A handsome and charismatic chestnut, Easy Goer was a homebred for Ogden Phipps, who had been racing and breeding top-class horses for more than fifty years. Among the champions Phipps had bred and raced were the great Buckpasser, Numbered Account, and Relaxing, the dam of Easy Goer. In 1988 as a two-year-old, Easy Goer added his name to that list of champions. After breaking his maiden at Saratoga, Easy Goer won three in a row at his favorite track, BelmontPark, including the Cowdin Stakes by three lengths and the Champagne Stakes by four. In his final outing he faltered in the muddy going at Churchill Downs to finish second to Is It True in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, but the loss did not dissuade voters from awarding him the two-year old male championship.

Out in California, Sunday Silence had a less distinguished juvenile season but did enough to prove his quality. A son of Halo out of the bluecollar mare Wishing Well, Sunday Silence had been offered for sale at the California Thoroughbred Sales Inc.’s two-year-olds in training sale that March but had been bought back by Arthur Hancock, who had raised the colt for breeder Oak Cliff Thoroughbreds. Hancock had already bought back the lanky black colt as a yearling. After this, he convinced Hall of Fame trainer Charlie Whittingham to buy a half-interest in the colt. Sunday Silence didn’t start until late October 1988, finishing a close second in a maiden event at Santa Anita. Not quite two weeks later he won a maiden race by ten lengths at HollywoodPark, and in his final start that season he finished second in an allowance race at the same track.

In March 1989 both Sunday Silence and Easy Goer began their treks down the Triple Crown trail, each racing on his respective coast. Sunday Silence made his seasonal bow in a March 2 allowance race at Santa Anita, winning by four and a half lengths. Two days later trainer Shug McGaughey sent Easy Goer out in the seven-furlong Swale Stakes at GulfstreamPark in Florida to win by eight and three-quarters lengths. Both horses raced twice more before the Kentucky Derby, Sunday Silence winning the San Felipe Handicap and Santa Anita Derby (by eleven lengths) and Easy Goer taking the Gotham by thirteen lengths and the Wood Memorial by three, both at Aqueduct in New York.

For the May 6 Kentucky Derby, Easy Goer, with entry-mate Awe Inspiring, was made the heavy favorite at 4-5 while Sunday Silence was the second choice at 3-1. Thirteen other horses were entered in the Derby, but the real showdown was between the East Coast titan and the West Coast brawler. Or it was supposed to have been that way. Sunday Silence took command in the stretch and made Easy Goer play catch-up. Easy Goer got only to within two and a half lengths of Sunday Silence at the wire.

After the Derby, fans across the country had become increasingly polarized about the two horses with loyalties mostly divided along East-West lines. And Easy Goer fans were especially eager to see their colt redeem himself. Easy Goer was once again the odds-on favorite and Sunday Silence the second choice for the Preakness. A record 90,000-plus people turned out to witness the rematch. On-track fans and television viewers would not be disappointed.

Sunday Silence, with Pat Valenzuela aboard, settled just off pacesetters Northern Wolf and Houston while running wide down the backstretch. After a poor break Easy Goer was eager to get in the race, and jockey Pat Day let him move up on his own. It appeared he might pull away and dominate as he had in so many other races, but Sunday Silence wasn’t about to let him get away and closed the gap heading into the homestretch.

And the battle was on. Easy Goer took the rail path, with Sunday Silence lapped on him so closely that Pat Day couldn’t whip with his right hand. In a scene eerily similar to the battle of Affirmed and Alydar, the two colts raced down the stretch, strides in synch, neither willing to give an inch. In the final strides Day tugged Easy Goer’s head slightly to the right, in hopes that eye contact with his foe would give his colt that little extra boost. Valenzuela tapped Sunday Silence on the right with his whip; a similar tactic in the Derby had had his colt veering in down the stretch. But not this time. Sunday Silence ran true, and at the wire his nose caught the line first.

Easy Goer, who, ironically, was sired by Alydar, would finally get his revenge with an easy win over Sunday Silence in the Belmont. But the two horses will be forever linked in perpetual combat in a Preakness for the ages. JM

Cicada was a solid dark bay filly with a white blaze in her face. Although attractive, she was very small, standing barely 15 hands, two inches, yet she had tremendously powerful hindquarters and gaskin letting well down into her hocks. Trained by J. H. “Casey” Hayes, she was precocious at 2, winning 11 of 16 starts, but she was later able to carry her extraordinary speed from five to nine furlongs. Prior to the advent of the Eclipse Awards that were instituted years after her retirement, she nevertheless won divisional championships at 2, 3 and 4 years old.

