1/4 miles. Stride by stride, the tension built around the predicament of Kentucky Derby Kentucky Derby One of the classic U.S. Thoroughbred horse races. It was established in 1875 and run annually on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs track in Louisville, Ky. With the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes, it makes up U.S. racing's coveted Triple Crown. winner Real Quiet and Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey, who found themselves boxed behind dueling front-runners Malek and Budroyale and inside Puerto Madero Puerto Madero is a neighborhood, or barrio, of the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires, which occupies a significant portion of the Río de la Plata riverbank. History In the 1930s, port facilities were relocated to Puerto Nuevo . Not until the horses were in mid-stretch, urged on by the rising voices of 27,562 fans, was Bailey able to cut between the tiring leaders and the rail and send Real Quiet to a desperate, half-length victory. ``Without a doubt, you can get in big trouble in a small field,'' Bailey said after proving exactly that to the temporary dismay of bettors who made Real Quiet an odds-on favorite (he paid $3.80). Long shot Budroyale and Garrett Gomez held on for second by a neck, putting the long-time claiming horse over $1 million in career earnings. Malek and Alex Solis Alex O. Solis (born March 25, 1964 in Panama City, Panama) is a jockey based in the United States. He currently lives in Glendora, California and rides predominantly in Southern California. He first gained national prominence when he won the 1986 Preakness Stakes with Snow Chief. finished third, last year's Santa Anita Handicap The Santa Anita Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in the late winter at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. It is a Grade I race for horses three years old and up, and is considered the most important race for older horses in North America during winner feeling the effects of a 61-day layoff. A distant last were Puerto Madero and Kent Desormeaux Kent J. Desormeaux (born February 27, 1970, in Maurice, Vermilion Parish, Louisiana) is an American thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame jockey who holds the U.S. record for most races won in a single year. , who threatened the leaders fleetingly as they turned for home - after spending the first half of the race trying to frustrate Real Quiet. Real Quiet owner Mike Pegram and trainer Bob Baffert Bob Baffert (born January 13, 1953 in Nogales, Arizona) is an American horse owner and trainer. He graduated from the University of Arizona's Racetrack Management Program with a Bachelor of Science degree. watched the drama unfold from the box seats. ``At the eighth (of a mile) pole, I was not a happy camper a person who is pleased with the situation in which s/he finds him/herself. Often used ironically or in understatement, especially in the negative; as, the passengers left behind on the island were not a bunch of happy campers s>. See also: Camper ,'' Pegram said, remembering the moment before Bailey found daylight. ``I was saying, `What are you doing, Jerry?!' '' ``Good thing he wasn't miked (for television),'' Baffert said. ``Then,'' Pegram said, ``I found out why he (Bailey) is the best in the East, and I was happy we got him out here.'' Bailey picked up the mount after Gary Stevens
Climbing aboard the colt for the first time, Bailey made Real Quiet his fourth Gold Cup winner of the 1990s, following Sultry Song ('92), Cigar ('96) and Skip Away Skip Away (born April 4, 1993), a gray thoroughbred race horse, was named America's Champion 3 Year Old Male in 1996 and twice (1997, 1998) named America's Champion Handicap Horse. ('98). The first three victories looked easy compared to this one. Bailey and Baffert said they'd anticipated that Desormeaux, starting from the outside post, would try to hem in the favorite, starting from post 2. But when it happened, there wasn't much Bailey could do about it. The leaders set a slow pace for a race clocked in 1:59 3/5, and the small pack stayed tight. ``I would have had to take take him out the back door (and try to loop the field),'' Bailey said. ``Desormeaux looked over at me several times and he was going to play to what I did. If I started taking back to get outside, he was going to ease back. ``I really thought he'd run out of horse by the top of the stretch and let me out.'' Desormeaux did run out of horse. Just not soon enough for Bailey. In the stretch he was caught behind a wall of rivals, forced to keep Real Quiet in neutral. ``I left myself with three options,'' Bailey said. ``One out, one in, one in between if the horses split (in front of) me. I think I prepared myself well, but you always have to have some luck and a good horse. ``Usually you're going to get through somewhere. The question is how deep in the stretch it's going to be and how quick the horse is going to respond. . . . It's asking a lot of a big, long-striding horse to gather himself and make up two lengths on horses that are trying themselves.'' ``Jerry rides like he has ice water in his veins,'' Baffert said. ``I would have panicked at the quarter pole.'' Real Quiet was the first Gold Cup starter for Baffert, who nearly won the Triple Crown with Silver Charm in '97 and Real Quiet in '98. Real Quiet became the first Kentucky Derby winner to win the Gold Cup since Ferdinand in '87. Before Sunday, the 4-year-old had won once in five starts since the Preakness. He needed this victory to make him a force in the national handicap division. With the 20 points he earned, he vaulted to second in the ``NTRA NTRA National Thoroughbred Racing Association NTRA National Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (Egypt) NTRA National Training Reform Agenda NTRA Nano Technology Research Association (Korea) Champions on Fox'' standings and trails Behrens 28-22 with four events left in the 11-race series. Behrens' absence, and favorite Old Trieste's withdrawal five days before the race with a foot abscess abscess, localized inflamation associated with tissue necrosis. Abscesses are characterized by inflamation, which is due to the accumulation of pus in the local tissues, and often painful swelling. and illness, left the Gold Cup with the fewest horses in its glorious history. There didn't seem to be much intrigue. Then the starting gate opened. ``The fans,'' Baffert said, ``they got their money's worth.'' CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO Real Quiet and jockey Jerry Bailey solved the squeeze in Sunday's four-horse field to win the 60th Gold Cup. Jill Connelly/Associated Press |
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