Aforethought was out of the legendary mare Aspidistra. His pedigree made him an exceptional sire of speed. He is one of eleven Thoroughbreds to sire winners of the All American Futurity and the only Thoroughbred to sire multiple winners of that race at the modern 440-yard distance.
Aforethought was foaled on April 17th, 1963. He was bred by 3M corporation chairman William L. McKnight’s Tartan Farms in Ocala, Florida. Intentionally, the sire of Aforethought, was nicknamed the “Black Bullet” on the track. He won eighteen races, including the Pimlico Futurity, Withers Stakes and Jerome Handicap. Intentionally was voted the American Champion Sprint Horse in 1959. After the black stallion retired from racing in 1961, he was purchased by McKnight and moved to Ocala. Aforethought was among his first crop of foals. His later foal crops included In Reality, the sire of Valid Appeal, Relaunch and Known Fact; Tentam, sire of Ten Gold Pots and La Voyageuse; and Group Plan, winner of the Jockey Club Gold Cup. Intentionally died of an apparent heart attack in 1970. He is remembered as a stallion of considerable importance to the Thoroughbred breeding industry in Florida.
Aspidistra, the dam of Aforethought, was bred by the Kentucky division of the famous King Ranch. She was by Better Self and out of Tilly Rose, a stakes-winning daughter of Bull Brier. As a yearling, Aspidistra survived a barn fire and may have suffered lung damage. Despite that, she was able to begin her racing career at age three. She made fourteen starts and won two races. In 1957, a group of employees from the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Corporation, now known as 3M, purchased Aspidistra for $6,500 as a gift to McKnight. She became the foundation mare at Tartan Farms.
From 1960 to 1977, Aspidistra produced thirteen foals, ten of which were winners. Her first foal, Perplexing, won four races. Her second and third foals, A. Deck and Chinatowner, were black-type stakes winners. Next came Aforethought followed by her best starter, Dr. Fager. Named for a Boston neurosurgeon who saved the life of his co-owner John Nerud, Dr. Fager won eighteen races and earned over $1 million on the track. In 1968, he was voted the Champion Sprint Horse, Champion Male Turf Horse, Champion Older Male Horse and Horse of the Year. His four-year-old season is still considered to be the greatest single seasons of any Thoroughbred in American racing history. After his storied career, Dr. Fager returned to Tartan Farms where he sired American Champion Two-Year-Old Filly Dearly Precious, Co-Champion Sprinter Dr. Patches and Canadian Champion L’Alezane. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1971. Dr. Fager passed away from colic at the age of twelve. He was the Leading Sire in North America the year after his death.
After Dr. Fager, Aspidistra produced two-time race winner Captivate. Her next foal, Ta Wee, was a full-sister to Aforethought. Ta Wee won fifteen races, thirteen of which were stakes races. She beat older males in the Fall Highweight Handicap, Vosburgh Handicap and Correction Stakes. Ta Wee was voted the American Champion Sprint Horse in 1969 and 1970. She produced five foals for Tartan Farms. Her first foal, Great Above, was a multiple stakes winner. Great Above went on to sire 39 stakes winners, including Holly Bull, the 1994 Horse of the Year. Ta Wee also produced stakes winners Tweak, Tax Holiday and Entropy. She died in 1980 and was induced into the Hall of Fame in 1994.
Aspidistra’s final foals were moderately successful on the racetrack and in the breeding shed. Highbinder, a full-brother to Dr. Fager, was graded stakes placed and stood at M.J. Stavola Farms in Florida. Magic, a dark bay mare by Buckpasser, was the third dam of Unbridled and recognized as a Reine-de-Course, or “Queen of the Turf,” because of her influence as a broodmare; Weyand, a stallion by Prine Taj, was exported to New Zealand; Quit Me Not, a mare by Bold Reason, produced a track record setter; Pollinize, a full-brother to Magic, stood in Oklahoma where he sired Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses; and Auraria, a brown stallion by Tartan Farms’ Minnesota Mac, won three races before he was exported to Venezuela where he sired 1996 and 1997 Venezuelan Champion Sprinter Anfibol, as well as graded stakes winners Big Champion, Con Virginia, Conservadora, Negocion and Romario.
In 1978, at the age of 24, Aspidistra, passed away. Inarguably, she was one of the most important North American broodmares of the 20th century.
Aforethought had an unremarkable racing career. As a two-year-old, he made six starts and won one race. At three and four, he won four races and hit the board thirteen times. His final race record was 24 starts, five wins, ten seconds, and five thirds, with $40,645 in earnings. He entered stud in 1969. While his pedigree made him an attractive stallion prospect, Aforethought did not receive much attention initially. He sired just six AQHA recognized foals, five of which were Thoroughbreds, during his first year at stud. The following year, one of the fifteen mares that he got in foal was Chronometer, a race-winning daughter of Tiny Charger who owned by Frank Vessels Jr. The resulting foal was Timeto Thinkrich.
In 1973, Timeto Thinkrich won the All American Futurity, Los Ninos Handicap and Fresno Futurity. He also set a new track record at Fresno for 400 yards in twenty seconds flat. He was the High Money Earning Horse and AQHA Racing Champion Two-Year-Old Colt that year. At three and four, Timeto Thinkrich won the Golden State Derby, Z Wayne Griffin Director’s Stakes and Chicado V Handicap. He was recognized as the 1974 AQHA Racing Champion Three-Year-Old Colt and 1975 AQHA Racing Champion Aged Stallion. In total, Timeto Thinkrich won fifteen races and earned $612,859 on the track.
