Native Dancer
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Native Dancer (March 27, 1950-November 16, 1967), nicknamed the Gray Ghost, was one of the most celebrated and accomplished thoroughbred racehorses in history, the first horse made famous through the medium of television.
Born at Scott Farm near Lexington, Kentucky, the gray colt was raised and trained at owner Alfred G. Vanderbilt Jr.'s Sagamore Farm in Glyndon, Maryland. A son of 1945 Preakness Stakes winner Polynesian by the mare Geisha, in his first season of racing Native Dancer won all nine races he entered, thrilling crowds with his come-from-behind running style. He was voted Champion 2-year-old for 1952 with two of the three major polls naming him Horse of the Year.
In his three-year-old campaign, the undefeated racehorse received a great deal of media attention leading up to the 1953 Kentucky Derby. He won both the Gotham Mile and the prestigious Wood Memorial on route to racings most prestigious event but at the Derby, Native Dancer lost for the first time. Although jockey Eric Guerin was roundly criticised in the press, the horse had in fact been fouled twice during the race but recovered to barely lose to Dark Star.
Following his loss at Churchill Downs, Native Dancer quickly reestablished himself as one of the best horses in America. He won the Preakness Stakes, the Belmont Stakes and the Travers Stakes a feat accomplished until then only by Duke of Magenta, Man O' War, and Whirlaway, and by only two other horses since. Native Dancer never lost again that season and was named Champion Three Year Old Colt.
In 1954, Native Dancer won all three races he entered and was scheduled to be shipped to France to compete in the prestigious Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. However, he had to be retired as a result of a recurring foot injury with a record of 21 wins out of 22 lifetime races. Voted Horse of the Year for 1954, he appeared on the cover of Time Magazine.
At stud, Native Dancer was a highly successful sire, and is an ancestor of countless modern champions. His tail-male descendants, particularly through his grandson Mr. Prospector, have come to dominate many Triple Crown races. One of his daughters, a mare named Natalma produced the great Northern Dancer.
Native Dancer was inducted in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1963 and on November 16, 1967 he passed away and was buried at Sagamore Farm in Glyndon, Maryland.
In the Blood-Horse magazine ranking of the top 100 U.S. thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century, Native Dancer was ranked #7.
Marking fifty years since his attempt at the Triple Crown, in 2003 a book by John Eisenberg was published under the title Native Dancer, the Grey Ghost: Hero of a Golden Age
External links
- Biographical article (http://www.courier-journal.com/cjsports/news2003/04/29/sp042903s402324.htm)
- Native Dancer's pedigree (http://www.pedigreequery.com/index.php?query_type=horse&search_bar=horse&h=NATIVE+DANCER)