Pass the Guinness Stout to a Future Eclipse winner

[Quiet Chris]

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/...57/1002/SPORTS

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- The 4-year-old filly Forever Together had a problem last year: She didn't sweat, and that's a horse's cooling system when it runs.

But that trouble is in the past, thanks to a daily happy hour of Guinness beer in Forever Together's afternoon mash.

"Thanks to Guinness Stout, she's now sweating," said owner George Strawbridge, adding jokingly, "Of course, that's assuming she gets her fair share. She loves the taste. And therefore she's eating her food. Before that, she wasn't eating."

While Sheppard expressed reservation about going to California for the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf because of the long ship and hot weather, he acknowledged that "when you have a filly this good, and have a championship race, you've got to give it a long, hard look."

Strawbridge said, "I think after that performance today we'd have to try it." He also plans to run her next year "as long as we don't run out of Guinness."