At stud, Timeto Thinkrich sired 538 AQHA registered foals, 30 of which were stakes winners. His highest earner was Denim N Diamonds, winner the 1981 Champion of Champions. Denim N Diamonds was the 1981 AQHA Racing Champion Aged Horse and Aged Mare and the 1982 Champion Aged Mare. Other champions by Timeto Thinkrich included My Startime, the 1982 AQHA Racing Champion Three-Year-Old Gelding, and Zillions, the 1985 AQHA Racing Champion Aged Stallion. Some of his top earners in the United States were Artesia, The Fortune Hunter, Rich Lass, Timeto Getgone, Lets Do It To It, Brazen Britches, Fortunes Favorite, Follow the Fox, Timeto Get Tuff and Brace. Timeto Thinkrich was later purchased by Jose Nelson Fakri and exported to Brazil where he sired Associação Brasileira de Criadores de Cavalo Quarto de Milha (ABQM) stakes winner TV Time. A fun fact about Timeto Thinkrich is that he was the damsire of Docs Keepin Time, the horse that portrayed Black Beauty and the Black Stallion.
The year after Timeto Thinkrich won the All American Futurity, Aforethought went from just one Quarter Horse mare on his books to nearly two hundred. He was purchased by Ed Baker Jr. and moved from the Blue Ribbon Ranch in Hemet, California to the Baker Ranch in Weatherford, Texas. It was there that he sired Hot Idea, his second All American Futurity winner. Hot Idea was out of Coquette, a Quarter Horse daughter of Azure Te. After her victory over Town Policy and Call Me Gotta in the All American, she was named the 1977 AQHA Racing Champion Two-Year-Old Filly. She won a total of seven races and earned $374,617 on the track. Hot Idea went on to produce Racing Register of Merit earners Hot Dash, Streakin Idea, Easy Idea and Racy Raisen.
Other Quarter Horse stakes winners by Aforethought included I Think I Can, Shes a Thought, Bargello, Tai Wee, Forethought, Thought I Could, Sassy Class, Regal Thought, Snooty Cutie, Mighty Thought and Wild Thought. His Thoroughbred stakes winners were Foreign Intent, Nanczar and El Condor. Some of his offspring also excelled in the arena. Rebel Aforethought, a brown gelding by Aforethought and out of Rebelize, by Rebel Cause, placed ninth at the World Show Hunter Under Saddle with Melissa Wheeler. Vibrant Miss, Sonic Mind and Winning Thought earned Performance ROMs. Aforerunner, Good Thinking, Sun Glow Deck, Cruisin, All Charged For Sure and Naps Aforete earned performance points.
Altogether, Aforethought sired 830 registered Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse foals in twenty foal crops. They included 279 race winners, 228 ROM earners, 56 stakes finalists, sixteen stakes winners, fifteen Superior Race Award earners and two Champions. Collectively, they earned $3,596,737 on the track and 168.5 points in the arena. Not included in those statistics were his APHA offspring, of which Tabasco was a noteworthy sire.
Timeto Thinkrich was Aforethought’s most successful son at stud. His next most prolific son, Ithinkikahn, sired 111 AQHA registered foals. Altogether, his Quarter Horse sons sired more than 1,280 AQHA foals. After Timeto Thinkrich and Ithinkikahn, his sons Hudathoughtit, Aforemost, Royal Thoughts, Thought I Could, The Bounty Hunter and Suns Anvil were the biggest contributors to that number. His Thoroughbred sons El Potrero, El Condor and Time to Get Rich also sired more than 120 Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse foals.
Daughters of Aforethought produced 1,059 AQHA registered foals. His Quarter Horse grandget included 279 ROM earners, 228 race winners, seventeen stakes winners, twelve Superior Race Award earners, four Show All Around Winners, two Racing Champions and one World Champion. They earned $2,782,585 on the track and 1,143.5 points in the arena.
Bar the Thought, a bay mare by Aforethought and out of a Quarter Horse daughter of the Thoroughbred stallion Decimal, produced Bartendress, the 1983 AQHA Racing Champion Three-Year-Old Filly. Bar the Thought also produced Racing ROM-earners Bar This Gambler and Hold The Thought. Afore Te, a full-sister to Hot Idea, produced Special Effort Te, the 1989 Mexico Champion Three-Year-Old Colt. Afore Te also produced stakes winners Miss Afore Jet and Dash Te. Other stakes winners out of Aforethought mares included Batu Kahn, Jet Income, Ambers Bugs Alive, Easy Thought, Miss Raven Chick, Key Thoughts, Justan Old Flame, Leinsters Image, Moody Marlin, Explore On Demand, Bugged Thoughts, Behold Me Go and Oh Superman Go.
The best performer out of an Aforethought mare was Scoops Scat Cat, a brown gelding by Kitascoop. He was the 1993 World Champion Hunter Hack. Scoops Scat Cat won earned 534.0 points in the arena and Performance ROMS in the Open, Amateur and Youth divisions. Kipomatic, Midsummer Madness, Jets Thought, Fair Point, Key Thoughts, Bad Bad Bunny, Cash For Gain, Ima Bad Leroy Brown and Georges Sage also earned Performance ROMs. Daughters of Aforethought also produced several talented barrel horses. Rosalyns Moon Runner, a bay gelding out of an Aforethought mare, earned a Superior Barrel Racing award. One Silent One, another grandson of Aforethought, qualified for the Barrel Racing World Show. The best-known barrel horse out of an Aforethought mare was Thinkin of Cash, winner of the 1992 BFA Futurity World Championship with Kim Thomas.
Aforethought was euthanized on October 31st, 1990 at the Baker Ranch near Fort Worth, Texas. He was 27 years old and suffering from complications due to a knee injury he sustained several years earlier. His notable descendants include Winners Version, Moon the Judge and Jess An Idea.
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