TITANS OF TURF : Episode 4 – Forego
Including Forego in my best five was not difficult since I had seen him race on so many occasions. But Kelso, another great gelding, was excluded only because of less familiarity. They were individually recognized as Horse of the Year no less than eight times between them, with Kelso taking a slight edge in longevity by being so honored on five occasions. With the exception of Kelso, Forego was voted Horse of the Year more than any other horse, earning this most coveted honor for three successive years, 1974, 1975 and 1976. By the time he retired, he would receive eight Eclipse Awards. But more remarkable perhaps, was that in 1974, Forego was voted Best Sprinter, primarily due to his winning the Vosburgh Handicap at seven furlongs, and but then coming he came back three weeks later to win the Jockey Club Gold Cup at two miles. Any further comparisons with Kelso would be largely subjective.
Forego was huge, figuratively and literally. Standing an honest 17 hands, he also girthed an immense 77 and one-half inches upon retirement. He was dark bay or brown, and with the exception of the faintest star in a long but attractive head, he was devoid of any white markings. Somewhat angular as a 3-year-old, he eventually became massive by the time he retired five years later.
He was owned and bred by Mrs. Edward H. Gerry and raced in her black-and-yellow colors under the stable name of Lazy F Ranch. By the Argentinian-imported Forli, he was out of stakes- winning Lady Galconda, by Hasty Road. who was a successful stallion and useful sort on the track, leading all juveniles in earnings in 1953 and winning the Preakness at three, and the Widner at four.
Due to his size, Forego was gelded and unraced until 3. Overshadowed entirely that year by Secretariat, Forego managed to finish fourth to the Meadow Stable star in the Kentucky Derby. He had previously finished second to Royal And Regal in the Florida Derby as the favorite, and later finished the year by winning both the Roamer and Discovery handicaps at Aqueduct, which placed him second on the Daily Racing Form Free Handicap with 129 lbs. to Secretariat’s 136 lbs.
As a 4-year-old in1974, Forego swept three Eclipse Awards: Best Sprinter, Best Handicap Horse, and Horse of the Year. He started the year by winning the three major handicaps in Florida; : the Donn, Gulfstream Park and Widner. He continued in the north by taking the Carter Handicap, and after second-place finishes in the Metropolitan and Nassau County handicaps, came back to win the Brooklyn Handicap. After three more losses, he won three more races: the Woodward, Vosburgh and then the Jockey Club Gold Cup. It was an incredible year, arguably his best, but his best race was yet to come.
At 5, he continued to collect major victories on his way to his second Horse of the Year title as well as Best Handicap Horse, winning the Seminole and Widner Handicaps in Florida and the Carter, Brooklyn and Suburban handicaps, and the Woodward Stakes, all in New York. Although carefully managed by trainer Sherrill Ward, the tough campaign was to take its toll; he finished the year with a pulled suspensory ligament in his left foreleg. At this point, suffering from a chronic osteoarthritic condition of the hip, Ward relinquished the following year’s training duties to Frank Whiteley. In October, Forego was shipped to John Ward’s farm in Lexington, and then sent to Whiteley in Camden, S.C., for winter training.
Due to the increasingly aggravated suspensory, he raced sparingly as a 6-year-old in 1976, but still managed to win six major races in only eight starts. His only two defeats were a second-place finish in the Suburban, beaten a nose and giving nine pounds to Kentucky Derby winner and 3-year-old champion, Foolish Pleasure. His only other loss was a third in the Amory L. Haskell, for which I must confess I was partially to blame. Intrepid Hero, a horse that I trained, also a son of Forli, had won the mile-and-a-half Hollywood Derby on the lead throughout. He had also finished second by a neck in the Monmouth Invitational to 1975 3-year-old champion, Wajima, also on or near the lead for a mile and an eighth.
Forego’s style of running was to come from well off the pace, conserving energy, his great sprinting ability usually taking him past anything in the last furlong. We felt that with a huge weight differential, Intrepid Hero carrying 117 pounds to Forego’s 136 pounds, he we would have a chance to steal the Haskell by opening up a long, early lead. Forego’s jockey, Jacinto Vasquez, would either have to save his horse and take a chance that Intrepid Hero would stop, or use Forego’s speed early, the sooner the better for us if he were to be punished by the enormous weight he had to carry. Forego moved much earlier than he normally would have, joining Intrepid Hero on the far turn, the two engaging in a battle from there. In the final yards, both horses, while tiring and drifting to the middle of the track, were caught by Greentree Stable’s Hatchet Man, who had come from last place, carrying a mere 112 lbs. Forego, with his worst finish for the year, was nosed out by Intrepid Hero for second place. Intrepid Hero legitimized his fine effort by also winning the Bernard Baruch and and the United Nations handicaps, and the Secretariat Stakes before retiring to stud at Spendthrift Farm.
But Forego’s victories that year would more than exonerate him for the loss in the Haskell; indeed, they were some of his finest. He won the Metropolitan Mile (130 lbs.), the Nassau County Handicap (132 lbs.) and the Brooklyn Handicap for the third consecutive time(134 lbs.), prior to the Haskell. Then, switching from Vasquez to Shoemaker, he won the Woodward (135lbs.), and finally, the Marlborough Cup (137 lbs.), a race that many regarded as his best. He won his third Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year, and his third for Best Handicap Horse.
Joe Hirsch, in “The American Racing Manual,” wrote: “Forego belongs with the superstars in any assessment of outstanding American thoroughbreds, and his Marlborough Cup will be the race for which he will be remembered.”
Continuing to be plagued by ankle problems, Forego made only seven starts the following year, winning four, including both the Metropolitan Handicap and the Nassau County for the second time, and the Woodward for the fourth straight year. He was second in both the Suburban and Brooklyn handicaps. He also collected his fourth consecutive Eclipse Award for Best Older Colt or Gelding.
When asked recently if Forego was difficult to ride, Shoemaker replied, “Not really, but he was hard to pull up after a race. When he’d hit the far turn he’d switch to his left lead, but when he’d straighten into the stretch he wouldn’t switch back, he would stay in the left lead to take care of that old ankle. As soon as he crossed the finish line he would start stumbling and it was all I could do to keep him on his feet until I got him down to a jog.
”He could pretty much run on any kind of track,” Shoemaker added, ” but Belmont, being a mile and a half around, had bigger turns, which made it easier for him to take care of himself. He was a great old horse, one of the best I ever rode.”
The following year, 1978, was his last. Making only two starts and winning only an allowance race, he was retired. He was sent to Kentucky in 1981 and became a celebrity pensioner at the Kentucky Horse Park. He was inducted into the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame the year after retirement. He died in 1997 and is buried at the park.
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