Hangin' With Haskin : mr. prospector

The Mighty Forego

cdawahare — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 23:28:00 GMT

It was May 18, 1974, the day of the Carter Handicap at Belmont Park. As I looked at the tote board, I couldn't believe the odds. Favored at 7-5 was Forego, who obviously was running in the Carter strictly as a prep for the Metropolitan Handicap, having come off back-to-back victories at 1 1/4 miles in the Widener and Gulfstream Park Handicaps.

Forego was riding a five-race winning streak, but those two handicaps were his breakout races, and at the time he did not have anywhere near the reputation he would later command. As a bettor, it was illogical to think trainer Sherrill Ward and owner Martha Gerry had great expectations of victory, with Forego dropping back to seven furlongs off five consecutive two-turn races, the last two at 1 1/4 miles, in which he was all out to defeat Darby Dan's plucky little stretch runner True Knight.

To make his task even more difficult, his Carter foes included arguably the fastest horse in the country, Mr. Prospector, who had already set a track record of 1:07 4/5 at Gulfstream in 1973, a track record of 1:08 3/5 at Garden State Park in ‘74, and had won two other races in '74 in 1:08 1/5 at Gulfstream and 1:09 flat at Aqueduct. And he won each time by big margins.

Also in the field was Tartan Stable's Lonetree, who had defeated Mr. Prospector that year in the seven-furlong Poinciana Handicap at Hialeah in a blazing 1:21 flat, breaking the track record by almost three-fifths of a second. Add to those two speedballs, Timeless Moment, who had equaled the six-furlong track record of 1:08 3/5 at Aqueduct the year before, just missed the 6 1/2-furlong track record at Belmont by two-fifths of a second, and had won a pair of seven-furlong allowance races at Aqueduct that spring in 1:22 1/5 and 1:22 2/5. Still another in the field was William Haggin Perry's Forage, who was coming off a second-place finish (disqualified to third) in the seven-furlong San Simeon Handicap at Santa Anita in 1:21 1/5. He would go on to break the track record for a mile at Aqueduct two months later, winning an allowance race in 1:33 1/5 before capturing the Du Pont and Atlantic City Handicaps.

So, why should the stretch-running Forego beat so many brilliant horses in his first sprint in six months, carrying topweight of 129 pounds? Well, as I was about to find out, because he's Forego.

Mr. Prospector, as expected, shot to the lead and led by 1 1/2 lengths over Lonetree through fractions of :22 1/5 and :45 flat. Forego was back in last, nine lengths off the pace, and looked to have an impossible task. A sucker bet if I ever saw one. Then he began making up ground steadily under Heliodoro Gustines, circling his field and closing in on the leaders. At this moment, I first came to the realization that we were looking at something special.

Mr. Prospector was being pushed along by Walter Blum, as was Lonetree. But here was Forego in an out-and-out gallop, with his ears up and Gustines sitting motionless in the saddle, his hands tucked up near his chest. Without the slightest bit of encouragement, Forego blew by Mr. Prospector with more than a quarter of a mile still to run. He opened up by 1 1/2 lengths at the eighth pole and was still under wraps as he coasted to the wire 2 1/4 lengths ahead of Mr. Prospector in 1:22 1/5.

This to me was the beginning of the Forego dynasty, when we first realized this was no ordinary horse. Normally, statistics do not play a major role in these blogs, but Forego's stats over the course of his career were so remarkable they must be mentioned before anything else. And they must be prefaced by saying that Forego was one of the most unsound horses you're likely to see, with sesamoid problems that plagued him throughout his career, as well as calcium deposits. When Frank Whiteley took over his training in 1976, he told owner Martha Gerry that Forego had the worst legs he'd ever seen on a horse. It was said about Forego that he had one good leg. Whiteley would sit outside his barn every day hosing down Forego's legs for several hours. The resulting puddle was so large it was known as Lake Whiteley.

As Whiteley said two years ago, "Everybody laughed at me when I took him, even Doc (Alex) Harthill, who X-rayed him and told me, ‘Frank, you haven't got a chance with this horse.' It was the constant hosing of his legs that helped get him to the races. I got a picture of in my bedroom of me and two other guys runnin' three hoses on him at the same time. We'd hose him twice a day for two to three hours each time. We also did a lot of massaging. His ankles were horrible to look at from so much wear and tear. He was an amazing horse to do the things he did."

Forego's performance in the Carter was indicative of how versatile he was. But we found out for sure later that year. Just imagine, in a span of only six weeks, a horse winning the 1 1/2-mile Woodward Stakes, then the seven-furlong Vosburgh Handicap (in 1:21 3/5 under 131 pounds), and finally the two-mile Jockey Club Gold Cup. At the end of the year, he became the only horse in history to win the two-mile Jockey Club Gold Cup and be voted champion sprinter the same year.

