Bold Forbes
Encyclopedia
Bold Forbes was a champion thoroughbred
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...

 racehorse, winner of the 1976 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes.

Beginnings

Sired by Irish Castle, out of the mare Comely Nell, by Commodore M., Bold Forbes was foaled on March 31, 1973, which was also the same day three years earlier and the same year that America's Superhorse Secretariat
Secretariat (horse)
Secretariat was an American Thoroughbred racehorse, that in 1973 became the first U.S. Triple Crown champion in 25 years, setting new race records in two of the three events in the Series—the Kentucky Derby , and the Belmont Stakes —records that still stand today.Secretariat was sired by Bold...

 won the Triple Crown. He was bred by Lee Eaton and Red Bull Stables, and was foaled at Eaton Farm in Lexington, Kentucky. His bloodline can be traced to champion stallions Bold Ruler, Nasrullah and Bull Lea.

As a Two Year Old

Bold Forbes was a colt
Colt (horse)
A colt is a young male horse, under the age of four. The term "colt" is often confused with foal, which refers to a horse of either sex under one year of age....

 foaled in Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

 who raced in Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

 as a two-year-old where he was the 1975 champion. Later he was sent to the United States, he was trained by Laz Barrera
Laz Barrera
Lazaro Sosa Barrera was a Cuban-born American Hall of Fame thoroughbred racehorse trainer.Born in Havana, "Laz" Barrera was one of nine brothers who went on to become involved in thoroughbred horse racing in the United States...

, who was the trainer of the 1978 Triple Crown winner Affirmed
Affirmed
Affirmed was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who was the eleventh and most recent winner of the United States Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing...

. Bold Forbes won seven of eight starts in 1975, and was named Champion Two-Year-Old Colt in Puerto Rico. He also won the Saratoga Special and the San Jacinto Stakes, as well as the 1976 Wood Memorial and the Bay Shore Stakes.

1976 Triple Crown

In the beginning of his three year old campaign, he won the Saratoga Special and the San Jacinto Stakes, as well as the 1976 Wood Memorial and the Bay Shore Stakes. He was a very impressive three year old, and had good odds in the derby. On the first Saturday in May of 1976, Bold Forbes won the Kentucky Derby
Kentucky Derby
The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter mile at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry...

. He was one of the few horse to have not worked the day of the derby or in the days before, which is uncommon for any major race. He went on to Pimlico to try for the Preakness Stakes
Preakness Stakes
The Preakness Stakes is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held on the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs on dirt. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds ; fillies 121 lb...

, but worked at half-mile in :45 2/5 two days before the race - he wound up finishing third. He went on to dominate the Belmont Stakes
Belmont Stakes
The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes Thoroughbred horse race held every June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is a 1.5-mile horse race, open to three year old Thoroughbreds. Colts and geldings carry a weight of 126 pounds ; fillies carry 121 pounds...

, and would be named Champion Three-Year-Old Colt of 1976. He lost Horse of the Year honors to six year old champion Forego
Forego
Forego was an American Thoroughbred racehorse that won eight Eclipse Awards including Horse of the Year, Champion Handicap Horse and Champion Sprinter....

. He did an impressive job, having been ridden in all three classics under the renowned Puerto Rican jockey
Jockey
A jockey is an athlete who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing.-Etymology:...

 Angel Cordero, Jr.

Retirement

Bold Forbes was retired to stud after his three-year-old season with earnings of $546,536. He stood at Stone Farm in Paris, Kentucky. He sired 13 crops through 1990 with 460 named foals and 304 winners, 30 of which were stakes winners, and his offspring have won over $18 million. Some of Bold Forbes’ offspring include champions Tiffany Lass (winner of the Kentucky Oaks) and Bold Apparel, as well as Grade I stakes winner Air Forbes Won.

The dark bay/brown champion was moved to the Kentucky Horse Park in April 1991. He was a resident of the Hall of Champions for nine years. Until his death, he was the oldest living Kentucky Derby winner. He died August 9, 2000 at the age of 27. He was humanely euthanized due to renal failure and complications from gastroenteritis. He is buried at the Hall of Champions. There is a memorial dedicated to the horse in the "Memorial of Champions" in the "Hall of Champions".

Career Earnings and Pedigree

In the year of 1975 at age two he started 8 times, winning seven and one third place, and won a total of $86,250. In 1976 as a three year old he had started in 10 starts, winning six, placing second once, and placing third three times. He won a total of $460,286.

See also

  • List of famous Puerto Ricans
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