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Thoroughbred Legends #6
Forego: Thoroughbred Legends
One of the most popular racehorses of the 1970s, Forego had legions of fans that thrilled to his grit and determination to win.
176 pages, Hardcover
First published May 6, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 27, 2020
With the “Forego” volume in the Thoroughbred Champions series, I have completed reading every one of the 24 books in the series over 14 years. I’d say two to four a year was about the correct rate. Why? These are all racehorse biographies, and there are only so many ways to tell a racehorse biography. You get to where you start wondering when the jockey would show up in the story, and how long the chapter on the breeding outcomes would be. This was one of the better ones, with some interesting writing and an owner that showed some concern for the horse (not all do). I will summarize the series by saying that these books will appeal to a wide audience. I read these along with my father, while he was alive, and my father-in-law. My fathers both grew up in the era where horseracing was America’s pastime, and by reading these books they filled a void in one of the hobbies they had during their boyhood. I enjoyed the history, and the view of how all sections of the country, from the usually rich owners to the usually not rich jockeys and grooms to the obsessed trainers. Horseracing required quite an amalgamation of people and classes, allowing for different angles in approaching these stories. Well done, Eclipse Press.
I have my complete set of these books for sale on eBay. I wrote up a long description of the books that may be of interest to those interested in reading them, reproduced for your entertainment:
The Thoroughbred Legends Series was published by Eclipse Press between 2000 and 2005. Running to 24 books, all books were published in hard cover, with a photo of the subject horse glued to the front cover, and with a fabric placeholder sewn into the binding. The publishers also released a subset of these volumes in paperback editions, but the paperbacks are not included in this set. The hardbacks were mostly sold with a cream colored dust cover, but not always. Given the number of second hand books in the series sold without a dustcover, I do not believe all were sold with a dustcover, at least not for their entire sales life. I recall some book closeout stores carried a few copies of these books sold as new, but without dustcovers. There are also varieties of dustcovers. Some had cutouts to allow the horse photo on the cover to be visible. Others had the horse photo printed on the dustcover. One dustcover was not cream-colored but a dark brown. Because the books hardcovers were well designed, with the photo, a gold embossed title, and a black embossed series name “Thoroughbred Legends”, these are pretty books with or without their jackets. The hardcovers are either green, blue, brown, or red with matching endpapers in a horseshoe pattern.
Titles
1. Man O' War by Edward L Bowen, green hardcover
2. Dr. Fager by Steve Haskin, blue hardcover
3. Citation by Pauhla Smith, red hardcover
4. Go for Wand by Bill Heller, brown hardcover
5. Seattle Slew by Dan Mearns, green hardcover
6. Forego by Bill Heller, blue hardcover
7. Native Dancer by Eva Jolene Boyd, red hardcover
8. Nashua by Edward L Bowen, brown hardcover
9. Spectacular Bid by Timothy T. Capps, green hardcover
10. John Henry by Steve Haskin, blue hardcover
11. Personal Ensign by Bill Heller, red hardcover
12. Sunday Silence by Ray Paulick, brown hardcover
13. Ruffian by Milton C. Toby, green hardcover
14. Swaps: The California Comet by Barry Irwin, blue hardcover
15. Affirmed and Alydar by Timothy T. Capps, red hardcover
16. Round Table by John McEvoy, brown hardcover
17. War Admiral by Edward L Bowen, green hardcover
18. Exterminator by Eva Jolene Boyd, blue hardcover
19. Secretariat: Racing's Greatest Triple Crown Winner by Timothy T. Capps, red hardcover
20. Genuine Risk by Hallie McEvoy, brown hardcover
21. Kelso by Steve Haskin, green hardcover
22. Damascus by Lucy Heckman, blue hardcover
23. Assault by Eva Jolene Boyd, red hardcover
24. Bold Ruler by Edward L Bowen, brown hardcover
Those two types of dust jackets were ones with a photo and ones with a cut-out dust jacket, or perhaps peek-a-boo dust jacket would be more descriptive. These dust jackets had a square cut out that allows the photo affixed to the hardcover to be viewed. Eclipse Press/Blood Horse obviously put a lot of effort into this set of books, and it shows.
I began reading this series when I won my first volume from a Blood-Horse Magazine online contest in 2006. I put this collection together over the next 14 years. These books have been read by my father-in-law and me, and some bought used were probably read by others. This series is very readable. The books are short, averaging around 150 pages, and include pictures illustrating key points in the horse’s life as well as the people involved. These books can be read by young and old, and all take a common formula and provides some interesting anecdotes to set each horse apart. This would be a great addition to your personal library if you want to share the enjoyment of horses, racing, and history with younger and older generations. Older readers will be reminded of the horses popular in their youth, while younger readers will learn how racing and horse-keeping has changed over the years. I liked the mix of people involved. You are introduced to wealthy owners (and a couple of cowboy owners), as well as the many working men (mostly men) that run horse farms and training facilities. You get the unexpected and the expected wins, but also the surprising losses. And you get to see the work that goes into raising champions. A nice series of books.
