Kev and Others:
RE: Weight and Greatness
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. [Racing] 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."

Personal note: was there that day, win bet, Honest Pleasure. Hard to imagine I was ever 21 years old.

The Marlboro was Forego's last race that year. He came back in 1977 and won the Met under 133, the runner up, Co Host, carried 111.

In the '77 Suburban Forego carried 138, beaten a neck, the winner, Quiet Little Table, carried 114. Off that defeat, Forego was assigned 137 in the Brooklyn Handicap and was well beaten by Great Contractor, carrying 112.

Forego finished last in the Whitney in 1977, but came back to win his fourth straight Woodward in his final race of that year.

Forego returned in 1978 to try to break Kelso's earnings record, but retired $39,000 short.

That's when a sport was a sport.



Post Edited (06-02-05 11:02)