Gerry stresses the uncertainty involved in breeding. "Penny Tweedy was about ready to leave the business if she didn't get a winner. She was lucky and got two, Secretariat and Riva Ridge."

Both Gerrys firmly oppose match races, races between only two horses for a hefty purse. Ruffian, the brilliant filly, died after an injury in a match with Foolish Pleasure in the mid-summer of 1975.

No Match Races

"At the time of that race my mother said she would never enter Forego in a match race, no matter what the purse, distance, or opponent, unless she could scratch Forego the day of the race," Gerry says. Gerry explains that scratching at the last minute in a big race is out of the question because, "you can't let the public down."

Objections

Gerry has other objections to match racing beyond the danger to the horses. "If you look at the history of match races you see that very few have been good contests. Chris Evert won by 50 lengths in a match race with Miss Musket," he says.

Gerry concedes that match races do arouse the interest of the non-racing public, but feels they distort a horse's earnings. "A quarter of Foolish Pleasure's career earnings are from the one race with Ruffian," he mentions.

Martha Gerry stresses consistency over other qualities in Forego's performance. According to her son, she feels that steady excellence is essential to promoting greater public interest in the sport. Bill says he feels that this emphasis is in contrast to that of Penny Tweedy, breeder of Secretariat and Riva Ridge, who Gerry feels had a tendency to overextend the horses to get them before the public.

Forego's record bears out Martha Gerry's success at achieving her aim. Out of 40 career starts, Forego has finished first in 23, second in six, third in six, and out of the money in only five.