Northern Dancer

Northern Dancer (May 27, 1961 – November 16, 1990) was a Thoroughbred who, in 1964, became the first Canadian-bred horse to win the Kentucky Derby. He then became one of the most successful sires of the 20th century. He is considered a Canadian icon and was inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in 1965. Induction into the Racing Hall of Fame in both Canada and the United States followed in 1976. As a competitor, '' The Blood-Horse'' ranked him as one of the top 100 U.S. Thoroughbred racehorses of the 20th century. As a sire of sires, his impact on the breed is still felt worldwide.

At age two, Northern Dancer was named the Canadian Champion Two-Year-Old Colt after winning both the Summer Stakes and Coronation Futurity in Canada, plus the Remsen Stakes in New York. At three, he became a leading contender for the Kentucky Derby with wins in the Flamingo Stakes, Florida Derby, and Blue Grass Stakes. Northern Dancer followed up a record-setting victory in the Kentucky Derby by winning the Preakness Stakes. With a chance at the American Triple Crown, he finished third in the Belmont Stakes. Returning to Canada for a hero's welcome, he then won the Queen's Plate in what proved to be his last race.

Northern Dancer retired to stud in 1965 at Windfields Farm in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. He was an immediate success when his first crop reached racing age in 1968, and the success of his second crop, led by English Triple Crown winner Nijinsky, brought his name to the international stage. Northern Dancer was relocated to the Maryland branch of Windfields Farm, where he became the most sought sire of his time.

Background

Northern Dancer was a bay stallion with a crooked white blaze and three white socks. He was bred in Oshawa, Ontario, by Canadian business magnate Edward P. Taylor, owner of Windfields Farm. He was from the first crop of Nearctic and was the first foal out of the mare Natalma, whose sire was Native Dancer.

All Thoroughbreds in the Northern Hemisphere have an official birth date of January 1 but Northern Dancer was foaled late in the season, on May 27, 1961. Younger than most of his age cohort, he was only high when Windfields Farm offered all of its yearlings for sale at its annual auction. Thus, despite a strong pedigree and good conformation, Northern Dancer did not find a buyer at his Can$25,000 reserve price. As a result, Northern Dancer stayed in the Windfields Farm racing stable.

At maturity, Northern Dancer had powerful hindquarters along with excellent balance and agility. His stallion listings showed his height as , but most horsemen who had met him estimated his adult height as between and . Shortly before the Kentucky Derby at age three, he weighed . Like his sire Nearctic and grandsire Nearco before him, Northern Dancer had a dominant and sometimes unruly temperament. "He wasn't mean, but he would wheel and do some tricks," said Joe Thomas, who later managed the horse's stud career. Trainer Horatio Luro originally wanted to geld the colt, but Taylor refused.

Sportswriter Jim Murray of the ''Los Angeles Times'' wrote: "Northern Dancer is the kind of colt who, if you saw him in your living room, you'd send for a trap and put cheese in it. He's so little, a cat would chase him. But he's so plucky there's barely room in him for his heart. His legs are barely long enough to keep his tail off the ground. He probably takes a hundred more strides than anyone else, but he's harder to pass than a third martini."

Racing career

1963: Two-year-old season

On August 2, 1963, Northern Dancer made his debut at Fort Erie Race Track in a maiden race for Canadian foaled two-year-olds over a distance of furlongs. He was ridden by apprentice jockey Ron Turcotte, who was instructed not to use the whip but gave the colt a tap at the sixteenth pole anyway, whereupon Northern Dancer "exploded". He beat seven horses for a purse of $2,100. Turcotte later recalled, "We won that race by eight lengths. He was a bold horse. Brave. He could handle anything. The grass. The mud. Anything."

Wearing blinkers for the first time, Northern Dancer made his next start on August 17 in the Vandal Stakes. Paul Bohenko was his jockey since Turcotte was committed to another horse, Ramblin' Man. Northern Dancer entered into a speed duel at the start of the race, setting up the race for Ramblin' Man to come from behind and win. After the race, Turcotte is quoted as having told Luro, "the Dancer was definitely the best two year old in Canada, maybe in the world." He next entered the Summer Stakes on August 24, then at a distance of 1 mile on the turf at Fort Erie. The track condition was described as 'bog-like', and Northern Dancer is said to have almost fallen. Despite struggling with the ground, he led from the start and hung on for the win.

After a brief layoff, Northern Dancer was entered in the mile Cup and Saucer Stakes on September 28 over the Woodbine turf course, where he was assigned the top weight of 124 pounds. Ron Turcotte was back as his jockey and took him to an early lead, but Northern Dancer tired and fell second to long-shot Grand Garcon by three-quarters of a length. Turcotte believed the horse had still not recovered from the effort in the Summer Stakes and was favouring his left foreleg. "He kept wanting to bear left, and I couldn't get him on his right lead at all."Hunter, pg. 90

On October 7, he returned in the Bloordale Purse at 1 mile and 70 yards where he was again the top weight at 122 pounds. His main rival Northern Flight carried 117 pounds while other horses carried as little as 112 pounds. Northern Dancer broke well but allowed Northern Flight to take a commanding lead. At the halfway mark, Northern Dancer was third on the rail, 15 lengths back, but gradually closed the gap on the far turn. Down the stretch, the two battled for the lead before Northern Dancer pulled away to win by lengths, with the rest of the field some twenty-five plus lengths behind Northern Flight. Five days later, Northern Dancer faced a field of 14 rivals in the Coronation Futurity Stakes, the richest race for Canadian two-year-olds. He settled in fourth at the start, then took over the lead at the halfway point, drawing away to win by lengths. It was Turcotte's last ride on Northern Dancer, as Luro feared he could not maintain sufficient control of the headstrong colt. "God knows how good orthern Dancerreally was," recalled Turcotte, "for he was never a completely sound horse most of the time I rode him, and I still could not slow him down more than that."

