Harry’s Picks 101014 Now as the conversation turns to which horse will gather Horse of the Year honors, I find myself recollecting one of the best runners of the modern age- the mighty gelding Forego – a son of Forli, won the HOY award in 1974, 1975 and 1976- a period that saw Forego become the greatest weight carrying G1 racer of the last 75 years! Forego, was the property of the Lazy F Ranch and I believe his trainer was Sherrill Ward- I knew of Forego as I watched him race in the Kentucky Derby of Secretariat in 1973- after some time the often fragile 17 plus hands Forego, came to the “fore” with some long distance triumphs late in 1973 a foreshadowing of what was to come during his 1974 campaign- winning the Roamer and Discovery handicaps on the NYRA wheel of fortune- Forego, was back to the races in early February 1974 and scored a nose decision in the Donn Handicap, then came his 4th consecutive victory- carrying 127 in the Gulfstream Park Handicap- Forego then moved to Hialeah Park, where he was assigned 129 pounds in Widener Handicap, where the mighty son of Lady Golconda, dutifully thrashed his opposition- Arriving back in New York in May of 1974 Forego was asked to carry 129 pounds to a field which included Mr. Prospector, a race horse who had exhibited the fastest workout fractions ever recorded in Florida racing history up to that time- -in the Carter Handicap (I believe it is available for viewing on YouTube) Forego unleashed a devastating move which awed even the most iron-jawed backstretch ancient- when he blew past Mr. Prospector, as if that sire of sires was standing in a bucket of quick cement! Forego’s effort in the Carter Handicap jettisoned Kenny Noe Jr. (I believe it was him) to tack on 134 pounds for Forego to carry in his next assignment, the magnificent Met Mile- I was intently observing the runners as they came into the paddock to be dressed prior to the 1974 Met Mile- I was there with Rube the Pearl, the latter a profound student of the art of handicapping- Forego, came into the paddock slung low, as if deep in thought concerning the great weight he had to transport for the Met Mile- as I recall Timeless Moment and Step Nicely and the Sommer’s deer like duo of Accipiter and Infuriator were in the post parade- Jerkens had Prove Out ready for the Mile, as was tough as nails Mike John G- Stop the Music and True Knight might have also been in the field as was the longest of the long shots, Arbees Boy trained by elder statesmen, GW Weckerle- I had squandered most of my “stash of cash” in the races prior to the Met Mile, as had “the Pearl- so we decided to pool our funds and try and defeat Forego, a 6/5 chance- “He has a tough chore carrying that weight” we agreed- Rube the Pearl whose initials were RB was keen on Arbees Boy at 60/1 odds and he had a genuine angle, turf to dirt- but I insisted upon Infuriator, and as the elder, my will won out and so we put the last of our dough on 45/1 Infuriator!! As perturbed as Forego appeared when he slung in low to the paddock, he emerged upon the track as majestic as Bavieca! With Heliodoro Gustiness, his Cid!- when the gates opened on that memorable grey chilly afternoon, Infuriator burst from the gate to immediately pin 10 lengths on a tight group which followed- after6 furlongs Infuriator was still half dozen lengths to the good, then in a most amazing sight, the entire following group moved as one upon Infuriator- who then gave up the bit shortly and was swept aside like crumbs upon the kitchen table- in the all out confusion which followed, Arbees Boy, under the great rider Eddie Maple’s direction, flung to a clear path outside of horses with Forego finally extraditing himself from a ”box” he had been placed in either by fate or a ill-advised route taken by his rider- Arbees Boy, in the last 50 yards was triumphant with mighty Forego, steamrolling down the center of the track for the place- When the result went official and the win price flashing was $122.00- Rube the Pearl looked at me disappointed at my pin-head calibrations to back Infuriator- alas we never went to the race track again. Arbees Boy, as I recall was inbred to Count Fleet!! As for Forego, he kept winning that season, as long as the weight he had to hoist was less than 130 pounds; that is until he arrived for the Vosburgh Stakes (handicap back then) - and again his weight was over the dread 130- but this time in perhaps the most powerful demo of his skills up to that date demolished his rivals in 1.21 3/5ths!! Therein becoming champion older horse or gelding & Horse of the Year and champion Sprinter of 19741 (he followed his Vosburgh H. triumph by winning the 2 mile Jockey Club Gold Cup easily 3 weeks later)- Albuquerque 1-5 2-3 3-1 4-9 5-5 6-1 7-4 8-5 9-10 Belmont 1-1 2-5 3-2 4-2 5-3 6-7 7-2 8-1e 9-4 Belterra 1-1e 2-3 3-1 4-6 5-6 6-4 7-11 8-3 Charles town 1-3 2-7 3-4 4-1 5-2 6-7 7-6 8-1 9-4 Evangeline 1-4 2-8 3-9 4-6 5-9 6-4 7-2 8-6 9-1 10-5 Finger Lakes 1-3 2-6 3-5 4-1 5-9 6-2 7-6 8-3 Fresno 1-1 2-4 3-7 4-5 5-5 6-6 7-4 8-7 9-2 10-3 Gulfstream west 1-7 2-5 3-3 4-2 5-5 6-6 7-10 8-1 9-3 10-12 Hawthorne 1-2 2-5 3-7 4-9 5-7 6-1 7-1 8-9 9-1 Indiana 1-5 2-1 3-9 4-5 5-5 6-1 7-1 8-3 9-2 10-9 Keeneland 1-5 2-6 3-2 4-2 5-1e 6-6 7-9 8-5 9-1 10-10 Laurel 1-6 2-3 3-7 4-7 5-6 6-1 7-1 8-6 9-7 10-1e Lone star 1-3 2-5 3-1 4-7 5-1 6-3 7-5 8-4 9-1 Los Alamitos 1-1 2-2 3-7 4-1 5-1 6-2 7-4 8-2 9-2 (the remainder of the tracks I’ll post later I hope-) Harry
Posted on: Fri, 10 Oct 2014 00:08:03 +0000
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