She came to the races as a 2-year-old early in 1961, winning her first stake race, the Blue Hen at five furlongs, followed by a division of the national Stallion Stakes. Shipping to Saratoga in August, she won the Schuylerville and the Spinaway Stakes before moving to downstate New York to win the three most important fixtures for her age and sex: the Matron, Astarita and the Frizette. As if this were not enough to insure a championship, she tried two turns in the richest race in the country for her age and sex — the Gardenia at Garden State Park in New Jersey at a mile and a 16th — and galloped to a 10-length victory.

Moving to Hialeah for winter racing, Cicada started out in an allowance race Feb. 7, winning against top class older mares, although she was not even chronologically 3 years old herself. Not satisfied with this extraordinary effort, merely a week later she was asked again to take on older mares in the Columbiana Handicap, and by finishing second, ended a seven-straight winning streak, while conceding 11 pounds on the scale to the winner. Undaunted, Hayes ran her back against older mares again, winning another allowance race.

Cicada was then asked to take on the colts in the Florida Derby when stable-mate Sir Gaylord dropped out of the race due to injury. Turning the event into a virtual match-race, she battled and bounced off the much larger Ridan all the way through the stretch, only to lose by a nose. A stewards’ inquiry did not overturn the result, despite her coming off second best; the gutsy little filly had retaliated when slammed by Ridan. Admiral’s Voyage, which later won the Wood Memorial and became Ridan’s archrival, ran third, beaten six lengths.

After returning to race against her own age and sex at Churchill Downs in late April, Cicada easily won the Oaks Prep Stakes, which tempted her connections once again to run her as a replacement for Sir Gaylord in the Kentucky Derby. It was decided at the last minute that discretion was the better part of valor and, instead, she ran in the Kentucky Oaks, winning by three lengths. Two weeks later, she won the Acorn at Aqueduct and followed this within two weeks by winning the Mother Goose, her fourth successive victory. Finally, the streak was broken in the 10-furlong Coaching Club American Oaks, this time simply by the distance of the race and a top class filly when Bramalea beat her by half a length.

Ten furlongs appeared to be a fraction beyond Cicada’s best distance, particularly since the indomitable little filly resented being rated and would prematurely open long leads in her races. Nevertheless, she was asked to go a mile and a quarter again in the Delaware Oaks, this time finishing third while Bramalea was second. Hayes was proving a point that he may have failed to recognize himself when, two weeks later, he ran her once again at 10 furlongs in the Delaware Handicap, and again taking on older fillies and mares. She finished second to 4-year-old Seven Thirty but did outlast Bramalea, which was third. Two weeks later she went to the post at mile and a quarter for the fourth consecutive time in Saratoga’s Alabama, finishing a weary third to Firm Policy.

It has always been the belief of erudite horsemen that the three Triple Crown races for colts run over a five-week period is the most physically demanding series in racing. Apparently the connections of Cicada were either unaware or contemptuous of this theory, for she had already run in not three, but four mile-and-a-quarter races within seven weeks, and they apparently believed she could do more. So it was only a week after the Alabama that she ran in the Travers against colts again, her fifth start in eight weeks, all at 10 furlongs. Cicada finished worse than third for the first time by begrudgingly relinquishing the lead after a mile, but the race was perhaps most memorable since it resulted in an epic battle through the length of the stretch with Belmont Stakes winner Jaipur saving a nose decision over Ridan.

If courage is a component of class, then Cicada was not only resilient but also royal. She recovered from what should have been a devastating campaign of five losses within eight weeks — all at a mile and a quarter — to prove her fortitude after a 30-day hiatus by winning the Beldame Stakes. Taking revenge on the Alabama winner Firm Policy by a length and a half, she led throughout and broke Kelso’s track record at nine furlongs.

Despite having run 14 times between February and September, the brave little filly won one more race that year, the Jersey Belle at Garden State Park by five and a half lengths. But the tide would inevitably turn. A week later she carried 123 lbs. against older mares in the Vineland Handicap, and suffered an injury to either her stifle or a pulled muscle (it was never decided), which resulted in a fourth-place finish. Two weeks later, Hayes mistakenly believed that she had recovered well enough to run in Aqueduct’s Ladies Handicap; she finished fifth and was forced into retirement for the remainder of the year due to the recurring injury.

She returned to the races in February 1963 for her 4-year-old campaign by winning the Columbiana Handicap at Hialeah. The remainder of the year, she was a victim of high weights and the recurring injury but, nevertheless, won half of eight starts and was only once worse than third. She was unplaced in the Black Helen and then was second in the Suwannee River before returning to New York. In quick succession she won the Distaff, was third in the Top Flight, won the Vagrancy and then the Sheepshead Bay Handicap (her only start on turf) before finishing second in the 10-furlong Delaware Handicap, carrying high weight of 128 lbs. After having run eight times in five and half months, and never less than high-weight in any race, she again pulled up lame, but this time she never recovered entirely.

