Quint’s Brew gives Boyce another “to look forward to”
Now 3-for-4 with veteran rider up
The Biz
June 18, 2026
After more than 1,100 victories and roughly $41.7 million in purse earnings, Forest Boyce still walks into the barn looking for the same thing she learned from the late Hall of Fame trainer Richard “Dickie” Small.
“That’s the key: always having something to look forward to,” Boyce said after winning last Saturday’s Alapocas Run Stakes at Delaware Park aboard Quint’s Brew. “Dickie taught me that. He’s like, ‘It’s really hard to walk in the barn if you don’t have at least one to look forward to.'”
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These days Boyce has a couple to look forward to. There’s Barbadian Runner, whom she piloted to a banner 2025 in which the Barbados gelding made over $730,000. He’s expected to make his next start June 27 in the Deputed Testamony Stakes at Laurel.
And there’s Quint’s Brew, with whom she’s won three of four starts, including the Alapocas Run. The success is especially notable because it is built on understanding.
Quint’s Brew is a horse who does not respond well to traditional urging.
“He’s a horse that you need to be a little patient with,” trainer Ned Allard explained earlier this year. “He doesn’t like being spanked on his rear end with the whip. You can tap him on his neck, you can encourage him a little, but he’s one of the horses that is giving you everything he’s got.”
In fact, Allard noticed that when riders got after him too aggressively, the horse would lose focus.
“When you reach back and get him behind, he always ducks out a little bit; he changes his lead,” Allard said. “It throws him off.”
As it turned out, Boyce arrived at the same conclusion before she ever spoke to Allard about it.
“The first day I rode him, Ned wasn’t there, and I watched the replays of this horse,” Boyce recalled. “When they would hit this horse, he would move laterally; he wouldn’t go forward. I was like, ‘Gee, I don’t think this horse wants to be hit.'”
She had already decided she would try riding him without hitting him when the owners delivered a similar message.
“They said, ‘Ned thinks this horse doesn’t want to be hit,'” Boyce said with a laugh. “So he and I both can’t be wrong.”
The results have validated that instinct.
Boyce’s quiet, patient style has meshed perfectly with Quint’s Brew’s personality. Rather than trying to force the issue, she allows him to find his rhythm and finish on his own terms.
To Boyce, the horse’s consistency is as impressive as his talent.
“In my opinion, he hasn’t really run a bad race,” she said. “He always shows up and tries, and that’s all you can ask for.”
That reliability was evident again in the Alapocas Run. Quint’s Brew broke sharply, settled comfortably, and delivered when called upon.
“He broke well, like he always does,” Boyce said. “There was no point in trying to ask him to go early with a bunch of really quick ones.”
Allard is a believer in the partnership.
“I think Forest fits him to a T,” the trainer said after an earlier victory.
For Boyce, that’s part of the appeal. Thanks to Quint’s Brew and Barbadian Runner, Dickie Small’s advice remains as true as ever.
No matter how many races you’ve won, it’s easier to walk into the barn when there’s a good one waiting for you.
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