Forward Pass (March 28, 1965 – December 1, 1980) was an American
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. Thoroughbreds are ...
Champion
A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and world championships, a ...
racehorse who was the first horse in the history of the
Kentucky Derby to have been declared the winner as the result of a disqualification.
Background
Forward Pass was sired by
On-and-On
On-and-On (April 24, 1956 – 1970) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who was a top runner for owner/breeder Calumet Farm and the sire of their 1968 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner, Forward Pass and the damsire of U.S. Racing ...
, a half-brother to Kentucky Derby winner
Tim Tam
Tim Tam is a brand of chocolate biscuit introduced by the Australian biscuit company Arnott's in 1964. It consists of two malted biscuits separated by a light hard
chocolate cream filling and coated in a thin layer of textured chocolate.
H ...
who is also known as the damsire of
Alydar
Alydar (March 23, 1975 – November 15, 1990) was an American Thoroughbred race horse and sire. A chestnut colt, he was most famous for finishing a close second to Affirmed in all three races of the 1978 Triple Crown. With each successive ...
. His dam, Princess Turia, won the 1956
Kentucky Oaks
The Kentucky Oaks is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred fillies staged annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. The race currently covers at Churchill Downs; the horses carry . The Kentucky Oaks is held on the Friday ...
, as well as the
Black-Eyed Susan Stakes
The George E. Mitchell Black-Eyed Susan Stakes is a Grade II American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old fillies run over a distance of miles on the dirt annually at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. The event currently offers a ...
and
Delaware Handicap
The Delaware Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually in mid July at Delaware Park Racetrack in Wilmington, Delaware. The Grade 2 race is open to fillies and mares, age three and up, willing to race one and one-quarter miles o ...
during her racing career. Princess Turia's other progeny include graded stakes winner Turn to Turia and full brothers to Forward Pass Ever On, Dinamode, and Prince Turian.
Prince Turian stood stallion duties in Venezuela, Dinamode stood in the United States at Marablue Farm in Florida, and Ever On had a brief stallion career in the United States at Winston Farm, the farm of his owner Suzanne Perdue.
Owned and bred by
Calumet Farm, the colt was
trained by
Henry Forrest.
Racing career
Racing at age three, Forward Pass won several
graded stakes race
A graded stakes race is a thoroughbred horse race in the United States that meets the criteria of the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA). A specific grade level (I, II, III or listed) is the ...
s, including three important
U.S. Triple Crown prep races: the
Everglades Stakes
The Everglades Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Hialeah Park in Hialeah, Florida. For three-year-old horses, the mile race was run on dirt until 1994 when it was converted to a race on turf. It was elevated to Grade ...
, the
Florida Derby
The Florida Derby is an American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old horses held annually at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida. Since 2005, it has been run five weeks before the Kentucky Derby, which is held on the first Sat ...
and the
Blue Grass Stakes
The Blue Grass Stakes, currently the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes due to sponsorship by the Toyota Motor Corporation, is a horse race for 3-year-old Thoroughbreds held annually in April at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, Kentucky. The race is ru ...
.
1968 Kentucky Derby
The
betting
Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three elem ...
favorite going into the
1968 Kentucky Derby, Forward Pass finished second, but winner
Dancer's Image
Dancer's Image (April 10, 1965 – December 26, 1992) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who was the first winner in the history of the Kentucky Derby to be disqualified.
Background
Dancer's Image was a gray horse owned and bred by businessm ...
was disqualified to last place after traces of
phenylbutazone
Phenylbutazone, often referred to as "bute", is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) for the short-term treatment of pain and fever in animals.
In the United States and United Kingdom, it is no longer approved for human use (except in th ...
were discovered in the mandatory post-race
urinalysis
Urinalysis, a portmanteau of the words ''urine'' and ''analysis'', is a panel of medical tests that includes physical (macroscopic) examination of the urine, chemical evaluation using urine test strips, and microscopic examination. Macroscopic ...
. As a result, Forward Pass was declared the winner. The controversy filled the sporting news of media outlets in
North America and was a cover story for ''
Sports Illustrated
''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twi ...
'', which referred to it as "the year's major sports story."
It was revealed that Dancer's Image had been plagued by sore ankles and on the Sunday prior to the Kentucky Derby, his handlers had a
veterinarian
A veterinarian (vet), also known as a veterinary surgeon or veterinary physician, is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, vet ...
give the horse a
phenylbutazone
Phenylbutazone, often referred to as "bute", is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) for the short-term treatment of pain and fever in animals.
In the United States and United Kingdom, it is no longer approved for human use (except in th ...
tablet, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (nsaid) commonly used to relieve inflammation of the joints, which was legal at many race tracks in the United States but not at
Churchill Downs. However, it was still a legitimate practice, as the medication would dissipate from the horse's system during the six days before the Derby. When the horse's post-Derby urinalysis revealed the phenylbutazone, his owner and handlers believed someone else may have been motivated to give the colt another dose of the drug, and they filed an appeal of the disqualification. The Kentucky State Racing Commission examined the matter and ordered distribution of the purse with first money to Forward Pass. This decision was upheld in April 1972 by Kentucky's highest court in ''Kentucky State Racing Commission v. Fuller'', 481 S.W.2d 298 (Ky, 1972). In a subsequent decision, the Commission ordered that Forward Pass be considered the winner of the 1968 Kentucky Derby and that his owners were to receive the Derby's gold cup.
It was not until
Country House in
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
that another horse was declared winner of the Kentucky Derby as the result of a disqualification.
1968 Preakness and Belmont
In a rematch with Dancer's Image in the
Preakness Stakes
The Preakness Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held on Armed Forces Day which is also 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 () o ...
, Forward Pass won by six lengths. As the third leg of the U.S. Triple Crown approached, the Derby controversy raged on. A victory by Forward Pass in the
Belmont Stakes would make him the first Triple Crown winner in twenty years and many fans, experts, and racing commentators felt he would be an illegitimate champion. In the Belmont, Forward Pass finished second by one and a quarter lengths to
Greentree Stable's colt
Stage Door Johnny, a horse who had not raced in the Derby or the Preakness but had been specifically bred and conditioned for competing at longer distances.
Awards
In 1968, the Turf and Sports Digest poll saw Forward Pass named as
Champion 3-Yr-Old Male. The other two organizations (Thoroughbred Racing Association and ''
Daily Racing Form
The ''Daily Racing Form'' (DRF) (referred to as the ''Racing Form'' or "Form" and sometimes "telegraph" or "telly") is a tabloid newspaper founded in 1894 in Chicago, Illinois, by Frank Brunell. The paper publishes the past performances of raceh ...
'') voted for
Stage Door Johnny.
Retirement and legacy
Retired at the end of the 1968 racing season to Calumet Farm, Forward Pass was sent to stand at stud at Calumet Farm. In 1977, he was sold to a breeding farm in
Japan. He died there in 1980.
Even today, controversy and speculation surrounds the 1968 Kentucky Derby. ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' calls the ruling the "most controversial decision in all of Triple Crown racing." The use of phenylbutazone was subsequently approved on March 6, 1974, by the Kentucky Racing Commission in recognition of medical research that showed it does not enhance a horse's performance.
Pedigree
See also
*
Country House (horse), declared winner of the
2019 Kentucky Derby following a disqualification
References
External links
Forward Pass' pedigree and racing stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Forward Pass (Horse)
1965 racehorse births
1980 racehorse deaths
Kentucky Derby winners
Preakness Stakes winners
Racehorses bred in Kentucky
Racehorses trained in the United States
Thoroughbred family 9-c