To further demonstrate his versatility, he won four of his five starts, with one second, at distances of 1 1/2 miles or longer, and won eight of his 12 starts, with two seconds and two thirds, at seven furlongs.

In his first start as an 8-year-old, a seven-furlong allowance dash, he defeated that year's co-champion sprinter Dr. Patches in 1:21 3/5.

Then we come to consistency, likely Forego's most amazing attribute, considering how unsound he was.

From May 30, 1973 until Aug. 6, 1977, Forego went an incredible 45 consecutive races without finishing worse than fourth. In fact, he finished third or better in 43 of those races. During this streak, Forego ran in 31 handicaps, was highweighted in all but one, winning 19 of them.

Which brings us to weight-carrying ability. Forego finished in the money in 21 of the 24 races in which he carried 130 pounds or more, including 13 wins, five seconds, and three thirds. In these 24 starts, the average weight he carried was just under 134 pounds. In the 14 races in which he carried 134 or more, he finished in the money in 12 of them, with six wins, four seconds, and two thirds. He was fourth in another, and the only time he was off the board was over a very sloppy track in the Whitney, a race that will be discussed later.

Forego's most memorable victory was the 1976 Marlboro Cup, in which he turned in a spectacular stretch run from way out in the middle of the track to nip Travers winner Honest Pleasure at the wire under a staggering 137 pounds in the slop, missing the track record by a fifth of a second.

In his previous start, he defeated Dance Spell and Honest Pleasure by 1 1/4 lengths in the Woodward Handicap with another furious stretch run. In one of the great exhibitions of speed and weight-carrying ability, he ran the 1 1/8 miles in a near-track-record 1:45 4/5, carrying 135 pounds.

After winning five straight races (four of them carrying 135 pounds, 137 pounds, 133 pounds, and 136 pounds), he finally was stopped by the weight at age 7, missing by a neck in the Suburban Handicap under 138 pounds.

After finishing second by 11 lengths in the 1 1/2-mile Brooklyn under 137 and being virtually eased in the Whitney Handicap over a slippery track he could never get hold of under 136 pounds, it looked as if the Mighty Forego finally was nearing the end of the line. Mrs. Gerry and Whiteley wanted to scratch him in the Whitney, but because so many people had shown up to see Forego, Mrs. Gerry didn't want to disappoint them and decided to let him run. Whiteley told Bill Shoemaker before the race if he saw Forego wasn't handling the track after the first few strides to just sit on him and let him run around there and bring him back safe.

Forego returned to Belmont to point for the Woodward. This would be the big test to see whether he had any more to give. Unfortunately, the track came up sloppy again, leaving Whiteley and Mrs. Gerry with another tough decision. Unlike the slick conditions in the Whitney, this was more of a drying out slop. Forego would have to run over the wet surface carrying 133 pounds, giving 18 pounds to Great Contractor, the horse who beat him by 11 lengths in the Brooklyn; 12 pounds to J.O. Tobin, who was making his first start since annihilating Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew in the Swaps Stakes in a blazing 1:58 3/5 for the 1 1/4 miles; and 19 pounds to Silver Series, winner of the Ohio, American, and Hawthorne Derbys and third in the Travers.

Whiteley, Mrs. Gerry, Shoemaker, and Frank's son David, a successful trainer in his own right, met in the tunnel several hours before the race to discuss the situation. David said he didn't want any part of it and left. Mrs. Gerry, having learned from the Saratoga experience, this time wanted to scratch and wait for the Marlboro Cup two weeks later. Shoemaker had ridden in one of the early races and said he thought the track was too bad to take a chance. Whiteley, who wanted to scratch in the Whitney, said the horse was at the top of his game and ready to run. He knew he had Forego in the best shape he could possibly get him and felt he couldn't keep him that good for another two weeks. Whiteley was convinced Forego was ready for a big effort when the horse bit two people in the barn that morning. So, all day, fans waited for the inevitable announcement that Forego had been scratched. It never came.

As a huge fan of Forego's, I was extremely apprehensive like everyone else and hung out by Whiteley's barn, waiting to walk with him and Forego to the paddock. Forego emerged from the barn looking fantastic and it was apparent he was in the zone. The only question was the track, which still was listed as sloppy.

The fans had their doubts as well, making Forego the 9-5 favorite, his highest odds in more than two years. J.O. Tobin, who was bet down to 5-2, set most of the early pace along with Proud Birdie. They cut out swift fractions, with Forego in eighth, about 10 lengths back.