Although her 4-year-old season had been cut short, at this point in her career, Cicada had broken the earnings record for a 2-year-old filly, a 3-year-old filly, and had become the leading distaff money winner ever to race. But she still had one goal that everyone in her corner hoped she would reach: to be the first distaff millionaire. Despite efforts to keep her in training at 5, she never fully recovered from her injuries. She was to make only one more start.

In the spring of 1964, Kenny Noe, then racing secretary at Garden State Park, urged me to run a tough 6-year-old horse named Relative in an allowance race that Noe assured me he would win. When the entries came out, I was stunned to find Cicada also in the race, making her first start of the year. But Noe was right, and Cicada was not; Relative won by two lengths. Cicada never ran again, but the heroic little filly will retain a place as one of the greatest of her sex of the last century, retiring with earnings records at 2, 3 and 4, and three divisional championships. She was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1967 and died in 1988.

She was by Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner and Europe’s Horse of the Year, Vaguely Noble, which was syndicated to stand at stud in Kentucky for a record $5 million in 1968. Her dam was Charming Alibi by Honeys Alibi, a moderate stakes winner that had nevertheless shown that she was tough, having started on 71 occasions. Although Dahlia’s extraordinary stamina came from her sire, her conformation and durability undoubtedly favored her dam, since, unlike her sire, she was a chestnut of only medium size, standing less than 16 hands. Trained by Maurice Zilber for the first four years of racing, she spent her final year in the United States trained by Charlie Whittingham.

Dahlia’s juvenile year showed little promise of her potential. Stabled at Chantilly, France, she started four times, winning only the Prix Yacowlef in her first start. But the following year, she was spectacular. Having ample opportunity at her preferred distances at a mile and a quarter and beyond, and with immensely rich purses, she won six races. After finishing second to the brilliant Allez France in the Prix de Diane (French Oaks), she won the Irish Oaks and, later in the summer, she won the valuable King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes in England against older males. Rheingold, which finished second in the King George, had finished second in the Epsom Derby to Roberto, and later won the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe — beating Allez France — and the Grand Prix Prix de Saint-Cloud twice. There were also three Derby winners that finished behind Dahlia in that King George: Roberto, the English Derby winner; Hard To Beat, winner of the French Derby; and Weaver’s Hall, which had won the Irish Derby.

Dahlia took on older males once more when she shipped to Laurel in the fall for the Washington D.C. International, winning the race and adding another $80,000 to the half-million earned in Europe. With only six wins she had won half as much as Susan’s Girl had won with 29 victories, which illustrated the extraordinary discrepancy in prize money at that time between the United States and Europe. The rate of exchange between the dollar and both the British pound and French franc, at that time, greatly favored earnings abroad, a point not lost on her knowledgeable owner.

Returning to France, Dahlia bankrolled even more prize money as a 4-year-old, while winning only five races, but they were the right five. She won the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud in Paris, then took England’s King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot for the second time, and then won the Benson and Hedges Gold Cup, beating another English Derby winner, Snow Knight, which later became champion turf horse of 1975 in the United States. Dahlia then crossed the Atlantic again to win the Man o’ War at Belmont, then the Canadian International at Woodbine and, finally, to finish third in the Washington D.C. International at Laurel. Her earnings topped those of her 3-year-old year, and her awards included the United States’ Grass Horse of the Year and England’s Horse of the Year.

She was to win only one race the following year, 1975, but again, it was the right one: England’s Benson and Hedges Gold Cup for the second time. She tried to win the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes for the third time, but finished third in a magnificent effort to that year’s English Derby winner, Grundy, and Bustino, which had won the St. Leger and the Coronation Cup. Shipping west for the final time, she was unplaced in both the Canadian and Washington D.C. Internationals.

At this point, Dahlia trailed the world’s distaff money winner, Allez France, by only about $20,000, and having never beaten the great French filly in eight starts on the racecourse, Hunt was looking for some measure of revenge. It was decided that Dahlia was to race a final year entirely in the United States under the tutelage of Charlie Whittingham. She was, by this time, showing her independent character and a reluctance to train, although she continued to run as courageously as ever.

After a period of adjustment to training on the American dirt tracks that she plainly disliked, she finally won an allowance race in mid-summer. She followed this with a game victory in the $200,000 Hollywood Invitational, beating stable-mate, Caucuses. She then shipped east to run once more in the Man o’ War Stakes at Belmont, a race that I was to win with a top class 3-year-old, Effervescing. Although this final season was not her finest hour, Dahlia broke the earnings record held by Allez France and became the world’s first distaff millionaire. She retired to stud and produced four Group-Grade I winners: Dahar, Rivlia, Delegant and Dahlia’s Dream. She was inducted into The Hall of Fame in 1981 and died in 2001 at the age of 31.

