Page 62 - April 2017

THE SIRE LINE INFLUENCE
Go Man Go was a 1953 son of Top Deck is out of Lightfoot Sis, a Louisiana bred mare by Very Wise TB. Lightfoot Sis is a half-sister to Skippy F, the dam of Stardeck F. They are both out of Clear Track. Go Man Go was bred by J. B. Ferguson and he raced from 1955 to 1959, winning 27 of his 47 starts including 17 stakes wins. He earned nine titles, including three World Championships.
Go Man Go became a million dollar sire with his foals earning $7,567,879 from 775 starters with 552 racing ROM earners and 83 stakes winners. He sired seven Champions that earned 13 championship titles including two World Champions Goetta and Go Josie Go. His leading money earner is Vim And Vigor ($310,204).
Go Man Go sired several million dollar sires, including Windy Ryon, Kitaman, Duplicate Copy, Go Flight, Some Kinda Man, Mr Meyers, Sold Short and Go With The Wind. Windy Ryon and his son Ronas Ryon are in the top 100 million dollar sires list.
Rebel Cause is a 1959 son of Top Deck and the mare Bankette by Worryman. He is the 1961 Champion Three-Year-Old Colt and the 1962 Champion Aged Stallion.
He is a million dollar sire with earnings of $2,908,926 from 549 starters with 361 ROM and 32 stakes winners. His foals include
Turf ’s Best, the 1967 Champion Two-Year- Old Colt and the 1968 Champion Three- Year-Old Colt. Rebel Cause is also the sire of million dollar sire Johnny Boone.
The interesting part of studying a sire line or that line of descent that flows from a foundation sire through his sons, grandsons, great-grandsons and so on down the line comes through one or two major branches. These branches seem to live on with the most influence to keep the sire line going. The Top Deck sire line, through his son Moon Deck, is the dominant branch of the Top Deck sire line today.
We saw that J. B. Ferguson had gone to Louisiana to get several Cajun-bred running mares that he would cross to Top Deck. One of them was Moonlight Night, a mare by Peace Pipe TB and out of Mae by The Dun Horse. Moonlight Night was reportedly a successful race mare, but no race record is available. She is the dam of four foals with three ROM. Moon Deck is her only foal by Top Deck.
Moon Deck made 62 starts with 11 wins, 11 seconds and 6 third place finishes. He earned $22,086 and was a 2-time stakes winner in the Los Alamitos Invitational Championship and New Mexico State Fair Derby.
Moon Deck became a million dollar sire when purchased by James V. A. Carter. His
owned and bred Miss Princess, the World Champion in 1946, 1947 and 1948. Kleberg gave Top Deck to Lane, and he started breeding the well-bred Top Deck.
The first Top Deck foal registered with the AQHA was Stardeck F. This mare, who was bred by J. B. Ferguson of Wharton, Texas, is out of Skippy F by Benish Way. Some earlier pedigrees show that Skippy F was sired by Spanish Way. Stardeck F became the first stakes winner for Top Deck, winning four stakes including the Del Rio Futurity
in 1950 and the Del Rio Derby in 1951. Ferguson later bought Top Deck and put
this great stallion on the road to success as a Quarter Horse sire.
The early years of Top Deck as a sire
in Texas were considered a failure, as he couldn’t attract mares to his book despite
his foals showing success on the track.
From 1948 to 1960, he sired only 140 foals with 28 of them becoming stake runners with 10 stakes winners in this group. Top Deck’s son Go Man Go earned three World Championships and another of his sons, Moon Deck won two stakes races including the Los Alamitos Invitational Championship. Top Deck’s son Ridge Butler won four
stakes including the Pacific Coast QHRA Derby and a Championship title. His son, Rebel Cause would win five stakes and two Championship titles.
Then, A. B. Green of Purcell, Oklahoma, stepped in and leased Top Deck in 1960
and the tide changed for Top Deck as a sire. Green purchased half interest in Top Deck in 1962. Top Deck then sired noted horses like All American Futurity winner Decketta; Miss Top Flame, winner of 11 stakes races; Mighty Deck, winner of four stakes races; Barbara 3 winner of the Rainbow Derby-G1; and Top Ladybug, Champion and seven time stakes winner. Top Deck died in 1965 at the age of 20 as a million dollar sire of $1,681,877.
Bred by J. B. Ferguson, Go Man Go was foaled in 1953. Go Man Go (shown above) was the
1955, 1956 & 1957 World Champion
Go Man Go was the sire of 7 Champions, including Goetta (below) & Go Josie Go (bottom).
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Top Deck in 1962.
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60 SPEEDHORSE, April 2017
SPEEDLINES