Referenced in most books: Kentucky Derby, Preakness, Belmont Stakes, Breeders Cup, Triple Crown, breeding, training, owners, races, progeny, ancestry
I have my complete set of these books for sale on eBay. I wrote up a long description of the books that may be of interest to those interested in reading them, reproduced for your entertainment:
The Thoroughbred Legends Series was published by Eclipse Press between 2000 and 2005. Running to 24 books, all books were published in hard cover, with a photo of the subject horse glued to the front cover, and with a fabric placeholder sewn into the binding. The publishers also released a subset of these volumes in paperback editions, but the paperbacks are not included in this set. The hardbacks were mostly sold with a cream colored dust cover, but not always. Given the number of second hand books in the series sold without a dustcover, I do not believe all were sold with a dustcover, at least not for their entire sales life. I recall some book closeout stores carried a few copies of these books sold as new, but without dustcovers. There are also varieties of dustcovers. Some had cutouts to allow the horse photo on the cover to be visible. Others had the horse photo printed on the dustcover. One dustcover was not cream-colored but a dark brown. Because the books hardcovers were well designed, with the photo, a gold embossed title, and a black embossed series name “Thoroughbred Legends”, these are pretty books with or without their jackets. The hardcovers are either green, blue, brown, or red with matching endpapers in a horseshoe pattern.
Titles
1. Man O' War by Edward L Bowen, green hardcover
2. Dr. Fager by Steve Haskin, blue hardcover
3. Citation by Pauhla Smith, red hardcover
4. Go for Wand by Bill Heller, brown hardcover
5. Seattle Slew by Dan Mearns, green hardcover
6. Forego by Bill Heller, blue hardcover
7. Native Dancer by Eva Jolene Boyd, red hardcover
8. Nashua by Edward L Bowen, brown hardcover
9. Spectacular Bid by Timothy T. Capps, green hardcover
10. John Henry by Steve Haskin, blue hardcover
11. Personal Ensign by Bill Heller, red hardcover
12. Sunday Silence by Ray Paulick, brown hardcover
13. Ruffian by Milton C. Toby, green hardcover
14. Swaps: The California Comet by Barry Irwin, blue hardcover
15. Affirmed and Alydar by Timothy T. Capps, red hardcover
16. Round Table by John McEvoy, brown hardcover
17. War Admiral by Edward L Bowen, green hardcover
18. Exterminator by Eva Jolene Boyd, blue hardcover
19. Secretariat: Racing's Greatest Triple Crown Winner by Timothy T. Capps, red hardcover
20. Genuine Risk by Hallie McEvoy, brown hardcover
21. Kelso by Steve Haskin, green hardcover
22. Damascus by Lucy Heckman, blue hardcover
23. Assault by Eva Jolene Boyd, red hardcover
24. Bold Ruler by Edward L Bowen, brown hardcover
Those two types of dust jackets were ones with a photo and ones with a cut-out dust jacket, or perhaps peek-a-boo dust jacket would be more descriptive. These dust jackets had a square cut out that allows the photo affixed to the hardcover to be viewed. Eclipse Press/Blood Horse obviously put a lot of effort into this set of books, and it shows.
I began reading this series when I won my first volume from a Blood-Horse Magazine online contest in 2006. I put this collection together over the next 14 years. These books have been read by my father-in-law and me, and some bought used were probably read by others. This series is very readable. The books are short, averaging around 150 pages, and include pictures illustrating key points in the horse’s life as well as the people involved. These books can be read by young and old, and all take a common formula and provides some interesting anecdotes to set each horse apart. This would be a great addition to your personal library if you want to share the enjoyment of horses, racing, and history with younger and older generations. Older readers will be reminded of the horses popular in their youth, while younger readers will learn how racing and horse-keeping has changed over the years. I liked the mix of people involved. You are introduced to wealthy owners (and a couple of cowboy owners), as well as the many working men (mostly men) that run horse farms and training facilities. You get the unexpected and the expected wins, but also the surprising losses. And you get to see the work that goes into raising champions. A nice series of books.
Referenced in most books: Kentucky Derby, Preakness, Belmont Stakes, Breeders Cup, Triple Crown, breeding, training, owners, races, progeny, ancestry
July 10, 2025
Ok, I didn't enjoy this book as much as I had thought I would. It was kind of "blah" actually and disappointing. I want to read more about the actual horse and not just get a list of all the races he won and the dates and the weight he was carrying. I suppose some people would want that but not me.