THE FILLIES

While affirmative action has produced social and economic changes in America, the philosophy that was the impetus for legislating equality between sexes has never carried over to horse racing, here or anywhere in the world; at least on the racecourse, females of the equine species are considered to be inferior to males. In a survey published by The Blood-Horse magazine, four racing officials and three sportswriters selected the top 100 horses of the 20th century, and in their opinion there were 34 colts or geldings that were superior to the best filly. I have been less chauvinistic in granting my five favorite fillies at least equal billing as the colts.   

RUFFIAN

           Ruffian had two grandparents whose names epitomized her indomitable character: Bold Ruler and Bold Irish. She was bold indeed, her courage no doubt contributing to her tragic end. When her foreleg was shattered on the track, she fought to continue to race, and she fought with her final breath every restraint that was imposed upon her in a desperate attempt to save her life. She died in surgery.          

             Foaled in 1972 at Claiborne Farm in Kentucky, and bred by Mr. and Mrs. Stuart S. Janney, who raced under the banner of Locust Hill Farm, Ruffian was trained throughout her short career by Frank Whiteley Jr. Her sire, Reviewer, a brilliantly fast son of Bold Ruler, also died prematurely as the result of a paddock accident, while her dam, Shenanigans, was by the great Native Dancer.

           Standing 16 hands, one inch, with a 75 and a half-inch girth as a 2-year-old, the huge dark-brown Ruffian completely dominated her division, winning all of her juvenile races so impressively that she had been considered by many as a candidate for Horse of the Year. Certainly no 2-year-old of either sex had been so spectacular since Secretariat had won that honor. Her 2-year-old racing season, however, was cut short in late September by a hairline fracture to her right hind leg; a precursor of what was to befall her less than a year later.

          Only to run five times as a 2-year-old, and never beyond six furlongs, she nevertheless won every start unchallenged, winning a maiden race and four stakes by a combined margin of 38 lengths. She made her first start May 22, 1974, equaling Belmont Park’s five-and-a-half-furlong track record and winning by 15 lengths. Within the next 90 days, she won the Fashion Stakes at Belmont, the Astoria at Aqueduct, the Sorority at Monmouth, and finally, the Spinaway Stakes Aug. 23 at

           She wintered in South Carolina, where the hairline fracture healed completely. Upon returning to the races April 14, 1975, as a 3-year-old, she won an allowance race, and then the Comely Stakes, followed by the Acorn Stakes and the Mother Goose — the first two legs of the Filly Triple Crown — all at Aqueduct within six weeks’ time. Her final victory came three weeks later when she won the third leg of the filly triple, the Coaching Club American Oaks at odds of 1-20.

            To this point, she was undefeated, unchallenged, and never headed from start to finish in 10 lifetime starts from five and a half furlongs to a mile and a half. Only in her maiden race was she anything but an odds-on favorite, and as a 3-year-old, she never went off at odds of less than 1-10 until Foolish Pleasure ran against her in the fateful match race.

          Although not voted best 3-year-old colt, Foolish Pleasure won the Kentucky Derby that year, and had been voted best 2-year-old of 1974 the previous year; he was certainly a worthy opponent for what was arguably the best filly of any year. But it was misfortune that decided the result of the Great Match Stakes — as it was named — rather than the ability of the colt. It was a credit to the filly that Jacinto Vasquez, the regular rider for both horses, having his choice of mounts elected to ride Ruffian. Which horse was the better always shall be a matter of debate, for only two furlongs into the mile-and-a-quarter race, after taking a slight lead, Ruffian irreparably fractured her right foreleg; within eight hours she was gone.

          Only the tape measure could define the difference between the two horses that day, but Ruffian, at 1,125 lbs. and 16 hands, two inches, was far bigger than the colt. If not the largest filly ever to race, she was certainly the grandest filly of the century in the minds of most of us who saw her. She was buried in an emotional private ceremony in the centerfield of Belmont Park, where she had run her final race.

    Moving to Florida for winter racing, Seattle Slew continued on his incredible journey. His first start in early March at Hialeah was an allowance race at seven furlongs, which he won by nine lengths. This facile victory was to be followed by the Flamingo Stakes, his first test around two turns at a mile and an eighth. So far, his pattern of racing had been simply blazing to the front immediately after the start and widening the lead at every pole, a tactic that many thought would be his downfall at the greater distances. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Against 12 optimistic contestants, he immediately took a commanding lead and the further they went, the more the optimism hopes of his rivals dwindled. He won by four lengths, eased up in the last furlong.

      With his sights firmly set upon the Kentucky Derby, it was believed by trainer Billy Turner that the nine-furlong Wood Memorial in New York would be an ideal prep. Again, taking the lead early and widening it in mid-race, he won by a diminishing 3 and one-quarter lengths.

      Fueled by the stated opinion of Jean Cruguet, Slew’s French-born jockey, that Turner was not doing enough with the horse, skeptics in racing circles still doubted his ability to get the distance of 10 furlongs in the Derby. Some horsemen were critical of Cruguet. In his book, “Seattle Slew,” published as part of the Thoroughbred Legends series, Dan Mearns quoted one New York trainer as saying:, “Two minutes is a long time to go without the Frenchman making a mistake.”

      But Nevertheless, having won his six lifetime starts unchallenged, Seattle Slew had become a household name, and the public believed that he was a superstar. “‘Slewmania’ was virulent and widespread condition,” wrote Joe Hirsch of the Daily Racing Form.

      Any perceived shortcomings of either the horse or the jockey were soon put to rest by another brilliant performance in the race. After a poor start, Slew, pulling Cruguet out of the saddle, bulled his way between horses and took command by the middle of the clubhouse turn. Still under restraint, he contended for the lead down the backstretch and held off all challengers around the far turn. Turning for home, he opened a comfortable lead and was only mildly challenged through the stretch by Run Dusty Run, who finished second, beaten a little less than two lengths.

      Seattle Slew justified the “Slewmania”; there was no doubt left in anyone’s mind that he was the best 3-year-old in the country, by far. He repeated his performance two weeks later in the Preakness, and only the Belmont Stakes at a mile and a half would raise the slightest doubt about his supremacy over any distance. But once again, taking the lead immediately and holding off any challenge with complete authority, he galloped to a four-length victory; he was, the only unbeaten winner of the Triple Crown.

      The initial plan after the Belmont was to give Slew a rest until the fall races, but acquiescing to overtures from the management of Hollywood Park, he was shipped at the last minute to California for the 10-furlong Swaps Stakes at the last minute. Perhaps he was unprepared for the race, a possibility since Turner was having difficulties with some of the owners and did not accompany the horse. In any event, it was a disaster and Slew’s first loss, when he showed nothing of his ability, finishing fourth, beaten 16 lengths by J. O. Tobin, a horse he had beaten easily in the Kentucky Derby.

      After the Swaps, Slew’s connections decided to honor a commitment to take him to Seattle, the city for which he was named and the area in which two of the owners, Mickey and Karen Taylor, lived. A parade and festivities at the track did much for Longacres, but little for the horse. It was his last public appearance for the year, primarily due to a minor respiratory infection. Regardless, voters elected awarded him Eclipse Awards for Horse of the Year, and Best Three-year-old for. Eclipse Awards By the end of the year, the Taylors and co-owners Dr. Jim and Sally Hill decided that Doug Peterson should replace Turner, who was experiencing personal problems.

      Seattle Slew was shipped to winter quarters in Florida where he was prepared for his 1978 4-year-old racing campaign. In January, however, he was stricken by an undiagnosed illness that almost took his life. For two interminable weeks he was confined to his stall with a raging temperature, nursed day and night by Hill. When he finally recovered the Florida racing season was over, but to defray some future risk, the horse was syndicated for $12 million on the basis of 40 shares at $300,000 each, the highest valuation ever placed upon a horse at that time. The Hills and Taylors retained control of him for the remainder of his racing career.  

     Finally, back in New York, he made his first start winning a seven-furlong allowance race, and then in August another similar race at Saratoga. After a brief delay due to a minor injury to a hock, he shipped to New Jersey’s Meadowlands only to be beaten a neck by Dr. Patches in the nine-furlong Paterson Handicap, finishing second but giving the winner 14 lbs. The inevitable debates as to whether he had returned to his original form were rampant. Cruguet, ever vocal and smarting in defeat, was critical of the way the horse was prepared and said that it was doubtful he would win the upcoming Marlborough Cup. Since he had clearly lost confidence in the horse, Cruguet was replaced with by Dr. Patches’ rider, Angel Cordero, who had ridden Dr. Patches.

      From that point on, the condition of Seattle Slew became a mute point. Continuing to race with his indomitable speed he swept the Marlborough Cup at nine furlongs, beating that year’s Triple Crown winner, Affirmed, by three lengths. He came back to win the 10-furlong Woodward at the expense of Exceller, who was arguably America’s best stayer, having earned more than a $1 million at greater distances. It was only the distance of 12 furlongs that gave Exceller the advantage he needed in the rematch to out-nod Slew by a nose in a desperate finish, in the Jockey Club Gold Cup,. to out-nod Slew by a nose in a desperate finish Still not done, Slew came back in his final start to easily win the nine-furlong Stuyvesant Handicap by almost four lengths under a 134 pounds.

      Retired to stud in 1979 in Kentucky, he was still covering mares in the breeding season of 2001 at the age of 27, and later in that year was honored with his 100th stakes winner.

      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.

      By the end of his career, Affirmed had captured Eclipse awards for Best Two-year-old 1977; Best Three-year-old and Horse of the Year 1978; Horse of the Year and Best Older Colt or Gelding1979. But more than that, he had endeared himself to millions of Americans who claimed him as a national treasure. He was no provincial hero; he traveled from coast to coast for three consecutive years, taking on the best the nation could provide, and won 22 of 29 starts, with his five seconds and one third leaving him unplaced only once.  

     Affirmed not only retired at the end of his 4-year-old year as the leading money winner of all time with earnings of $2,393,818, but was responsible for his trainer, Lazaro Barrera taking the trainer earnings title for each of the three years that he raced. His owner-breeder, Harbor View Farm of Louis Wolfson, also took the earnings title for an owner in 1978 and 1979, primarily on the strength of Affirmed’s successes.

      He was a bright chestnut of medium proportions except for unusual depth through the hind quarters and a girth of 74 and one-half inches — large for a horse standing just an inch over 16 hands and weighing 1,100 pounds at retirement. He had a fine head with a white blaze in his face that accentuated his coat color, and a disposition as gentle as the proverbial lamb. By Exclusive Native out of Won’t Tell You by Crafty Admiral, and foaled in Florida, he had an abundance of speed and staying blood within four generations. But his greatest attribute could not be measured in generations, pounds, inches, or even furlongs. His greatest strength was his courage, his heart.

      It was Calumet Farm’s star, Alydar, whose pedigree simply dripped blue blood that challenged him more than any other horse. In their 2-year-old season, Alydar beat Affirmed twice, the latter finishing second to him in both the Great American and Champagne stakes at Belmont Park. But that same year, Alydar also finished second to Affirmed on three occasions; Saratoga’s Hopeful, the Belmont Futurity and the Laurel Futurity. The results were academic when, in the absence of Alydar, Affirmed virtually trotted off with victories in Saratoga’s Sanford Stakes and Hollywood Park’s Futurity, ensuring his claim as the best juvenile in the country.

      As a 3-year-old in 1978, Affirmed won three on the trot at Santa Anita on the West coast, including the Santa Anita Derby. He followed that by winning Hollywood Park’s Derby before shipping to Churchill Downs to renew the rivalry with Alydar in the Kentucky Derby. Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, Alydar had won three important races leading up to the Kentucky Derby: the Flamingo Stakes, the Florida Derby and the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland. The Kentucky Derby shaped up as another epic confrontation between the two horses.

      There was almost as much interest in the rivalry between their two jockeys. Jorge Velasquez, Alydar’s rider, was an expatriate Panamanian with years of experience and, in winning many titles in the United States, he had earned a reputation for having a great sense of pace. At 18 years old, Steve Cauthen, Affirmed’s rider ever since he had won the Sanford Stakes at 2, was nevertheless relatively inexperienced, and had never ridden in the Kentucky Derby. Accolades had come his way, however, as he had already won Eclipse Awards and been honored as Sportsman of the Year by Sports Illustrated.

      History has well-recorded the fact that Affirmed swept the Triple Crown, and nothing can be added here except to relate fond memories. Affirmed won the Derby by a length and a half, pressing the pace all the way, but was threatened once again by Alydar who came from 10th in an eleven-horse field to finish second. Affirmed won the Preakness by a diminishing neck, threatened even more by Alydar who battled him every inch of the final furlong, coming from sixth in a seven-horse field. We all knew that the extra distance of the Belmont Stakes at a mile and a half, the final link of the Triple Crown, would certainly favor the fast-closing Alydar. It did, but it didn’t.

      Velasquez put Alydar on Affirmed’s hip from the very start, then moved alongside of him by the time they had gone half a mile. With a mile remaining, the two fought head and head. They turned into the stretch a head apart, and a furlong out they could barely be separated. But at the wire, the unpredictable became the inevitable; Affirmed won by a head.

      Six times out of eight encounters Affirmed beat Alydar, more often than not in a photo finish. Alydar turned the tables once more, but only after Affirmed was disqualified and placed second to him in the Travers later that summer at Saratoga. Affirmed finished the year with a win in the Jim Dandy and a second to Seattle Slew in the Marlborough Cup, before finishing unplaced for the only time in his life when his saddle slipped in the Jockey Club Gold Cup. He was awarded two more Eclipse Awards as Horse of the Year and Best Three-year-old.

      Winter racing at Santa Anita saw Affirmed starting his 4-year-old season after several months rest. I saw him with more condition on him than ever before, and looking well-rested — perhaps too well-rested. As with many horses that have been given a breather after a hard campaign, when he started back into hard work he was stiff and warmed out of it only with difficulty. He looked sore but, in spite of his legs being perfectly sound, he carried his tail slightly to one side and never looked completely comfortable until well-warmed up.  

