Less than two weeks ago, trainer Dale Romans was involved in a car accident not far from Churchill Downs so serious that one of the injured passengers remains hospitalized. In Friday afternoon's GII Black-Eyed Susan S. at Pimlico Race Course, Mike Tarp's homebred Go Maggie Go (Ghostzapper) provided the conditioner with just what the doctor ordered, a pace-pressing defeat of stable companion Ma Can Do It (Majesticperfection) just 14 days after a troubled fourth-place effort in the GI Kentucky Oaks.
“I feel no pain right now, so everything is good,” Romans commented. “I know she's the best I've ever had. She's doing things horses aren't supposed to do. It's only four starts in and she's won two Grade IIs and fourth in the Kentucky Oaks. What more can you ask for?”
The disappointment of the race was Oaks runner-up Land Over Sea (Bellamy Road), who could do no better than sixth.
Saturday, Pimlico Race Course
BLACK-EYED SUSAN S.-GII, $250,000, PIM, 5-20, 3yo, f, 1 1/8m, 1:51.81, ft.
1–GO MAGGIE GO, 122, f, 3, by Ghostzapper
1st Dam: Magibel, by Tale of the Cat
2nd Dam: Marquetry Road, by Marquetry
3rd Dam: Road to Heaven, by Kennedy Road
O/B-Mike Tarp (KY); T-Dale L. Romans; J-Luis Saez. $150,000.
Lifetime Record: 4-3-0-0, $371,400. *1/2 to Wallyana
(Langfuhr), GSW, $231,214. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for
the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.[bullet ad=”kbif-g2g3″][bullet ad=”beaulane-double-go-maggie-go”]2–Ma Can Do It, 116, f, 3, Majesticperfection–Two Fer Place, by
Out of Place. ($105,000 Ylg '14 KEESEP). O-Kyle W. Nagel;
B-Hargus Sexton, Sandra Sexton & Silver Fern Farm, LLC (KY);
T-Dale L. Romans. $50,000.[bullet ad=”warrendale-sales-graduate-shell”]3–Kinsley Kisses, 116, f, 3, Congrats–Winter Forest, by Forestry.
($200,000 Ylg '14 KEESEP). O-Cheyenne Stables LLC;
B-Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC (KY); T-Todd A.
Pletcher. $25,000.[bullet ad=”mulhollandsprings-dambredsold”][bullet ad=”elmtree-salesgrad”][bullet ad=”stonestreet-bredraised”][bullet ad=”bradshaw-randy-shell”]Margins: 2HF, HD, NK. Odds: 1.80, 50.70, 5.00.
Also Ran: Dothraki Queen, Mom's On Strike, Land Over Sea, She's a Warrior, Downdraft, Flora Dora, Midnight On Oconee, A P Majetstic, Double Entendre. Scratched: Cced, In the Navy Now.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
Sent off at a generous 7-1 for her six-furlong debut over the Gulfstream main track Mar. 13, Go Maggie Go overcame some bumping at the break and cleared off to score by four solid lengths over Conquest Serenade (Unbridled's Song), who not only won a Keeneland maiden in her next start, but also added a Churchill allowance May 6. Tested immediately for class in the GII Gulfstream Park Oaks, Go Maggie Go was the 4-1 second choice to then-undefeated Off the Tracks (Curlin), but was given a perfectly judged ride by Luis Saez to best Paola Queen (Flatter) by 2 1/4 lengths, with 4-5 Off the Tracks third. Set an even stiffer task in the GI Kentucky Oaks a fortnight back, Go Maggie Go was off in a tangle and was forced to settle further back than connections had hoped. She swung widest for the drive and ran on well to be fourth, about a neck behind Land Over Sea in second, and those two would dominate the Black-Eyed Susan wagering.
It was not the cleanest of dispatches at Old Hilltop for Go Maggie Go, who bobbled as the gates flew, but she recovered quickly to hold a position at the inside as John Velazquez hit the gas early on the stretching-out Kinsley Kisses and the opening quarter was up in a moderate :23.49. Never appearing uncomfortable while pinned down inside, Go Maggie Go countered every move of Kinsley Kisses in the middle furlongs, and the pace was decidedly in favor of those nearer the front, as the six-furlong split of 1:13.49 was always going to make life difficult on the swoopers. The Pletcher trainee was clinging on for dear life as heads were turned for home, but Go Maggie Go put that one away for good a furlong and a half from home and though she got to wandering a bit late, was never in any sort of danger. Ma Can Do It enjoyed the run of the race and stayed on to complete a $202 Romans exacta, while Dothraki Queen (Pure Prize) got home well for fourth.
“She should have been closer to the pace in the Oaks,” Romans submitted. “She crossed her legs and when they were straightening her up they sprung the latch and she just got left behind. That's what showed me the quality filly that she is, because she had been close to the lead in her two previous starts and she got all the dirt and still came running. When she left there clean today, I didn't think they were going to beat her.”
Trainer Doug O'Neill was not unduly dismayed by the performance of Land Over Sea and can take solace in the fact that he has a little something to look forward to Saturday.
“Just a rough trip. She didn't break real good,” he commented. “They kind of went slow early and she was a victim of a rough trip. Thank God she came back good and Mario [Gutierrez] came back good. We'll live to fight another day. We're just fired up about [the Preakness].”
Go Maggie Go is the final foal from her dam, who produced five winners from six to race, including the ill-fated GSW Wallyanna (Langfuhr). (Click for a feature on Mike Tarp by TDN Editor In Chief Jessica Martini)
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