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Forever Together flies home in Filly & Mare Turf
"She had never been farther than a mile and an eighth, and you don't know if they'll go a mile and a quarter until you try. My only concern was with her style of running with the firm turf and fairly tight turns." Forever Together was accordingly allowed to settle into her customary rhythm well off the early pace. Up front, Godolphin's Folk Opera (Ire) (Singspiel [Ire]) led the way through fractions of :25 2/5, :50, 1:14 3/5 and 1:38. Irish shipper Halfway to Heaven (Ire) (Pivotal), the 5-2 favorite, prompted the pace, and Wait a While (Maria's Mon), who was a little farther back through the opening quarter, soon advanced into a menacing third. Turning for home, Halfway to Heaven and Wait a While made their moves, as did the rapidly closing Visit (GB) (Oasis Dream [GB]), who sliced through along the rail and grabbed a narrow lead. The trio staged a gripping stretch duel, ultimately won by Wait a While, but her success was short-lived. No sooner had she subdued her nearest rivals than Forever Together, who was still eighth in midstretch, came storming on the outside to overwhelm Wait a While and pull three-quarters of a length clear. Also finishing energetically was Sealy Hill (Point Given), the longest shot on the board at 48-1, who caught Wait a While for runner-up honors by a head. Visit checked in another three-quarters of a length back in fourth, followed by Vacare (Lear Fan), Mauralakana (Fr) (Muhtathir [GB]), Halfway to Heaven, Dynaforce (Dynaformer), Folk Opera and Pure Clan (Pure Prize). Dispatched as the third choice at nearly 5-1, Forever Together furnished payouts of $11.80, $6.40 and $4.80. Sealy Hill rewarded her loyalists with $36.20 and $15.80, while Wait a While gave back $3.60 to show as the 3-1 second choice. The $1 exacta paid $224.60, the $1 trifecta totaled $996.10, and with the 17-1 Visit in fourth, the 3-1-5-4 superfecta returned $13,505.10. Forever Together captured her first three starts on dirt, culminating in a two-length score in the 2007 Forward Gal S. (G1) at Gulfstream Park. After a neck loss on Keeneland's Polytrack in the Beaumont S. (G2), Forever Together could finish no better than third in four subsequent starts on dirt. It took a switch to the turf for the four-year-old to return to the winner's circle, which she did when recording a 1 1/4-length victory in the Reluctant Guest S. at Arlington Park in May. Forever Together stepped up to take on Grade 1 rivals in the Just a Game S. next out and didn't disgrace herself when third. She broke through with a huge win in the Diana S. (G1) at Saratoga, then shipped to Woodbine and ran third on yielding ground in the Canadian S. (Can-G2), but rebounded with an impressive score in the First Lady S. (G1) at Keeneland last time out. Her line now reads 14-7-1-3 with earnings of $2,004,533. Bred by White Fox Farm in Kentucky, Forever Together brought $240,000 as an OBS March two-year-old. She is out of the unraced Relaunch mare Constant Companion, making her a half-sister to multiple stakes-placed Princess Patricia (Aptitude). Princess Patricia is consigned to the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, where she will be sold as Hip No. 804 along with her weanling colt by First Samurai, Hip 805, on November 5. This is the same family as multiple champion filly Open Mind (Deputy Minister), Canadian Horse of the Year Peaks and Valleys (Mt. Livermore), and Grade 2 winner and noted sire Broken Vow (Unbridled). George Strawbridge, whose nom de course is Augustin Stable, indicated that Forever Together is likely to remain in training next year. "Yes, I would think if she's physically well, which she looks very physically well to me today, she will run as a five-year-old, because she is so good, and I would like to keep her racing at least for one more year," Strawbridge said.
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