     He started 1979 with two disappointing losses — a third in the Malibu and a second in the San Fernando Stakes. Cauthen was in a slump and was blamed, perhaps unfairly, for both losses, and was replaced as the stable jockey by an angry Barrera. In retrospect, it must be said that Affirmed was a very relaxed horse that thrived on hard training. Barrera, whose health was failing, had been under immense pressure after an incredible year, and may have been too conservative with him. However, it’s easy as an impartial an observer to draw such subjective conclusions. In any event, from that point on, Laffit Pincay was given the mount and soon afterward Cauthen left for England where he became a champion jockey.

      Affirmed was never to be beaten again. Starting with the Charles H. Strub Stakes at Santa Anita at the beginning of February and ending with the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park in early October, he won seven of the most important races in America. Barrera had open-heart surgery that summer, and never entirely recovered his health, dying within two years. Affirmed was retired to stud and became a successful stallion, living for some 20 years after his Hall of Fame trainer. Both of them are vivid in my memory. Cauthen said of Affirmed in a recent interview for The Blood-Horse: “Even though he’s gone, he’ll never be gone for me. He’s there as much as I can remember every step of every race.”

      With a coat as dark-brown as a seal and with only a trace of white on a right-hind pastern, Bold Ruler displayed a small white star on a head with the slightest suggestion of a Roman nose. He was not endowed by masses of muscle as many sprinters are, but he stood 16 hands, one and a half inches, with strength through the depth of his quarters and girth. Mrs. Henry Carnegie Phipps had acquired his dam, Miss Disco, a daughter of Discovery, from Alfred G. Vanderbilt for $25,500, and produced Bold Ruler by a cover to imported Nasrullah.

      As a 2-year-old, Bold Ruler was precocious and won his first five starts, including the Youthful and Juvenile stakes, but before he had even broken his maiden, he had ripped off quarters in 22 seconds flat during morning training. It was undoubtedly due to his blazing speed that he was injured and missed racing and training for three months during that summer.

      By the end of the year, he had won two more races, including the Belmont Futurity, beating Greek Game, the best from the West and the nation’s leading money-winning juvenile. But when stretched out to a mile-and-a-sixteenth in the rich Garden State Stakes, Bold Ruler was rank, and failed to sustain his speed, finishing unplaced to Calumet Farm’s Barbizon, the eventual Juvenile Champion. Ignoring this disappointment and the re-emergence of a nagging soreness, Bold Ruler was returned to New York, where he was obviously off form and finished last in the Remsen Stakes, also at a mile and one-sixteenth.

      Moving to Florida for winter racing, he benefited from a brief rest and continued to blister the track in morning workouts for trainer James “Sunny Jim” Fitzsimmons, while his principal competitors trained by the patient and conservative team of Ben and Jimmy Jones, masters of Calumet, gathered their resources. Within the Calumet stable, to replace Garden State winner Barbizon who had become wind-broken after a protracted bout with a respiratory infection, were two sons of Bull Lea: Gen. Duke and Iron Liege. Iron Liege had won three straight and had beaten his stablemate in a prep race when setting a track record at a mile-and-a-sixteenth.

      When he made his first 3-year-old start, Bold Ruler beat Iron Liege and Gen. Duke, and equaled the track record at seven furlongs in winning the Bahamas Stakes under 126 pounds. This became the first race of a great rivalry. Gallant Man, a beautifully bred imported son of Epsom Derby winner, Migoli, was unplaced in this race, the first of several encounters with Bold Ruler.

      The Everglades Stakes developed into a torrid battle from the start between Iron Liege and Bold Ruler. Gen. Duke, not far back, stalked them patiently, and then was able to prevail over Bold Ruler by a head, with Iron Liege finishing a tired third. But the pace-killing tactics were unsuccessful in the Flamingo Stakes at a mile and one-eighth, and Bold Ruler hung on to beat a fast-closing Gen. Duke by a neck, setting another track record.

      Bold Ruler skipped the Fountain of Youth Stakes, in which Gen. Duke and Iron Liege finished first and second, respectively. But the Wheatley-Calumet rivalry continued in the Florida Derby. In preparation, four days before the race, Bold Ruler worked six furlongs in an incredible one minute, nine and three-fifth seconds. Iron Liege again executed perfectly the role he was assigned in dictating the pace. Bold Ruler battled him until the final strides, where Gen. Duke caught them both, with Bold Ruler finishing second by a head. The time, one-fifth faster than Bold Ruler’s Flamingo, was a new world record.