As they hit the far turn, all eyes were on Forego. Would he make his patented sweeping run or were we watching the end of an era? No one had any idea how he was handling the track, so we waited and hoped. Then it happened. In a flash, Forego kicked in and began picking off horses one by one with that big sweeping move, just as he had done so many times before. Track announcer Chic Anderson bellowed to the crowd, "He's gonna run today, folks."

And run he did; just like the Forego of old. He was still fourth at the eighth pole, but only a half-length off the new battling leaders Cinteelo, Silver Series, and Great Contractor. Forego, as usual, was well out in the middle of track, and it was obvious he had the others measured. He charged to the front and drew off to win by 1 1/2 lengths in 1:48 flat. I found myself screaming with everyone else. As he crossed the finish line, the goose bumps emerged in full force. Forego was back. The 1977 Woodward to this day remains one of the most emotional and satisfying races I've ever experienced.

But, as it turned out, Forego was back only for this one brief moment. His ankles caught up to him after the race and he was put away for the year. He came back the following June to defeat Dr. Patches, and then beat only one horse, finishing fifth, in the Suburban Handicap. His ankles had finally betrayed him. It was time to call it quits.

Looking back at Forego's career, it is amazing how consistently fast he came home in his races, despite his unsoundness and the massive weights he had to carry. In the Met Mile, Marlboro Cup, and Gulfstream Park Handicap, he closed his final quarter in :23 and change. In five other grade I stakes he came home in :24 and change. In the Vosburgh and Woodward, he closed his final eighth in :11 and change, and :12 flat in the Carter and :12 2/5 in the aforementioned '77 Woodward.

In all, he defeated eight champions or classic winners - Foolish Pleasure (Kentucky Derby winner and champion 2-year-old male), Honest Pleasure (champion 2-year-old male and winner of the Travers), Avatar (Belmont Stakes winner), Wajima (champion 3-year-old male and winner of the Travers), Dr. Patches (co-champion sprinter), J.O. Tobin (co-champion sprinter and champion 2-year-old in England), Master Derby (Preakness winner), and Summer Guest (Coaching Club American Oaks winner).

I visited Forego with my wife shortly after his retirement when he was residing at John Ward's farm overlooking Keeneland Racetrack. John told us he still loved the cheers and would start running around his paddock whenever he'd here the roar of the crowd.

Forego was standing in the middle of his paddock grazing, paying little attention to us. In a feeble and seemingly moronic attempt to see if he did indeed react to the applause and to get a good photo of him, we decided: ‘What the heck, let's start clapping.' Well, it wasn't exactly the sound of the Keeneland crowd during the races, but sure enough, ol' Forego picked his head up and began running around his paddock, ultimately stopping by the fence where we were able to get great head shots and a few pats on the forehead.

Several other visits followed over the years at the Kentucky Horse Park, this time with our daughter.

Forego always had a larger-than-life presence and knew what he liked and didn't like. I can remember mornings at the barn when former trainer Eddie Hayward, who took care of Sherrill Ward's barn when the trainer was ill, would come to visit carrying a brown paper bag filled with apples. One morning, he arrived when Forego was out grazing. The big horse took one look at Hayward, saw the bag, and dragged his hotwalker over to him. He knew Hayward meant apples. It was quite a sight seeing him polish off one apple after another while Hayward conversed with Mrs. Gerry, who visited the barn often.

It was after Forego was turned over to Whiteley in early 1976 that I became good friends with Frank, having only previously spoken to him on occasion. During my first visit to Frank's barn, we were sitting on a tack box in the shed row when a huge dark bay horse walked by, just as we were talking about Forego.

"There's ‘ol Forego there," Whiteley said. Well, I not only knew that wasn't Forego, I knew it was Ruffian's brother Buckfinder, who was almost the same size and color as Forego, but not quite as big and massive. I didn't have a clue how to respond. Why would Whiteley make such a comment? I had to say something, so I replied, "That kinda looks like Buckfinder to me." Whiteley shot back, "It is." He was testing me, and from then on we became good friends until the day he died.

It seems as if people don't quite know where to rank Forego on the list of great horses, just as they are uncertain about other great geldings such as Kelso and John Henry.

I will say this: for all he had to overcome, for all the incredible feats he accomplished, and for all the heart-pounding thrills he provided, he was as unique a Thoroughbred as ever set foot on a racetrack. That uniqueness, combined with his extraordinary talent, made him in my opinion one of the truly great horses of all time.

For additional information on the great gelding and three-time Horse of the Year, you may be interested in Forego: Thoroughbred Legend.

Bull's Eye!

