New Orleans turf writer Bob Fortus dies at 69

Bob Fortus, a longtime turf writer and editor for the New Orleans Times-Picayune, died Tuesday morning in Baton Rouge, La., as a result of complications from injuries he sustained when he was struck by a car March 29 near his home in New Orleans.

Fortus, who contributed to Daily Racing Form after the Times-Picayune laid him off in 2012, was 69.

Fortus grew up in Saint Louis and began going to harness races while he was a student at the University of Michigan, where he got an undergraduate degree in mathematics and a master’s and doctorate in statistics. Fortus found college-teaching work after completing his education and was on the Tulane University faculty in New Orleans in the early 1980s when he decided academia wasn’t his calling, quit his job, and went to work for the Times-Picayune, hoping to cover horse racing.

Fortus got his wish, becoming the paper’s longtime racing correspondent and columnist. He was a fixture at the Triple Crown and the Breeders’ Cup in addition to covering the Fair Grounds meet in New Orleans each season. Fortus was the newspaper’s handicapper, and most regular track patrons wouldn’t be found without a copy of the Fortus Forecast.

And for good reason. Fortus excelled at parsing past-performance data and was an excellent bettor as well as handicapper. He was a tireless reporter who, perhaps compensating for not having a background in journalism, was determined to uphold the profession’s highest standards. Fortus broke local stories and helped with investigative reporting, typically contacting many more sources than he could possibly use in order to establish a balanced point of view. Working the Times-Picayune desk, he was a meticulous and exacting editor who improved the copy of untold numbers of scribes passing through the sports department.

Fortus, a Division 1 athlete who ran track and cross country at Michigan, in 2013 won the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters Walter Haight Award for lifetime achievement. In 2011, he was elected to the Fair Grounds Press Box Hall of Fame. With his close friend, the racing writer and handicapper Gary West, he published “Ride to Win: An Inside Look at the Jockey’s Craft” in 2015.

Fortus had surgery in 2017 to remove a large benign tumor lodged at the base of his spine. His health and active lifestyle were compromised, and Fortus had to use a cane or walker. His lack of mobility surely contributed to the accident that wound up taking his life, which occurred a half-block from his house as Fortus was walking home after playing the races in the Fair Grounds trainers’ lounge.

Fortus had no close family besides a niece, but is survived by his longtime partner, Cherish Van Mullen. In keeping with his austere personality, he requested no funeral or memorial service be held.