Page 26 - November 2017

It appears that Morien planned to sell the non-runners in this group, and that is where Ferguson comes into the picture. Ferguson recalled how it came about in the book, Go Man Go, The Legendary Speedhorse by Walt Wiggins, who was the founder of the magazine Quarter Racing World, now Speedhorse Magazine. The title of the chapter was “The Roan Rogue.”
Ferguson told the following to Wiggins. “It begins many years ago while I was running matched races at Claude Morien’s place down in Ville Platte, Louisiana. Claude has this little sorrel mare... half crippled, she could hardly walk... I guess she was foundered or something... that I just couldn’t keep my eyes off of. I asked Claude what he wanted for her, and he said $300! I bought her on the spot.”
Ferguson continued about how they
tried to race the mare. “Paul Simar was my trainer at the time. We took the little mare home, her name was Lightfoot Sis, where
we slowly got her back in running shape.
It didn’t do much good, however, for not long after this while at the Skidmore, Texas, racetrack, Lightfoot Sis broke from Paul and ran around one end of our barn. As she did, she ran a sliver of wood into her shoulder, crippling herself to where we were never able to race her again. I was sure disappointed, for she was a real runner. One of the fastest.”
Lightfoot Sis started her life as a broodmare by being bred to Captains Courageous, producing a foal named Bo Cue Blanc. This horse earned his ROM with a AA rating. Ferguson reported that this horse won 23 of 24 match races, with one tie.
Tee Beau, a 1951 gelding, was her second foal. He was by Babe Ruth, a son of Flying Bob. Tee Beau was AAA/ROM and a stakes winner of four races, including the 1956 New Mexico State Fair Championship. This gelding had a race record of 93-14(4)-10-16 with $22,584 in earnings.
Lightfoot Sis was bred to Top Deck
and foaled Miss Mackay in 1952. The first of three foals by Top Deck, Miss Mackay went on to be a AAA/ROM runner and winner of the 1954 Ruidoso Futurity. The next two foals were Go Man Go in 1953 and Mr Mackay in 1954. Mr Mackay was orphaned when Lightfoot Sis was injured in a pasture accident. The colt and mare were running in a pasture and she hit a stick that punctured her in the stomach. Mr Mackay went on to be a AAA/ROM runner that was stakes placed, with a second in the Pacific Coast QHRA Derby and a third in the New Mexico State Fair Breeders’ Derby. He had 49 starts with seven wins, six seconds and eleven thirds with earnings of $13,849.
GO MAN GO THE RACEHORSE
The chapter “The Roan Rogue” in the book, Go Man Go, The Legendary Speedhorse by Walt Wiggins, tells that Go Man Go wasn’t in tune with the idea of becoming a racehorse. Eldridge Strauss was the trainer for Ferguson and he commented, “Go Man Go was pretty rank. Jes’ plain mean as a bear at times.” The colt was known to chase Strauss out of the stall, but through patience and hard work, Go Man Go became a racehorse, and a very good one even though his reputation as a “rogue” or a character on the track would sometimes get him into trouble in a race.
Go Man Go made 10 starts at the age of two, winning nine including three stakes in the Juvenile Championship at Los Alamitos, the Pacific Coast Futurity at Pomona,
and the Winner Take All at Albuquerque. His only defeat came with a second-place finish in the Ruidoso Futurity. Go Man Go was named the 1955 World Champion, Champion Stallion and Champion 2-Year- Old Colt. He had earnings of $16,121.
The 1956 racing season saw Go Man
Go win 10 of 13 starts. His stakes wins
came in the Barbra B Handicap at Ruidoso, Ruidoso QH Championship, Ruidoso Derby, Wonderland Stakes at Ruidoso,
State Fair Stallion Stakes at Albuquerque, Clabbertown G at Los Alamitos, Gold Bar at Los Alamitos, and Autumn Championship
at Los Alamitos. He crossed the finish line first in the Los Alamitos Championship, but was disqualified for interference and placed last. Go Man Go was named the 1956 World Champion, Champion Stallion and the Champion Three-Year-Old Colt. He earned $29,431 as a three year old.
Go Man Go came back at four to win
five races, finishing second three times. He
won the Wonderland Stakes at Ruidoso, the Championship Handicap at Albuquerque,
the Clabbertown G at Los Alamitos, and the Autumn Championship at Los Alamitos. He was second in the Quality Oil Co. Purse at Ruidoso and the Johnny Dial at Los Alamitos. Go Man Go was named the 1957 World Champion and Champion Stallion. He earned $26,822.
The 1958 race record for Go Man Go seems to show that he was in the process
of losing his dominance as a racehorse. He started 10 races with nine of them being stakes races, only winning the Clabbertown G at Los Alamitos. Go Man Go was second in the Shue Fly Stakes at Los Alamitos, the Los Alamitos Championship and the Peter McCue Stakes at Ruidoso. He finished third in the Miss Princess and Hard Twist Stakes at Los Alamitos. Go Man Go was awarded no year end titles and earned $10,616.
Go Man Go went back at it at the age
of six with six starts, winning two allowance races and finishing second in the Peter McCue Stakes and fourth in the Wonderland Stakes, both at Ruidoso. His last race came in an allowance on Sept. 6, 1959, when he finished fourth to Vandy’s Flash, Double Bid and Li Chilla in a field that included Tee Beau, his half-brother out of Lightfoot Sis. He didn’t earn any year end titles and earned $3,160.54.
Go Man Go had a phenomenal race record, retiring with 47 starts, earning 27 wins, 9 seconds and 3 third place finishes, including
17 stakes events from the age of two to six and lifetime earnings of $86,151. But Go Man Go didn’t just win races, he set and equaled several Track and World Records. At two, he equaled the 2-year-old colt record for 330 yards in :17.2, twice. He equaled the 2-year-old colt record for 440 yards in :22.3. His record at three includes equaling the 3-year-old colt record for 440 yards in :22.2. Go Man Go set a 400-yard New Track Record at Los Alamitos in :20.1, equaling the 400-yard World Record. He set a New Track Record at Ruidoso for 440 yards in :22.5, and also set a New Track and World Record at Ruidoso for 440 yards in :21.8 in 1957. Go Man Go equaled a Track Record and World Record at Los Alamitos for 350 yards in :17.9, running this time twice at Los Alamitos in 1957.
24 SPEEDHORSE, November 2017
The Strawberry Roan
SPEEDLINES