Page 117 - June_2023

by Scott Wells
Following his spectacular two-year-old season, Go Man Go was given a well- deserved rest. It was about the only rest
he got in his career, between racing and stud duties. But a major change was afoot, as J.B. Ferguson recalled. “In the fall of ‘55 I got a call from A.B. Green.” Green was among the nation’s leading breeders and owner of the Green Pastures farm in Purcell, Oklahoma, which later became Briarwood Farm.
“Johnny, I want to buy Go Man Go,” Green blurted over the phone.
“I told him I wasn’t interested in selling him but if you knew A.B., you know that didn’t discourage him one bit. He said he’d meet me in Houston the following Wednesday to look at Go Man Go. Sure enough, he showed up with his trainer Wade Johnson and we went out and looked at Go Man Go. Then came the question I had been dreading.”
“How much do you want for him?”
“I had already thought of a way to make it impossible for him, so I said I’d have to have $42,000 in hundred dollar bills on the spot.
I never dreamed he would carry that kind of cash. He reached over and shook my hand and
counted out 420 hundred dollar bills and I had to take it. A deal is a deal, but I felt right then that I had made the biggest mistake of my life.”
One can only imagine the heartbreak the Strauss family experienced when given the news that they would be losing their Big Horse.
While a $42,000 price tag for a World Champion may seem ridiculous in today’s world of million-dollar-plus geldings, keep
in mind that in his championship season, winning nine of ten starts, Go Man Go had earned a total of $16,122. The $42,000 was
a new world record price for a Quarter Horse and Go Man Go’s return to the races was highly anticipated. The marketing department of Los Alamitos went all out in publicizing
the return of Go Man Go, posing him with a variety of Hollywood stars and starlets in advance of his three-year-old debut, the trial for the PCQHRA Derby.
While Go Man Go didn’t disappoint in his return, he was pressed to the maximum by future Champion Gelding Vannevar, beating that rival by a nose with the rest of the field almost 3-lengths farther behind. It was a demanding 440-yard race for a horse coming off a 6-month layoff. In the final a week later, it was Vannevar on top, with Go Man Go
finishing fifth by a head and three noses, marking his second career defeat.
Undeterred, trainer Wade Johnson brought Go Man Go back to the races seven days later, winning the Barbra B Handicap by daylight and equaling the World Record for 400-yards of :20.1. Then for his fourth start in four weeks he faced an all-star field in the Los Alamitos Invitational Championship.
Starting from the dreaded one hole, Go Man Go lugged throughout the race with jockey Tommy Chavez unable to let him run. He won by a head but was disqualified and placed last, missing what would have been the biggest payday of his career and disappointing the thousands of fans who had showed up to see him run.
So, it was on to Ruidoso where A.B. Green was smart enough to insist on reuniting Go Man Go with jockey Robert Strauss. Thrilled to be back aboard, Strauss validated the decision by winning a handicap in which Go Man Go spotted his rivals up to 18 pounds, then six
days later winning the Ruidoso Quarter Horse Championship over Bob’s Folly and Brigand and setting a New 440 yard Track Record of :22.3 (The Ruidoso Downs straightaway in those days was decidedly uphill). Next came the Ruidoso Derby, which he won by daylight. Then the Wonder Lad Stakes and another easy victory. Then it was on to Albuquerque for the State Fair Stallion Stakes where Go Man Go won again. In the Albuquerque New Mexico State Fair Championship, Go Man Go dwelt in the gate— refusing to leave until the field was well away. He finished sixth in the 7-horse field.
When the Go Man Go team returned to Los Alamitos to close out his three-year-old season it was no surprise they brought along jockey Robert Strauss. Right away they won the Clabbertown G Handicap at 350 yards
over Bob’s Folly and Vanetta Dee. They scored again in the Gold Bar Stakes and then closed out the season on December 15 with a win in the Los Alamitos Autumn Championship—the precursor to today’s Champion of Champions. So, in his first 23 starts over two seasons, Go Man Go had won 19 times. He finished 1956
Speedhorse Archives
Speedhorse Archives
Above, Green Pastures farm in Purcell, Oklahoma.
At left, A.B. Green, who purchased Go Man Go from J.B. Ferguson for $42,000.
Thrilled to be back aboard, Strauss validated the decision by winning a handicap in which Go Man Go spotted his rivals up to 18 pounds, then six days later winning the Ruidoso Quarter Horse Championship over Bob’s Folly and Brigand and setting a New 440 yard Track Record of :22.3.
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