Class of 2017

[philywheel]

remember that day well, my father put 500$ to win on him, went into OTB on sutphin  Blvd. bought the ticket ,told myfather it was sloppy track, he got mad at me but kept the ticket anyway, also went to monmouth park, forget the race, finished 3rd ,I think Erins boy beat him that day

when you mention forego you hit a soft spot with me

Philywheel

[hellersorr]

johnnym Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Pacific Classic BB has a first time starter with
> no running lines.
> Hmmm?


What\'s his name - The Black Stallion?

[belmont3]

No.

It\'s Juicefy

[Mike C]

I agree that his wide move was always exciting. Check out the 1974 Carter, where he came from last to beat Mr. Prospector at 7F.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69mBgbkuIfk

[philywheel]

wonder what the sheet # wouldhave been for that race ,considering the weight and the ground loss, Gustines eased him up the final 1/16

amazing

Philywheel

[Mathcapper]

richiebee Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I will concede
> that Arrogate is right up
> there with Ghostzapper among the best of this
> century. I will step out on a
> limb and opine that Secretariat (champion on two
> surfaces, set world
> records at 12 furlongs turf and dirt; pretty sure
> he set stake records in all 3
> legs of Triple Crown); Spectacular Bid (his 4YO
> campaign possibly the greatest
> in American racing history; carried weight and set
> track records at 7f and 10f)
> and Forego (8 Eclipse Awards, 34 wins from 57
> lifetime starts, all accomplished
> on a scary bad set of wheels) would all have to be
> listed above the 3 Bafferts
> on any GOAT list I would compose.
>
> That\'s when a sport was a sport. I can\'t hold it
> against Secretariat,
> Spectacular Bid and Forego that they did not have
> a \"Facebook\" page while they
> were racing.
>

FYI on the topic of the GOAT, or at least the greatest single season campaign -- Saratoga Live ran an interesting piece on Dr. Fager a couple weeks ago (8/3/18) about a gravel-voiced longtime Dodgers peanut vendor named Richard Aller who’s been on a lifelong crusade to make the case that Dr. Fager\'s 1968 campaign was the greatest in the history of the sport.

Aller, who was somewhat of a Don Rickles-esque insult comic, was such a beloved fixture amongst the Dodger faithful that after once being fired for “misappropriation of peanuts” when he attempted to resell two bags of pilfered salted nuts he had received from a fellow vendor’s lunch allotment, that the fans put together a petition along with his fellow vendors and successfully lobbied for his reinstatement.

Like many of us, Aller fell in love with racing after his Dad took him to the track when he was a kid. He became a huge fan of Dr. Fager, and after John Nerud was made aware of his lifelong obsession with the horse, the two started up what became a 25 year friendship. Every year up to 2013, Aller and Charles Fager (the doctor the horse was named after who saved Nerud’s life) went to Nerud’s birthday, up until his 100th birthday.

Says Aller of Dr. Fager:

“The fastest horse of all-time. Able to accelerate quarter-mile splits faster than any horse that ever raced. He could accelerate a quarter-mile split seven lengths faster than Secretariat.

The only horse ever to be Horse of the Year, Handicap Horse of the Year, Sprinter of the Year, and Grass Horse of the Year. Beating two Horses of the Year. Carrying no less than 130. As much as 139. Got faster as he carried more weight, defying the laws of physics.

He could sprint, he could come home, he could come around horses. He did it all. But he didn’t do it in the Triple Crown, so he’ll never get his just due.

I didn’t know quite what he was in 1968. I began to get enraged at the distortions that were made. Let me historically define that. Dr. Fager ran in 1968. Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy were assassinated. Vietnam war. Vietnam war protests…Race riots all over the country. A riot at the Democratic National Convention. A protest at the Olympics in Mexico City. The most tumultuous year in 20th century history and he was not on national television. Secretariat ran in 1973. The Triple Crown was on national television. Horse racing was consumed by television. And so Secretariat became visibly a shrine.

Dr. Fager got tested every way imaginable. It didn’t matter anywhere, any place, any time, any conditions, any weight, quality of competition, Dr. Fager’s there every time.

And by the way, I don’t say that Dr. Fager was the greatest horse of all time. All I said was one season.”

As Aller also notes, his lone defeat in 1968 was at the hands of Damascus, a race in which he carried 135lbs and was forced to contend with Damascus’s rabbit Hedevar.

Dr. Fager’s 1968 Season
7 wins in 8 starts
Never carried less than 130lbs
Horse of the Year
Champion Handicap Horse
Outstanding Sprinter
Co-Champion Turf Horse

Stakes Wins
Roseben Stakes
Californian Stakes
Suburban Handicap
Whitney Stakes
Washington Park Handicap (1M in 132:1, a new world record carrying 134lbs, winning by 10 under no urging)
United Nations Handicap
Vosburgh


Unfortunately Dr. Fager was just a little before my time so I can\'t really judge for myself off personal experience, but my Dad always said he was the greatest horse he’d ever seen, period.

[ajkreider]

As with most sports, these discussions seem to be best characterized as best of their generation, as opposed to GOAT.  The never-ending Lebron/Jordan/Kareem/Wilt discussion a case in point.

If TGs are to be believed, the track records of yesteryear are not faster than todays best.  Wilt would not dominate today like he did.  Dr. Fager might not either.

[Al Caught Up]

Dr. Fager\'s world-record mile at Arlington is at Youtube, with Phil Georgeff\'s amazing call. The great thing is to hear the mic pick up someone muttering \'wow\' in the background after Dr. Fager crosses the finish line, followed by someone else saying \'this is a racehorse.\' He apparently got the second quarter in 20 3/5 seconds... Well worth watching:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wVBNbmcaAE

Frank Whiteley intended to send out Hedevar as a rabbit in the Suburban as well, when Dr. Fager, carrying 132 pounds to Damascus\'s 133, won by two in 1:59 3/5. When he was scratched going to the gate, Charley Hatten described it thus: “Then, Hedevar took a couple of bad steps, and trainer Frank Whiteley took the hasenpfeffer out of Nerud’s cabbage.”

[JR]

Mr. Frank said Saratoga was a weird track when it got wet. He told the jock if Forego didn’t like it don’t push him. I wasn’t there but I’m guessing it was Vasquez.

[FrankD.]

I was there, the jock was a guy named Shoemaker.

[richiebee]

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.\"

[JR]

Ah the Shoe. Frank loved Shoemaker. I just remember him presenting at Jacinto Vasquez’s HOF induction ceremony and I wrongly assumed it was him. Here’s a nice piece about Forego from the Paulick Report.

https://www.paulickreport.com/news/ray-s-paddock/forego-he-just-knew-where-the-wire-was/

[JR]

Beautiful story Richie. I hate to sound maudlin but I am Italian. Those were the days of true champions. They tackled the toughest tasks and they triumphed. They gave us memories. God how I wish for handicap races again.