By Alan Carasso
Mike Tarp's Go Maggie Go (Ghostzapper), a graded-stakes winner in just her second career trip to the post, will try to snap a mini two-race skid when she tries older fillies and mares for the first time in Thursday's GII Falls City H., the Thanksgiving Day feature at Churchill Downs.
Victorious in a sloppy-track renewal of the GII Gulfstream Park Oaks Apr. 2–defeating future Grade I winners Paola Queen (Flatter) and Off the Tracks (Curlin) in the process–the homebred was a troubled fourth in the GI Kentucky Oaks, but atoned for that effort with a comfortable success in the GII Black-Eyed Susan S. two weeks later. Facing more of the cream of this year's sophomore filly crop in her two most recent starts, Go Maggie Go was just plain not good enough in finishing fourth to TDN Rising Star Carina Mia (Malibu Moon) in the GI Acorn S. June 11 and sixth of seven in back of Rising Star Songbird (Medaglia d'Oro) in the GI Alabama S. Aug. 20.
“We freshened her up for this race,” trainer Dale Romans said. “She really needed a little freshener after we ran against [trainer] Jerry [Hollendorfer's] filly in the Alabama, so she's doing well now. We'll see what happens.”
The conditioner believes Go Maggie Go can rise to this challenge.
“She can run against older fillies,” Romans said. “It's that time of year for a lot of these 3-year-olds to step up and face older fillies and mares and I think she's one that can do it.”
To have her picture taken, Go Maggie Go clearly has Include Betty (Include) to beat. The 2015 Black-Eyed Susan runner-up, the chestnut rallied from well off a wicked pace to win the GI Mother Goose S. by a widening 3 1/4 lengths. Narrowly best as a long odds-on favorite in the 2015 Remington Park Oaks, she is winless in four starts since and adds blinkers off a close second-place finish behind subsequent Treasure Chest S. winner Savings Account (Medaglia d'Oro) in a muddy allowance over the Parx main track Nov. 19.
Crooked Stick (Blame) has the look of an interesting exotics candidate. The homebred won her maiden by better than eight lengths over a sloppy Churchill strip last November and posted a six-length allowance success over a rain-affected track Sept. 30. The bay outran her 24-1 odds to be a solid fourth in the grassy GIII Valley View S. at Keeneland Oct. 21, and although she has a bit to find with the very best in here, it isn't out of the realm of possibility and her chances could be upgraded if there is moisture in the track.
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