Blood-Horse Staff — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 20:01:00 GMT

I’m sure many people are familiar with the story of Holy Bull and Jimmy Croll, but in keeping with the current historical theme I will tell it again for those who are not familiar with it and those who only know parts of it. It’s another one of those racing stories you can’t make up.

First off, we must begin with Holy Bull’s impact on the Sport of Kings. To his multitude of fans he was known simply as “The Bull,” and in 1994, Thoroughbred racing was the proverbial china shop. The Bull ran roughshod over any foe who dared to stand in his path. By the end of the year he had created more havoc than any bovine since Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow.

Holy Bull metaphors, like the feeble one above, became commonplace in newspapers and trade journals and he was a headline writer’s dream. The images people had of the horse were depicted on gray T-shirts designed by Daily Racing Form caricaturist Peb, which showed a raging, snorting bull with a paradoxical halo above his head. His name conjured up heavenly images, but on the racetrack he was hell on wheels. By early 1995, in addition to the T-shirts, there were Holy Bull caps and trading cards, an influx of fan mail, and several public appearances. People came from as far away as Alaska to see him.

The story of Holy Bull began some 20 years before he was even born. Trainer Warren A. “Jimmy” Croll, a veteran on the New Jersey circuit, had made only one journey on the Kentucky Derby trail, with A.I. “Butch” Savin's Royal and Regal in 1973. Two years earlier, Savin had sent Croll to the Keeneland July yearling sale with the specific purpose of finding a horse who had the potential to become a top-class stallion. After checking out a number of yearlings, Croll called Savin and told him he had found the horse he was looking for. Determined to buy him, Croll went to $220,000 for the son of Raise a Native out of Gold Digger, whom Savin named Mr. Prospector.

Around that time, Croll, who was stabled in Florida for the winter, was approached by Everett House, the live-in companion of Croll’s longtime client Rachel Carpenter. House informed Croll that Carpenter had re-written her will. “Jimmy, I want you to know that if anything happens to the two of us, all the horses belong to you,” he said.

Croll always thought of the spunky Mrs. Carpenter as the type of person who would live forever, so he never gave it a second thought.

In 1992, Croll’s son and assistant, Bill, went down to Bonnie Heath Farm in Ocala, Fla., to look at the yearlings. Croll wasn’t able to get down there that year, so he sent Bill instead. Bill watched the yearlings parade and gallop through the stretch, one of whom was a colt that Croll owned, so the farm pushed him in a big way. They had videotaped all the gallops, and when they told Bill his father’s horse was a pretty nice colt, he could be heard saying on the video, “You're out of your mind. What about the gray horse? He's the best one you’ve got. He's a standout."

House died in the early ‘90s, which deeply affected Carpenter. Each year, she would make it a point to go to Monmouth Park to visit with friends and family and see her horses. In 1993, she went to Croll’s barn on the last day of her visit. One of the horses he showed her was a homebred colt by Great Above out of the Al Hattab mare Sharon Brown, whom she had named Holy Bull. This was the colt who had impressed Bill the year before. “You know, this gray colt could be something special," Croll told her.

Carpenter had been ill when she visited Croll's barn that summer in ‘93, and two weeks later, on Aug. 14, she died in her sleep. Croll received the news later that morning from House's daughter, Even Tehan, who was Carpenter's secretary. Ironically, Croll had entered Holy Bull for his career debut that afternoon. He assured Tehan he would scratch the horse. “Oh no, don't scratch him,” she said. “She wouldn't want you to do that.”

So, Croll ran Holy Bull, who won easily by 2 1/2 lengths in a sharp 1:03 4/5. Three days later, Croll received a call from Carpenter's lawyer, who said, “Jimmy, I just want to tell you that when that horse won the other day he belonged to you. At first Croll had no idea what he was talking about, but then he remembered what House had told him 20 years earlier. Croll had felt that over that long a period of time Carpenter could have easily changed her will numerous times. But she hadn’t, so Croll, at age 74, became the owner of one of the most exciting young prospects he’d ever trained.

Croll, of course, had no way of knowing the gift he had just unwrapped was actually Aladdin's lamp in the form of a big, battleship gray colt. By the end of the following year, the genie had granted two wishes: Holy Bull was Horse of the Year and Croll was the latest inductee into the Hall of Fame. Seven years later, a third wish was granted when Holy Bull joined his trainer in racing's pantheon. But the genie wasn’t finished. In 2005, Croll watched Holy Bull’s son, Giacomo, do what his sire was unable to – win the Kentucky Derby.

Holy Bull’s career was extraordinary. Following his debut victory, he won 12 of his next 14 starts, with six of them coming in grade I stakes and three in grade II stakes. His only two losses came in the Fountain of Youth Stakes, in which he displaced his palate and lost his air, and the Kentucky Derby, when he turned in an uncharacteristically lifeless performance that Croll said he could explain, but “can't talk about.” Years later he began talking about it more and more. Until the day he died this past spring at age 88, Croll was convinced that Holy Bull was gotten to before the Derby. Many at the time commented how listless he seemed leading up to the race.

By the end of 1994, Holy Bull had done it all. He demonstrated extraordinary brilliance against older horses, easily winning the Met Mile and Woodward Stakes in blistering times. He annihilated 3-year-olds in the Blue Grass Stakes, Florida Derby, and Dwyer Stakes. He displayed the courage of a champion in the Travers Stakes, digging in and holding off the furious late charge of eventual Breeders' Cup Classic winner Concern, despite the presence of a rabbit to soften him up and a brutal three-quarters in 1:10 2/5. He showed the will to win by coming again to defeat the swift Patton in the Hutcheson Stakes. And he demonstrated his ability to concede weight to top-class horses by defeating graded stakes winners Meadow Flight and Concern in the Haskell Invitational Handicap, giving them eight pounds.

Of the horses he defeated in 1994, Devil His Due, Colonial Affair, Cherokee Run, Concern, Go for Gin, and Tinners Way all came back to win grade I stakes, while Tabasco Cat, Bertrando, and Meadow Flight won grade II stakes in their next start. In all, Holy Bull defeated the winners of the grade I Kentucky Derby, Preakness, Belmont (twice), Breeders' Cup Classic, Breeders' Cup Sprint, Jockey Club Gold Cup, Whitney, Woodward, Pacific Classic (twice), and Suburban. Not many horses have shown the versatility to defeat a Breeders’ Cup Classic winner and a Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner, and in the same year.

In his eight victories that year, his average Beyer Speed Figure was over 115, which is remarkable for a 3-year-old. Here was a Horse of the Year and champion 3-year-old male who, during his career, defeated a champion older horse, champion sprinter, and champion 2-year-old male, not to mention three classic winners and two Breeders' Cup winners.

Although the Travers was Holy Bull's narrowest margin of victory, it was the race that stamped his true greatness. No Travers winner other than Man o' War had run three-quarters faster than Holy Bull, as he had to put away Tabasco Cat's rabbit. When Concern, racing far back early, charged up almost on even terms, even Croll was convinced Holy Bull was beaten. But he held on tenaciously to win by a neck, with Concern finishing 17 lengths ahead of Tabasco Cat in third. Concern's trainer Dick Small said afterward, "That was a race for the ages. I had to get out of there quick or I would have broken into tears. My horse was fresh and I really thought we had it. For Holy Bull to dig in and fight back like that after all he had to do early in the race showed that he's really something special."

What made Holy Bull such a fan favorite was that he ran as hard, as fast, and as far as he could race after race. He looked the best horses in America in the eye and left them for dead. The way he rated in the Woodward before blowing away a star-studded field by five lengths in 1:46 4/5 was nothing short of spectacular. Just try to imagine racecaller Tom Durkin's voice as he bellowed in a tone of disbelief, "Holy Bull winning like a champion...with devastating ease! Holy Bull toying with the best horses in training."

His rider, Mike Smith, put it best when he said, “I'm in awe of him. I thought he grew wings at the quarter pole."

Everyone expected Holy Bull to point for the Breeders' Cup, but Croll could see some wear and tear after a long, hard year. He knew that making the Breeders' Cup would force him to miss the entire Gulfstream meet. "I took a little heat for the decision to put him away for the year," Croll said. "But I race every year in Florida, and I felt I owed it to them to run the horse there."

Holy Bull was assigned 130 pounds on the Daily Racing Form Free Handicap, the first 3-year-old in 15 years to be weighted that high. He arrived in Florida a national hero. A headline in the Form read: “ ‘Bullmania' Sweeps the Nation."

Croll brought Holy Bull back in the seven-furlong Olympic Handicap and he easily defeated the classy grade I-winning sprinter Birdonthewire. Then came the Donn Handicap and a battle with an upstart named Cigar, winner of three straight, including the NYRA Mile. One can only speculate what would have happened had Holy Bull not pulled up on the backstretch with a career-ending injury just as he was moving up to challenge Cigar for the lead.

Racing’s Gray Goliath was retired to Jonabell Farm in Lexington, Ky. For Croll, he had received the greatest gift of all – literally. It’s been 14 years and people who saw him still talk about the colt with reverence. They still utter superlatives when they recall his heroic feats. And when they do, just remember one thing: none of it is bull.