When it came to info about the actual horse, there were a few bits of information in here. Forego was always kicking and biting but he never actually harmed anyone. I presume that the "biting" part means he was "mouthy". And I know a few horses that like to swing their heads around so maybe they mean that too... He was very big, over 17 hands.
He was also very talkative, especially if you had treats.
And he was born with leg problems. It's a miracle he could race at all. He was one very tough horse. And he clearly had that drive to win.
I found the medical information in here very interesting, but the book was very brief on that. I do wish they had been more detailed on that stuff. But it does mention sesamoid on the fetlock joints, especially the right hind. Then "wind puffs" were mentioned too, the build up of synovial fluid. But you have to read a ton of texts to find this stuff and then it's so very little...
And then there was this sentence on page 10:
"He started to roll, and he rolled and rolled and rolled," Mrs. Gerry said. "I never thought he was going to make it."
Ummm... What exactly does that sentence MEAN?? When a horse rolls they are laying down and scratching their backs on the ground, usually in sand or grass or dry dirt. I doubt if a horse is going to be rolling on a race track. So that sentence cannot mean rolling in the typical manner that a horse rolls. And race horses gallop. They race. I never heard anyone refer to a speeding horse going down the track as "rolling". Do they mean he fell and tumbled on the track?? As in actually tumbling head over hooves over and over?? But the fact that such a confusing sentence is at the front of the book is not good in my opinion. ..... Ok, I just asked Google and it said he never fell in a race. So what does this mean??
I should add I have never seen a race with the famous Forego. I like to read about horses and to learn more information but I am not exactly into racing. I guess you could say I want the "human interest story" not a bunch of dates + wins. Unfortunately this book is a bunch of dates, wins and weights. Except it's put into paragraphs with the track names, race names, etc.
Even more confusing is there is a page in here that says he finished racing with one good leg and three bad ones...but it sounded like his previous worse leg was now the good one?? What?? How can you not explain that?
And how do steel horse shoes stop the foot from spreading? Do hooves spread??
This book just states stuff but doesn't bother to explain it!
When it came to info about the actual horse, there were a few bits of information in here. Forego was always kicking and biting but he never actually harmed anyone. I presume that the "biting" part means he was "mouthy". And I know a few horses that like to swing their heads around so maybe they mean that too... He was very big, over 17 hands.
He was also very talkative, especially if you had treats.
And he was born with leg problems. It's a miracle he could race at all. He was one very tough horse. And he clearly had that drive to win.
I found the medical information in here very interesting, but the book was very brief on that. I do wish they had been more detailed on that stuff. But it does mention sesamoid on the fetlock joints, especially the right hind. Then "wind puffs" were mentioned too, the build up of synovial fluid. But you have to read a ton of texts to find this stuff and then it's so very little...
And then there was this sentence on page 10:
"He started to roll, and he rolled and rolled and rolled," Mrs. Gerry said. "I never thought he was going to make it."
Ummm... What exactly does that sentence MEAN?? When a horse rolls they are laying down and scratching their backs on the ground, usually in sand or grass or dry dirt. I doubt if a horse is going to be rolling on a race track. So that sentence cannot mean rolling in the typical manner that a horse rolls. And race horses gallop. They race. I never heard anyone refer to a speeding horse going down the track as "rolling". Do they mean he fell and tumbled on the track?? As in actually tumbling head over hooves over and over?? But the fact that such a confusing sentence is at the front of the book is not good in my opinion. ..... Ok, I just asked Google and it said he never fell in a race. So what does this mean??
I should add I have never seen a race with the famous Forego. I like to read about horses and to learn more information but I am not exactly into racing. I guess you could say I want the "human interest story" not a bunch of dates + wins. Unfortunately this book is a bunch of dates, wins and weights. Except it's put into paragraphs with the track names, race names, etc.
Even more confusing is there is a page in here that says he finished racing with one good leg and three bad ones...but it sounded like his previous worse leg was now the good one?? What?? How can you not explain that?
And how do steel horse shoes stop the foot from spreading? Do hooves spread??
This book just states stuff but doesn't bother to explain it!
November 21, 2015
Forego has always been one of my favorites, and getting a behind-the-scenes look, so to speak, only increased my love. I have always respected the weight-carrying horses, which don't exist anymore, but I had no real idea of what Forego went through to carry those weights to victory. Of course, they usually reference 'leg problems' when talking about his exploits, but that doesn't tell anyone much.
A large chunk of the credit goes to his trainers and owner--the owner for mostly keeping her nose out and not insisting on running him when he wasn't ready, and the trainers for keeping him intact for his great victories. The rest of the credit, of course, goes to the horse. Forego was a horse of great talent and courage.
A large chunk of the credit goes to his trainers and owner--the owner for mostly keeping her nose out and not insisting on running him when he wasn't ready, and the trainers for keeping him intact for his great victories. The rest of the credit, of course, goes to the horse. Forego was a horse of great talent and courage.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews