Z – #8 – Forego – horseracing20thcentury99.com

Top Ten Horses Overall Twentieth Century

#8

Forego

(1973 - 1978)

The loveable Forego, a fan favorite, was born in the same year as Secretariat. Unraced at two, this huge gelding, who stood 17-hands tall, was voted American Horse of the Year in 1974, 1975, and 1976, which is second only to Kelso, who won it a record five times.

Photo: Kentucky Horse Park

PEDIGREE

B G (USA) 1970

OWNER

Lazy F Ranch

TRAINER

S. Ward . / F Whiteley Jr.

BREEDER

Lazy F Ranch

Some Facts

Forego’s sire was Forli, an Argentinian-bred stallion who was undefeated in his native country, winning the Argentine Triple Crown in 1966 and being named Horse of the Year. Arthur B. Hancock Jr. purchased Forli for $960,000 to stand at stud at his Claiborne Farm.
Forego was a half inch taller than 17 hands at full maturity, which compared to 16.1 hands for his sire. Unraced at two because of his enormous size, Forego made his first three starts at Hialeah, the first of which was a seven-furlong MSW on January 17th, 1972. He finished fourth.
Forego returned twelve days later and won a six-furlong MSW by eight lengths in 1:10 2/5. Twelve days after that, he won a six-furlong allowance in a rapid 1:09 4/5. Switching to Gulfstream Park, Forego, after a slow start, finished second by 3 ¼ lengths to the good sprinter Shecky Green in the seven-furlong Hutcheson Stakes in a track record-tying 1:20 4/5. He then won his next race, a seven-furlong allowance in 1:21 3/5.
It was no secret that the still-growing Forego was meant to be a router, though his early efforts went against the grain as they confirmed that he had the potential to be a top grade-one quality sprinter. It would take a while, but he would eventually show that he would be a magnificent competitor in routes and sprints.
The G3 Hutcheson Stakes was Forego’s first stake attempt. He ran in six more stake races, including a fourth-place finish after being slammed hard against the rail in Secretariat’s Kentucky Derby, before he finally won his first added money event, which was the mile and three-sixteenth Roamer Handicap at Aqueduct on November 24th.
Forego and Secretariat, both destined for greatness, never faced each other again after the Derby, though on the day of Secretariat’s record-breaking performance in the Belmont Stakes, Forego ran in a mile and one-sixteenth allowance race earlier on the card and won it by nine lengths in 1:40 4/5, just a fifth of a second off the track record. He would eventually break the Belmont Park track record for a mile and one-sixteenth by a fifth of a second on September 15^th with a two-and-one-half length victory over Arbees Boy timed in 1:40 2/5. In his next start on October 8th, he equaled Belmont’s one-mile track record when he was timed in 1:33 3/5.
Forego won the Roamer Handicap on November 24th by five lengths for his first stake victory, with Our Gallant finishing second and Twice a Prince third, those two horses having faced Secretariat multiple times earlier in 1973 without success.
After failing to win a stake race in his first six attempts, Forego’s victory in the Roamer Handicap opened the floodgates. He would win his next five starts, all stakes, and be considered one of the top handicap horses in North America. The first of these stake victories was the nine-furlong Discovery Handicap at Aqueduct on December 8^th, which he won in 1:47 1/5 while carrying 127 pounds. His time equaled Sinatra’s 1964 track record (which had been broken by Riva Ridge’s 1:47 while carrying 130 pounds in the Stuyvesant Handicap on October 15th). Forego did not run again until the nine-furlong Donn Handicap on February 9th, 1974, at Gulfstream Park. Off as the 7-5 second favorite, he won it in 1:48 under 125 pounds, with even-money favorite, True Knight, finishing second. He then won the ten-furlong Gulfstream Park Handicap under 127 pounds in 1:59 4/5, just two ticks off the track record, and followed that by winning the ten-furlong Widener Handicap at Hialeah while carrying 129 pounds in 2:01 1/5. He then left Florida and returned to Belmont Park, where he won the seven-furlong Carter Handicap under 129 pounds in 1:22 1/5, in this one defeating the outstanding sprinter Mr. Prospector by two and one-half lengths.
Forego’s stakes-winning streak was broken by Arbees Boy in the 1974 Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park. He lost the race by two lengths when he failed to hold his one-and-one-half-length lead at the eighth pole. There was an excuse, however. Forego was carrying 134 pounds to Arbees Boy’s 112.
The Woodward Stakes has long been one of the most prestigious races in America. Forego holds the distinction of winning it a record four times: 1974, 1975, 1976, and 1977.
The 134 pounds that Forego carried in the Met Mile was the first of many races in which he was assigned 130 or more pounds. Always destined to be a weight carrier, the giant gelding carried 130 pounds or more in twenty-four stake races, all graded, in which he won thirteen, finished second five times, and third three times.
The highest weight that Forego ever carried was 138 pounds in the 1977 ten-furlong Suburban Handicap. He finished second by a neck to Quiet Little Table, who carried 114 pounds, a difference of twenty-four.
Twice Forego carried 137 pounds. The first time was in the ten-furlong Marlboro Cup in 1976. He won the race by a head over Honest Pleasure, the Travers Stakes winner, who carried just 119 pounds. The second time was in the 1978 Brooklyn Handicap at Belmont Park, that year run at a mile and one-half. Forego finished second by eleven lengths to Great Contractor, who carried 112 pounds, twenty-five less. Great Contractor ran the distance in a remarkable 2:26 1/5, at the time believed to be the third-fastest time ever for the distance on dirt in North America behind Secretariat’s 2:24 and Prove Out’s 2:25 4/5. (Nasty and Bold would later win the 1978 Brooklyn in 2:26, a time equaled by Hechizado in 1981, and Easy Goer would win the 1989 Belmont in 2:26 while A.P. Indy would win the 1992 Belmont in 2:26.13).
Of Forego’s thirty-four victories, twenty-four were in graded or invitational stakes races (fourteen of these grade ones), nine in allowance races, and one in a MSW.
Twice Forego came close to winning the coveted New York Handicap Triple. The first time was in 1975 when he finished third by a length in the Met Mile under 136 pounds. He won the Brooklyn Handicap, carrying 132 pounds, and the Suburban Handicap under 134. The following year, he won the Met Mile while assigned 130 pounds, was second by a nose to Foolish Pleasure in the Suburban under 134 pounds, then won the Brooklyn Handicap while carrying 134 pounds with Foolish Pleasure finishing third.
Forego has always been considered a “New York” Six of his fifty-seven career starts were at Hialeah, five at Gulfstream Park, two at Saratoga, and one at Monmouth Park, Churchill Downs, and Keeneland. The forty-one races in New York were split between Belmont Park, with twenty-eight, while the other thirteen were at Aqueduct.
Forego was a champion eight times in his career. He earned the Eclipse Award for being the top handicap horse in 1974, 1975, 1976, and 1977 (tied with Kelso for the most all-time); top sprinter in 1974; and Horse of the Year in 1974, 1975, and 1976, the second most to Kelso who was voted this prestigious award in five consecutive years. Forego was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1979.
In the 1976 Free Handicap for older males, Forego was weighted at 140 pounds by the Daily Racing Form. The next highest weight was 126 pounds, shared by Foolish Pleasure, Master Derby, and Royal Glint. Future Hall of Fame inductee Ancient Title was weighted at 124.
Forego earned $1,938,957 in his career, then second all-time to Kelso.
Upon his retirement, he was moved to the famous Kentucky Horse Park, where he lived out his days. He died on August 27th, 1997, having been euthanized after breaking his leg in an accident in his paddock. He was twenty-seven years old.