Page 149 - 12 April 2013

victories. She was the despair of other trainers and the darling of the two-dollar punters.
In a belated moment of hindsight, harried by protests from all over the nation, the AQHA Racing Committee finally rectified their 1965 faux-pas by declaring her World’s Champion Quarter Running Horse - among other titles they’d declined to bestow. In this much-delayed tabulation she got two other kudos, that of Champion Mare and Champion Running Three-Year-Old Filly. Doubtless all concerned were not 100% satisfied, but the sports writers who’d foretold this uproar were certainly vindi- cated. Regardless of the complexities of judging, the feuds and grumbling generated by any sys- tem yet tried, it’s still a heap better to continue the champ series than throw up one’s hands and let all this fanfare pour down the drain.
Our sorrel heroine’s sire, Go Man Go, was World Champion Running Horse three years in a row, as most railbirds recall. Her dam, Josie’s Bar (a granddaughter of Raffles TB), was the World’s Champ in 1954. Go Josie Go had a clear and unequivocal mandate to do every- thing she accomplished.
She opened at Bay Meadows in 1966, taking the January Pebble Beach feature from Duplicate Copy, Rapid Volley, Tiny Watch and others. Her second start that season was on February 12, when she finished third behind Duplicate Copy and Decketta: this was the Lincoln’s Birthday Feature. In the Barbara B
Stakes on April 23, she ran second to that great campaigner, Joe Sherry, Moore Go was third.
Then she nabbed a couple. Very impres- sively. Taliaferro had her in gear again. And the railbirds began shouting their heads off.
Back at Los Alamitos on the 30th of April
in an allowance, she came in half a length ahead of Moore Go and Duplicate Copy, with Fancy Charge, Kaweah Shue Fly and Nugita Texas
in the beaten field. On May 7 (the following weekend) she burst all holds to take her third con- secutive win in the Los Alamitos Quarter Horse Championship - one of the very infrequent purses of more than $30,000 for older horses. She got there first by at least a half a length over Joe Sherry and, farther back, hard-trying Moore Go. In the dust behind were Miss Gold Angel, Connie Reb and the fabulous Deckettaa. What an ovation! Running time was :22.1 for the quarter mile.
From May to August she was rested up - to almost August at any rate. We forgot, just above, to mention Go Josie Go’s narrow victory in the Chicado V Stakes where she scored over Moore Go and Duplicate Copy, 400-yards in :20.2.
On September 7th she was up in the moun- tains at La Mesa Park, enter in the All Distance Championship Series #7 where she practically ran away and hid from the others, taking this 300-yarder in :15.38 by a very large length and three-quarters over a hard-driving Pistol Bar.
Yes, indeed. She was hotter than the prover- bial firecracker.
Nevertheless, change of altitude took off
her fine edge. Back at L.A. she ran third in
the Express Allowance behind Joe Sherry
and Duplicate Copy. Her next outing found her fourth in the Pomona Quarter Horse Championship; and fourth again in the Clabbertown G and the Josie’s Bar (which she had won the year before). Some of her competi- tion began to take heart and some of the betters moved a little away from her. They were a little premature. The West Coast highlight was still coming up and Go Josie Go was determined to make this her fourth in a row.
The L.A. Autumn Quarter Horse Championship was set to go off the pad on December 24th, and Go Josie Go was entered. The purse was $30,000 and, though she did not get first call, she was in command at the top of the stretch and went under the wire with a half length margin to pick up $16,500, with Tiny Watch second, Duplicate Copy third and, back of these, The Ole Man, hard knocking Cee Bar Deck, Miss Gold Angel, Bar None Doll, Bunny Capri and Joe Sherry - a real batch of giants! Time for the quarter was :22.1, and she wound up the season with another 47 rac- ing points, making the list of Top Ten.
As Jim Goodhue said: “After three seasons on the tracks, Go Josie Go owns one of the most impressive records in Quarter Racing.” From 38 outings she took 19, had 9 close seconds and was five times third - 33 times with a paycheck!
cLaSSIc momentS uPdate Go Josie Go
by Larry Thornton
Nelson Nye tells us in his Classic Moments biography of Go Josie Go that she was a great mare who had it all - a great race record and five AQHA racing championship titles, includ- ing the 1965 World Championship. She had pedigree: her sire was 3-time World Champion and leading sire Go Man Go; her dam was an equally great racing mare with her own World Championship and two more Championship titles in her campaign of 1954. But the irony of owning a great racing mare is that sometimes they don’t reproduce themselves, and this is the case with Go Josie Go.
Go Josie Go retired to the broodmare band and produced six foals. From these six foals she had five starters with two earning ROM and one stakes winner. Her leading performer was the stallion Twin Profit by Twin Jet. He was the winner of seven of his 24 starts, and one of those wins was the Prescott Downs Derby.
The other ROM out of Go Josie Go was
Go Josie Go and her 1969 Double Bid filly Darling Bid, who became a multiple stakes producing mare
SPEEDHORSE, April 12, 2013 147
ClassiC moments
Speedhorse Files