The "Forego Triple" · 28.03.08
This Pace Advantage discussion thread , featuring links to Sports Illustrated‘s new SIVault, reminded me what a great race horse Forego was. After a bit of surfing and reading on-line I went to the NYRA website, and confirmed that, while he didn’t win the Handicap Triple Crown (the Metropolitan, Suburban, and Brooklyn Handicaps), Forego did win all three races over the course of his career. He won the Brooklyn three times (1974-76), the “Met Mile” twice (1976-77), and the Suburban once (1975). So you could say that Forego could boast a “Career Handicap Triple”.
A bit more research revealed that only three other horses earned similar “career triples”:
- Grey Lag: 1921 Brooklyn, 1923 Metropolitan and Suburban;
- Devil Diver: Metropolitan 1943-45, Suburban 1945, Brooklyn 1943;
- Buckpasser: 1966 Brooklyn, 1967 Metropolitan and Suburban.
In addition, Buckpasser and Forego also earned what could be considered the equine equivalent of the "Tiger Slam": winning all three races consecutively, but not in the same calendar year.
Only four horses have won the “traditional” Handicap Triple: Whisk Broom II (1913), Tom Fool (1953), Kelso (1961), and Fit to Fight (1984). Winning a career triple is almost as impressive — perhaps even more so in cases where the horse wins the races more than once. In honour of the last horse to accomplish this feat, let’s call this the “Forego Triple”, and give its winners their due.
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