Together Forever (foaled 19 March 2012) is an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse. After being beaten in her first three races she showed significant progress in the autumn of her two-year-old season winning three races of increasing prestige. She followed up a win in a

maiden race In horse racing a maiden race is an event for horses that have not won a race. Horses that have not won a race are referred to as maidens. Maiden horse races are held over a variety of distances and under conditions with eligibility based on the se ...

with a victory in the Listed Staffordstown Stud Stakes before ending her season by taking the

Group One Group One, Group 1, Grade I or G1 is the term used for the highest level of Thoroughbred and Standardbred stakes races in many countries. In Europe, the level of races for Thoroughbred racing is determined using the Pattern races, Pattern race sys ...

Fillies' Mile. She failed to win as a three-year-old but finished second in the

Musidora Stakes The Musidora Stakes is a Group 3 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old fillies. It is run over a distance of 1 mile, 2 furlongs and 56 yards () at ...

and fourth in the Irish Oaks.

Background

Together Forever is a bay mare with a white

star A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...

and a white

sock A sock is a piece of clothing worn on the feet and often covering the ankle or some part of the calf. Some types of shoes or boots are typically worn over socks. In ancient times, socks were made from leather or matted animal hair. In the late ...

on her left hind leg bred in Ireland by the entrepreneur Vimal Khosla and his wife Gillian. She was sired by

Galileo Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642) was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath. Commonly referred to as Galileo, his name was pronounced (, ). He was ...

, who won the Derby,

Irish Derby The Irish Derby (Irish: Dearbaí na hÉireann) is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 1 ...

and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes in 2001. Galileo became one of the world's leading stallions and has been champion sire of Great Britain and Ireland five times. His other progeny include Cape Blanco, Frankel, Golden Lilac,

Nathaniel , nickname = {{Plainlist, * Nat * Nate , footnotes = Nathaniel is an English variant of the biblical Greek name Nathanael. People with the name Nathaniel * Nathaniel Archibald (1952–2018), American basketball player * Nate A ...

, New Approach, Rip Van Winkle and Ruler of the World. Her dam Green Room an unraced daughter of the

Breeders' Cup Turf The Breeders' Cup Turf is a Weight for Age Thoroughbred horse race on turf for three-year-olds and up. It is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships. The race's current ...

winner Theatrical and had previously produced Lord Shanakill, a horse whose wins included the

Mill Reef Stakes The Mill Reef Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-olds. It is run at Newbury over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metres), and it is scheduled ...

, Prix Jean Prat and

Lennox Stakes The Lennox Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Goodwood over a distance of 7 furlongs (1,408 metres), and it is scheduled to take place each ...

. Green Room's dam Chain Fern was full-sister of the leading racehorse and broodmare Al Bahathri. As a yearling the filly was consigned to the Goffs sale in October 2013. She was bought for

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

680,000 by Michael Magnier, acting on behalf of the Coolmore Stud organisation. The filly was sent into training with Aidan O'Brien at

Ballydoyle Ballydoyle is a racehorse training facility located in County Tipperary in Ireland. It is a sister thoroughbred facility to Coolmore Stud, and both are owned by John Magnier, son in law to the racehorse trainer Vincent O'Brien. The current train ...

. Like many of the Coolmore racehorses the details of her ownership changed from race to race: she was sometimes listed as being owned by Susan Magnier whilst on other occasions she was described as the property of a partnership involving Magnier, Derrick Smith and Michael Tabor.

Racing career

2014: two-year-old season

Together Forever was ridden in all six of her races as a two-year-old by her trainer's son Joseph O'Brien. The filly began her racing career by finishing fourth to

Legatissimo Legatissimo (foaled 22 April 2012) is a British-bred Irish-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. After showing some promise as a juvenile, she showed marked improvement in the spring of 2015 and recorded her first major success in the 1000 Guineas. On ...

in a seven furlong

Galway Races The Galway Races (Irish: ''Rásaí na Gaillimhe'') is an Irish horse-racing festival that starts on the last Monday of July every year. Held at Ballybrit Racecourse in Galway, Ireland over seven days, it is one of the longest of all the race m ...

on 29 July. At the Curragh on 23 August she started 11/10 favourite for a similar event over one mile but after leading for most of the way she was overtaken and beaten three quarters of a

length Length is a measure of distance. In the International System of Quantities, length is a quantity with dimension distance. In most systems of measurement a base unit for length is chosen, from which all other units are derived. In the Interna ...

