Columnist Ralph Siraco: Real Quiet battles racing gods in Triple Crown bid

THERE HAS BEEN a summit called for Saturday.

The racing gods have been summoned to the summit for the purpose of deciding the date of one Real Quiet and his place in racing history.

It is then that this year's Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner has his date with destiny, and at about 2:40 p.m. PDT, the outcome of the summit for the horse they call "The Fish" and his mark on the Sport of Kings will become evident to all of us mere mortals.

The 130th Belmont Stakes stands waiting for Real Quiet, and a victory in Elmont, N.Y., will assure the Triple Crown for the son of Quiet American.

And isn't it appropriate -- that on the 25th anniversary of the great Secretariat's most memorable Triple Crown victory -- there is at least a distinct possibility of another winner to the most coveted prize in thoroughbred racing?

Many experts believe that the equine competition that stands to contest the twin crown victor is not as imposing as the grueling mile-and-one-half journey that these sophomores will be asked to cover -- a distance most will never attempt again -- as the crowning test that has failed many other famous participants.

Twenty-four have gotten as far as Real Quiet in capturing the first two jewels of the crown and 13 have failed in the race called "The Test of Champions."

It has been 20 years since the divine "go-ahead" has been ordered by the ultimate body of vote casters. The gods are not easy, having handed out only 11 Triple Crowns so far, and the silhouette of a champion does not guarantee an automatic majority in their electoral process.

And it seems that the racing gods are getting stingy in their old age.

In the last 50 years, since Citation won the Triple Crown of 1948, only three others have turned the triple trick. That trio came in a charitable run between 1973, with Secretariat, and Affirmed's 1978 slugfests with Alydar in the greatest Triple Crown rivalry of all time that capped off back-to-back crowns from Seattle Slew's sweep in 1977.

It is also obvious that there is no criteria or set qualifications to allow the hardware.

In 1919, Sir Barton won the Kentucky Derby as a maiden, then four days later, annexed the Preakness before scoring by five lengths in the Belmont Stakes even before it was known as the Triple Crown.

When Omaha won the third Triple Crown in 1935 it was the first, and to this day, the only winner that was sired by a previous victor. Gallant Fox took the Triple Crown just five years before his son. The gods always believed in strong family ties.

The gods cast a vote for an unruly rogue in 1941 when Whirlaway won the Crown and they proved that even the wealthy can add to their earthly riches when Count Fleet destroyed his Triple Crown competition for the Hertz Rent-a-Car dynasty in 1943. The aristocratic boundaries of breeding were denounced by the gods in 1946 when a Texas-bred by the name of Assault did just that to the blue-bloods of the Crown, and cast their vote for lifelong dedication when they sanctioned another trophy for Calumet Farms and jockey Eddie Arcaro with Citation.

But, the gods have struck fateful bolts of lightning to others that have seemed to be worthwhile of the Triple Crown as well.

Pensive (1944), Tim Tam (1958) and the rags-to-riches Carry Back (1961) preceded one of the most potent sires of all time, Northern Dancer (1964) as no-gos of the Crown. Kauai King (1966), Forward Pass (1968) and Majestic Prince (1969) added to that decade's five Belmont frustrations for a Triple Crown.

Canonero II brought the largest Belmont Day crowd in 1971 with the Cinderella hopes of Caracus in 1971, but the gods denied. And what about Spectacular Bid (1979), Alysheba (1987) and Sunday Silence (1989) who all failed their Triple Crown destiny, then went on to Horse-of-the-Year honors, and Pleasant Colony (1981) who couldn't convince a yea at his home track.

But could the gods really turn thumbs down to this unique gathering of personalities that have somehow come together by their own paths of fate?

Trainer Bob Baffert, who was denied the divine vote last year with Silver Charm, comes back already graced with the feat of being the only conditioner to have won both the Derby and Preakness in successive years. The always quotable, witty and personable silver-haired conditioner would be heaven-sent for racing's exposure.

Owner Mike Pegram, who rose from modest beginnings and now owns 22 McDonald's franchises, could be rewarded for convincing his friend Baffert to cross over from training quarter horses to thoroughbreds and then bankrolled the transition.

Jockey Kent Desormeaux, who reached the top of his profession at a young age in Maryland, gained success on the tough Southern California circuit and then found a resurgence in his career with his teaming of Baffert.

And what about a gangling horse, who as a yearling had an operation of wires, screws and bolts to straighten his legs, sold for a measly $17,000 and couldn't win a race at Santa Fe before finally breaking his maiden on the seventh try. A horse who was so thin that he profiled in the likeness of a fish, blasted the dosage theory to shreds and has lost 2 1/2 times more races than he's won.

Well, it may make good theater and Hollywood could make a movie, but the racing gods will have the ultimate ending to this story on Saturday.

Rumor has it that a divine consultant has been recruited for the summit vote with previous experience in New York while serving as a baseball god in 1969.

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