Page 206 - September 2019

Miss Array, the dam of Go Dick Go, running at Ponce de Leon Raceway in Bayard, Florida.
of verbiage from Raymon Tucker, and rightly so, for Go Dick Go brought the 1966 All American banner to Haw Creek Ranch.
“Go Dick Go’s dam was Miss Array, who was a race horse in her own right,” said Tucker. “In her first 11 starts at Ruidoso and Raton
in New Mexico, she ran first seven times, second twice and showed once. We claimed her at Ruidoso and brought her to Florida where, after some severe setbacks, she won three in a row at Ponce de Leon track south of Jacksonville, now known as Gator Downs.”
Of 14 sanctioned racing starts, Go Dick Go won 11, placed twice and showed once. Tucker paid the $13,000 penalty to put Go Dick Go
in the All American Futurity and when the speedster won he shared the $198,600 winner’s pot on a 50-50 basis with Joe Leitner of Brandon, Florida, the trainer Clarence Jay, and the jockey Buddy Nesmith. Go Dick Go was voted World Champion 2-Year-Old Stallion of 1966.
Today, Tucker’s breeding program is going forward by using such first-rate studs as Go Dick Go, Skipdeck (an old horse who sired the World Champion Gelding Cee Bar Deck), and Go Dick Go’s half-brother, Stingaree Dick II.
“Many of the old timers in the West remember Little Dick Priest and his conquests out there but most of the younger Westerners never heard of him,” said Tucker. “My good friend, Elmer Helper of Carlsbad, New Mexico, stated that after Go Dick Go won the All American, someone asked, ‘Who
is Little Dick Priest?’ Some learned gentleman answered, ‘He is some old renegade from off down there in Florida.’”
Pari-mutuel Quarter Horse racing in Florida has not come easy. Of course, the man behind the effort was the irrepressible Raymon Tucker. He is a one-man-gang in the lobbying world, again, a volunteer, but effective because he believes in his cause.
He helped convince legislators of the advantage of permitting Quarter Horse racing in Florida. The bills passed, and Tucker says
it’s good for every county in the State (since they all share State race horse monies). In 1972 Florida had 60 days of pari-mutuel Quarter Horse racing at Pompano Park (Pompano Beach) and Gator Downs (Jacksonville). Tucker is still working on Seminole Park. The ‘take’
for Floridians will be figured from a ‘handle’
of about $7 million for the 60 days. The 1973 projection is for 100 to 120 days of racing.
“We have had a lot of tough going here
in Florida,” said Tucker, “because of the competition from other interests who are already established; and partly because there has to be a limit to the ability of cowboys when they are not on the ranch. We have walked out every blind trail, made every mistake, but our one redeeming feature is that we don’t know when to quit.”
In those days racing records were skimpy and not all of his campaigning was recorded, but many of the older horsemen still recall the flying hoofs of Little Dick in action.
In time, Little Dick Priest was purchased by Joe Priest of Tallahassee.
According to records in the Performance Department of the AQHA, Little Dick Priest is rated AAA with an ROM in racing. He started a dozen times, won five races, was second once and twice came in to show. He is credited with earning $1,337.93.
Among Little Dick Priest’s most impressive wins was the one for the Del Rio, Texas, Sweepstakes, April 28, 1949, when he beat Stella Moore, Streak W., Jim Bob, Blondy L. and Lucky Sloan, going 350 yards in :18.6.
Little Dick Priest was retired from the track in 1948 when Joe Priest found it difficult to match him in a race. He was sent to New Mexico where he stood for the next five years, although only a few of the get he produced in this period were registered.
Raymon Tucker, looking for a stallion following the death of Kip, leased Little Dick Priest in 1955 and returned him to Florida. He later purchased the animal and moved him to his Haw Creek Ranch.
“You could breed Little Dick to anything and the offspring would be hard to outrun,” said Tucker. He produced a dozen or more AAA and TAAA colts and a host of others that were hard to outrun, especially at short distances. In 1963, Little Dick Priest was ranked 21st in the nation in total track winners, but on a percentage basis he was highest in the country for a straight bred Quarter Horse.
According to Tucker, Little Dick did not get the quality mares that many of the other top horses serviced, but his get literally paved
the way for organized Quarter Horses racing in Florida. His offspring won six Florida futurities in a row although many good competitors were brought in to try to outrun the Dick Priest colts.
Among some of the get of Little Dick Priest have been Captain Dick, out of Kay Twist by Hard Twist; Doll Up, out of Carry B. by Misty B. by Balmy L.; Mr. Sambo, Misty Priest, Miss Charro, Carry Me, Susie Priest, Misty Kip and Johnny Priest.
Doll Up, a 1953 foal, won 11 firsts, nine seconds and four thirds in 42 outings to earn $9,790.15.
Mr. Sambo, a 1959 foal, won the Florida Championship in 1962 at Gulfstream Park. He later campaigned in the West and earned a AAA ROM rating.
Misty Priest, bred by Geech Partin, and
out of Balmy Josie, took the Florida Quarter Horse Futurity in 1962 at Tropical Park, and established a career record of 11 wins, seven seconds and 11 thirds, including the crown of the Sunland Park Quarter Horse Championship run in 1964.
Susie Priest, another Dick Priest offspring, won the Florida Quarter Horse Futurity trials in 1963, and in the same year took the Illinois State Quarter Horse Futurity. She also won the Abe Lincoln Downs Derby in 1964.
Misty Kip, foaled in 1962, was out of Lady Priest. The racing record of Misty Kip consists of eight starts in which he was in the money six times, having won twice, second three times and third once. His first win was the 1964 Florida Quarter Horse Futurity, and later that year
ran second in the Southeastern Quarter Horse Association Futurity at Seminole Park Raceway.
But when anyone talks about the champions produced by Little Dick Priest, the mention of the name Go Dick Go will bring a healthy gust
Miss Array in Bayard, Florida
204 SPEEDHORSE, September 2019
LOOKING BACK - AN EXCERPT FROM JANUARY 1971 ISSUE