by her stable companion Found. Eight days later she turned out again for the Listed Flame of Tara Stakes over the same course and distance. She led until the final furlong before being overtaken and finished third behind Jack Naylor (a filly despite her name) and Legatissimo. In September the filly was dropped back in class for a maiden race over one mile at Gowran Park and started the 8/13 favourite against fifteen opponents. Together Forever tracked the leaders before taking the lead two furlongs out and drew away from the field to win "easily" by five lengths. Together Forever moved back up to Listed level for the Staffordstown Stud Stakes over one mile at the Curragh on 12 October. Starting the 11/10 favourite she took the lead a quarter of a mile from the finish, repelled a challenge from her stablemate Cocoon and won by three lengths. Five days after her win at the Curragh, Together Forever was sent to England to contest the Group One Fillies' Mile at Newmarket Racecourse. The

Rockfel Stakes The Rockfel Stakes is a Group races, Group 2 Flat racing, flat Horse racing, horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old Filly, fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket Racecourse, New ...

winner Lucida started favourite ahead of the

Dick Poole Fillies' Stakes The Dick Poole Stakes is a Group 3 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old fillies. It is run at Salisbury over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metres), and it is scheduled to take p ...

runner up Marsh Hawk and the May Hill Stakes winner Agnes Stewart with Together Forever fourth choice in the betting at odds of 7/1. The other three runners were Forte from the

Ralph Beckett Ralph Michael Beckett (born June 1971) is a British racehorse trainer who specialises in training horses for Flat racing. He is based at Kimpton, Hampshire. Beckett comes from an aristocratic racing background. He is the grandson of Ralph Becket ...

stable and the Godolphin pair Good Place and Winters Moon. O'Brien positioned the filly before behind the pacemakers before moving up to take the lead approaching the final furlong at which point the early leader Marsh Hawk was engaged in a "barging match" with Lucida. Together Forever kept on well in the closing stages and won by half a length and a short head from Agnes Stewart and Winters Moon. Explaining the filly's improvement, Joseph O'Brien said "In the early part of the season we made use of her massive stride in her maiden and it just didn't seem to work. Then at Gowran I tucked her in and got her to relax and I felt a turn of foot that I hadn't felt before and she's done nothing but improve since. I think she has plenty of pace and there is no reason why she couldn't start at a Guineas and go on to an Oaks".

2015: three-year-old season

Although Together Forever was expected to contest the

1000 Guineas The 1000 Guineas Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 ...

the filly bypassed the race and made her three-year-old debut in the

Musidora Stakes The Musidora Stakes is a Group 3 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old fillies. It is run over a distance of 1 mile, 2 furlongs and 56 yards () at ...

(a trial race for The Oaks) over ten and a half furlongs at

York Racecourse York Racecourse is a horse racing venue in York, North Yorkshire, England. It is the third biggest racecourse in Britain in terms of total prize money offered, and second behind Ascot Racecourse, Ascot in prize money offered per meeting. It att ...

on 13 May. Ridden by Ryan Moore she chased the leaders and stayed on well in the straight but failed by a head to overhaul the favourite

Star of Seville Star of Seville is a British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. She won the French Oaks, the Prix de Diane The Prix de Diane, sometimes referred to as the French Oaks, is a Group 1 flat horse race ...

. In the 237th running of the Oaks Stakes over one and a half miles at

Epsom Downs Racecourse Epsom Downs is a Grade 1 racecourse on the hills associated with Epsom in Surrey, England which is used for thoroughbred horse racing. The "Downs" referred to in the name are part of the North Downs. The course, which has a crowd capacity of 13 ...

on 5 June the filly started 9/1 fourth choice in the betting behind Legatissimo, Jack Naylor and Lady of Dubai. After reaching second place in the straight she was badly hampered and finished seventh behind her stable companion

Qualify Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...

. Seamie Heffernan took the ride when the filly contested the Irish Oaks at the Curragh on 18 July. In a change of tactics Together Forever went to the front soon after the start and opened up an eight length advantage over her rivals. She faded in the straight however, lost the lead a furlong out and finished fourth behind

Covert Love Covert Love (foaled 14 April 2012) is an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare. After being sold relatively cheaply as a yearling she showed some promise when finishing fifth in her only start as a two-year-old in 201 ...

Pedigree

*Together Forever is inbred 3 × 4 to Northern Dancer meaning that this stallion appears in both the third and fourth generations of her pedigree.

References

{{reflist 2012 racehorse births Racehorses bred in Ireland Racehorses trained in Ireland Thoroughbred family 9-e