Another Great Forego/Shoemaker moment:

> Excerpted from Patrick Robinson and Richard
> Stone Reeves DECADE OF CHAMPIONS.
>
> ".. the Marlboro Cup of 1976. Saturday, September
> 13, the Belmont track sloppy, Forego was listed to
> carry 137 pounds, giving 18 pounds to Honest
> Pleasure and up to 28 pounds to the other nine
> horses in the field..."
>
> " The 137 pounds was the second highest weight
> allocated to any horse in a major New York race in
> 90 years. Secretary [Tommy] Trotter observed "If
> Forego gets hurt out there today... that crowd
> could very easily string me up from one of those
> big trees in the paddock...by the thumbs, or
> worse"
>
> "All through the day, the worried figures of
> Frank Whitely and Martha Gerry could be seen
> talking earnestly. Everyone knew they were
> discussing taking Forego out. Shoemaker refused to
> give an opinion one way or the other..."
>
> "...splashing into the clubhouse turn, Honest
> Pleasure, loving the ground, was out in front by
> two lengths... Forego was way back in eighth
> position, looking utterly unhappy and rapidly
> dropping himself out of it altogether"
>
> "Into the final long sweeping Belmont turn,
> Forego seemed to have given up; he was twelve
> lengths behind the leader. Shoemaker, covered in
> mud, considered the position helpless since he
> could scarcely see the tearaway Honest Pleasure
> through the screen of mud and spray being thrown
> back at them"
>
> "Suddenly, at the top of the stretch, Forego
> decided to run. He set off awkwardly, running
> wide, struggling to get a hold of the surface,
> like a big speedboat with both propellers bouncing
> out of the water. Finally, he straightened out and
> gallantly set sail for home, racing fiercely by
> himself on the outside, carrying his huge burden
> all alone-- except that, in a sense, all of us
> went with him"
>
> "Down the stretch he charged, galloping towards a
> crowd that did not believe he could possibly get
> into the first three. Martha Gerry had put down
> her binoculars. Frank Whitely muttered something about
> 'We've had it this time' "
>
> "But Forego was still there, eating up the ground
> with every stride...Shoemaker, keeping Forego
> perfectly balanced, had his stick poised to lash
> the big gelding to the wire. All the instincts
> gathered in the riding of 7,000 winners told him
> 'Go to the whip. He can't make it, but there's
> nothing to lose now.' But the Shoe recalled
> another voice shrieking in the confusion of the
> moment 'For god's sake, don't touch him. He's
> doing his best'".
>
> "Through the final furlong they hurtled, passing
> four horses. Ten feet from the wire, Honest
> Pleasure still had it; three feet from the wire,
> he still had it. But on the wire, Forego's big
> stern head, covered in mud, hit the front like a
> mortar shell to win by about 10 inches."