| • Science | • People | • Locations | • Timeline |
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 the best horse in America. He won the Preakness Stakes, the Belmont Stakes and the Travers Stakes a feat accomplished until then only by Duke of Magentafor the French statesman and general,see Patrice MacMahon, duc de Magenta. Duke of Magenta was one of the most successful racehorses in the United States in the 19th century. Born in 1875 as one of the last sons of the legendary thoroughbred sire Lexingto, Man O' WarMan O' War born ( March 29, 1917 at Nursery Stud farm in Lexington, Kentucky, United States died November 1, 1947 at Faraway Farm in Lexington, Kentucky, is considered to be one of the greatest thoroughbred racehorses of all time. From the prominent sire, 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 FranceThe French Republic or France ( French: Republique francaise or France is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents. to compete in the prestigious Prix de l'Arc de TriompheThe Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe is a flat thoroughbred horse race of a 2400 metres (about 1 mile 4 furlongs) raced on turf for 3 year olds and up, Colts and Fillies. held each year on the first Sunday in October at the Hippodrome de Longchamp in the Bois de. 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. ProspectorProspector ( 1970- 1999) was a thoroughbred racehorse who won half of his 14 career starts, but whose descendants have come to dominate the United States Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing. An also-ran in the year the great Secretariat won the Triple Cro, have come to dominate many Triple CrownThe Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing Triple Crown for short, but the term is also used in other sports, and thus the full name should be used when it could cause confusion) consists of three races for three-year-old thoroughbred horses. Winning all thr 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 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