Go Man Go - Breeding Career and Legacy

Breeding Career and Legacy

Retired to the breeding shed, Go Man Go early on proved his worth as a stallion. Of his first foal crop, born in 1958, three reached the finals of the All American Futurity: Mr Meyers, Dynago Miss and Angie Miss. His stud fee in 1960 was $500 (approximately $3,928 as of 2013), but by 1963 it had risen to $2,500 (approximately $18,978 as of 2013). He sired 942 foals, of which 552 earned their Race Register of Merit. Seventy-two of his offspring were awarded a Superior Race Horse award. Among his get, or offspring, were Go Josie Go, Dynago Miss, Duplicate Copy, Story Man, and Hustling Man. His daughter Goetta won the All American Futurity and was inducted into the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame. Another daughter, Ought To Go was also inducted into the AQHA Hall of Fame. Two grandget were also inducted into the AQHA Hall of Fame: Kaweah Bar and Rocket Wrangler. Eight of his offspring won Champion Quarter Running Horse awards. His entry listing his offspring who won Race Register of Merits in the Quarter Racing Digest covers five full pages plus part of another. As a broodmare sire, or maternal grandsire, his daughters have produced Rocket Wrangler, Mr Kid Charge, Kaweah Bar, and Go Together. As of April 2008, his offspring had earned over $7,000,000 on the racetrack.

As a breeding stallion, Go Man Go continued to have a reputation as a scoundrel, although Kathlyn Green, wife of A. B. Green, disputed that image. She said that he liked to have his lip tugged, and would lean over the stall door waiting for people to come along and tug on it for him. However, she said of him "he absolutely hated getting his feet dirty". Go Man Go passed through a number of hands after Green owned him, including Les Gosselin, Frank Vessels, and Harriett Peckham, who was his owner by 1972. He died in 1983 and was buried near the headquarters of the Buena Suerte Ranch in Roswell, New Mexico. His crown-shaped granite headstone is engraved: "Go Man Go, The King."

Go Man Go was inducted into the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in 1990. A further honor was the naming of a stakes race after him, the Grade I Go Man Go Handicap run in September at Los Alamitos. Walt Wiggins, a racing commentator and author, said of Go Man Go: "He was a brilliant speedhorse, some say the fastest ever. He was wild and reckless, a rogue at first, and often a clown who seldom saw the uniqueness of his talents or the seriousness of his commission. He had intrinsic greatness and couldn't care less." Dan Essary, who was Director of Racing for the AQHA for many years, described Go Man Go's impact on the Quarter Horse breed as "He was to Quarter Horse racing what Babe Ruth was to baseball, what Ben Hogan was to Golf and what Man o'War was to Thoroughbred racing. Horses may have run faster and horses have earned more money, but the fame of Go Man Go lingers."