      The rivalry between Bold Ruler and Gen. Duke was unfortunately to end with this race; Gen. Duke was injured on the eve of the Kentucky Derby and never raced again. Bold Ruler, in the meantime, moved north to New York where he managed a head victory in the Wood Memorial, this time over Gallant Man, setting yet another track record.

      Even in the absence of Gen. Duke, with Bold Ruler, Gallant Man and Iron Liege apparently in top form, the stage was set for the Kentucky Derby to be another dramatic event. And dramatic it was, despite, as jockey Eddie Arcaro feared after the Wood Memorial, Bold Ruler suffering from hard races and comparably hard training. The Derby confirmed Arcaro’s opinion that Bold Ruler had a problem because he was rank and bore out badly on both turns, subsequently finishing fourth.

      Gallant Man, in the meantime, sound and courageous, suffered the distraction of his jockey, Bill Shoemaker, who momentarily quit riding when he misjudged the finish line. Whether this hesitation affected the result, we’ll never know, but Shoemaker also was gallant in taking the blame, while Iron Liege under Bill Hartack took the Derby from him by the shortest of noses.

      It is possible that Arcaro’s attempt at slowing Bold Ruler down had caused him to lug out in the Derby, but the problem was evidently resolved for the Preakness; he forced the pace, running freely, and won by two lengths from Iron Liege. The long rivalry between these two was to end here, as Iron Liege suffered an injury when beating Clem in the Jersey Stakes at Garden State in his next start, and never returned to top form.

      However, the saga of Bold Ruler and Gallant Man was to continue in June, with the distance-loving Gallant Man winning the Belmont Stakes and breaking the American record for the distance, while Bold Ruler, again compromised by his speed, faded to third. Once again, suffering from an exhausting campaign, he was put on the shelf.

      Upon his return in September, he won two more races, including the Jerome Handicap at a mile. But once more, he suffered defeat to Gallant Man at a mile and a quarter, finishing third in the Woodward Stakes. As a result of this loss, skeptics suspected that Bold Ruler was just a headstrong miler or just a sprinter who could “carry the grandstand.” He was hardly to dispel this belief when he won the one-mile Jerome Handicap (130 lbs.), and five days later the Vosburgh Handicap (130 lbs.) against older horses at only seven furlongs, breaking a 50-year-old track record.

      Then, at middle distances, he won the Queens County (133 lbs.) against older horses, and the Benjamin Franklin Handicap (136 lbs.) by 12 lengths. But his stamina was still in question against the best and, in view of the successes of Gallant Man, and the recent accomplishments of Round Table (which, although finishing third in the Kentucky Derby, had since gone on a binge of 11 straight wins all across the country), the 3-year-old championship and Horse of the Year honors were yet to be decided. So with all three in attendance, the Trenton Handicap run at a mile and a quarter at Garden State would be the definitive race.

      Intimidated by the reputation of the three titans, good horses declined the issue, and the field was reduced to only four entrants. Those who witnessed Bold Ruler as he came out of his stall that day can testify that he was sore and, in an effort to warm him up, he was galloped once around the track under exercise rider Tommy Quinn before going to the paddock to be saddled for the race.

      If discomfort inhibited his speed, however, it was not evident when Arcaro gave him his head from the start and permitted him to breeze to an easy lead. The stage was set for a late charge from either or both of Gallant Man and Round Table, which by the top of the stretch had moved to within easy striking distance. But if Bold Ruler lacked stamina, it was obvious then and forever after that he could be compromised only by the influence of a “rabbit” and on this day there was none. Bold Ruler drew off through the stretch without urging to win by two and a half lengths. Gallant Man prevailed over Round Table for second place.

      Bold Ruler was elected Horse of the Year by two of four polls, while three of the four elected him Best Three-year-old. Round Table was to receive the remaining votes in each of these categories.

      Infirmity delayed Bold Ruler’s return to racing until May of the following year, 1958, when he won the Toboggan and Carter handicaps carrying 133 and 135 pounds, respectively. He then finished second in the Metropolitan Mile to Gallant Man, but under 135 pounds — he gave 5 pounds to his old rival in this, their final meeting.

      Bold Ruler next won the Stymie Handicap at a mile and one eighth by five lengths (133 lbs.), the Suburban at a mile and a quarter (134 lbs.), spotting second place Clem 25 pounds, and the mile and a quarter Monmouth Handicap (134 lbs.). He made his final start under an impost of 136 pounds in the Brooklyn Handicap but finished lame and unplaced, giving the winner, Cohoes, 21 pounds.

      Ironically, Bold Ruler was voted best sprinter only in 1958, the voters apparently forgiving him for winning more races beyond a mile than at the shorter distances. They evidently ignored the fact that he never carried less than 133 pounds at all distances throughout the entire year. He was retired to stud at Claiborne Farm where he continued to write his name into the record books.