Baffert wouldn’t be deterred and was back in the hunt the following year with Real Quiet, who was anything but when storming to victory in the first two legs of the Triple Crown (his performance in the Preakness being particularly convincing). But to this day, much of the blame for his not sealing the deal goes to jockey Kent Desormeaux, who, it’s said, jumped out too quickly at the beginning, causing Real Quiet to fade at the end. He was run down and beaten by a nose by Victory Gallop in an impossibly close finish. The homestretch has rarely been treated to such drama, with 80,162 spectators surely aware that they’d witnessed a race for the ages.