Go Maggie Go will point to Acorn

BALTIMORE - Go Maggie Go, winner of Friday’s Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes at Pimlico, will be pointed to the Grade 1, $700,000 Acorn on June 11 at Belmont Park, trainer Dale Romans said Sunday.

In that one-turn mile race, Go Maggie Go is expected to face Cathryn Sophia, who handed Go Maggie Go her only defeat in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks on May 6.

Asked why he would run Go Maggie Go for a third time in five weeks, Romans said, “because she can. She’s a throwback, a durable old mare. If she’s doing good, why not? Because the numbers say I need more time?”

Go Maggie Go is 3 for 4. She also won the Gulfstream Park Oaks in April. In the Kentucky Oaks, Go Maggie Go broke slowly and was seventh early before having to rally extremely wide in the stretch. She was beaten three lengths by Cathryn Sophia but only a head and a neck for second.

“The most impressed I’ve been with her was her loss,” Romans said. “She did something she never did before, sit behind horses and still ran very well. That was as big as any of her three wins.”

Go Maggie Go, a daughter of Ghostzapper, earned an 86 Beyer Speed Figure for her performance in the Black-Eyed Susan.

Go Maggie Go is scheduled to ship back to Kentucky on Monday with her stablemate Cherry Wine, the Preakness runner-up who will target the Belmont Stakes. Those two, along with fellow Belmont Stakes candidate Brody’s Cause, will ship to Belmont in time to get a workout over the main track about a week out from their races, Romans said.

Romans didn’t discount running Ma Can Do It, runner-up in the Black-Eyed Susan, in the Acorn despite her still being a maiden.

“More likely a maiden race but she seems to get beat in those,” Romans quipped.