On November 6, Northern Dancer followed up with a win in the seven-furlong Carleton Stakes at Greenwood on a muddy track. He won by lengths, but the ''Daily Racing Form'' called him an "unwilling winner", reflecting heavy pressure from new jockey Jimmy Fitzsimmons, who used the whip throughout the stretch drive. Northern Dancer came back to the barn bleeding from the beginning of a quarter crack. It was thought that the injury was a result of his heavy race schedule – seven races in three months. Nonetheless, the colt was shipped to Aqueduct Racetrack in New York to compete against American horses. On November 18, he was entered in the Sir Gaylord Purse. He was ridden by Manuel Ycaza, and won by eight lengths over Bupers, who had won the Belmont Futurity. However, the quarter crack became more pronounced, so he was fitted with a bar shoe on his left front hoof to stabilize the foot.

On November 27, Northern Dancer was the odds-on favourite in a field of six horses entered in the Remsen Stakes, despite carrying top weight of 124 pounds. Ycaza sent him to the lead early and he won by two lengths in wire-to-wire fashion. His time of 1:35 for one mile was a new stakes record. Ycaza later recalled him as an "ideal horse for any kind of situation. He would do anything you asked."

His record of seven wins from nine starts earned Northern Dancer the Canadian Juvenile Championship. He was rated at 126 pounds in the Canadian Free Handicap for two-year-olds, five pounds above Ramblin Road. In the American Experimental Free Handicap, he was rated at 123 pounds – three pounds below champion Raise a Native.

1964: Three-year-old season

After the Remsen, Luro gave Northern Dancer some time off to heal and had a vulcanized rubber patch applied to the quarter crack. Northern Dancer recovered quickly and reentered training in January. His first race at three was on February 10, 1964, in a six-furlong prep at Hialeah Park under a new jockey, Bobby Ussery, who was instructed to take it easy and not use the whip. Northern Dancer was bumped at the start and fell to the back of the pack. He recovered and steadily advanced up the rail, only to become trapped behind several horses. He was bumped again and eventually finished third behind Chieftain. Despite the instructions of Luro, Ussury had taken to his whip in the final strides of the race, which led the trainer to publicly criticize the rider. "I believe in being very patient with my horses," said Luro. "I don't want punishment – under no circumstances."

On February 24, Northern Dancer and Chieftain again faced each other in a public workout over seven furlongs at Hialeah. Northern Dancer broke slowly but soon took the lead and won by seven lengths in a time of 1:23. He continued to gallop out past the wire, completing one mile in 1:36 and nine furlongs in 1:50. For his next start in the Flamingo Stakes on March 3, Northern Dancer was ridden by Hall of Fame jockey Bill Shoemaker and went off as the even-money favourite in a field of eleven. He settled into second and moved to the lead in the stretch after some gentle urging by Shoemaker, winning by two lengths over Mr. Brick, with Quadrangle a further eight lengths back in third. His time of 1:47 was the second fastest in the history of the race, behind only Bold Ruler's time of 1:47 flat. Shoemaker was pleased with the performance. "My little horse got a little leg weary in the last sixteenth of a mile," he said, "but that was natural. He wasn't quite so seasoned as some of the other horses."

He then entered a seven-furlong allowance race at Gulfstream Park on March 28 as a prep for the Florida Derby. Shoemaker was unable to ride due to a previous commitment, so Ycaza got the ride. Northern Dancer won easily by four lengths, equaling the track record of 1:22. In the Florida Derby on April 4, Northern Dancer was the 3–10 favourite in a field of eight. With Shoemaker back up, Northern Dancer raced in mid-pack behind a slow pace, then started to make up ground on the rail. Shoemaker waited until the half mile pole then urged the colt on without using the whip. Norther Dancer quickly took the lead at the head of the stretch and then held off a challenge by The Scoundrel, eventually winning by a length. Shoemaker said later that the colt was improving. However, his time was a disappointing 1:50, the slowest Florida Derby since 1955. Joe Hirsch of the ''Daily Racing Form'' commented, "It did not appear that Shoemaker had a lot of horse left at the wire." Luro was satisfied with the performance though, feeling that the slow time of the race was the result of a fast workout a few days earlier in which Northern Dancer had fought restraint by the exercise rider.

Shortly after the race, Luro asked Shoemaker to commit to riding Northern Dancer in the Kentucky Derby. But Shoemaker instead chose Hill Rise, who had won the San Felipe Stakes and the Santa Anita Derby in California. Shoemaker had never ridden Hill Rise but campaigned hard to get the mount, believing the colt represented his best chance for a Derby win. Ycaza was also unable to commit to Northern Dancer as another trainer had first call on his services. Ultimately, Luro settled on Bill Hartack, who had ridden Luro's previous Kentucky Derby winner, Decidedly. "I'm not upset about it at all," said Luro. "I guess Shoemaker must not have been impressed with my horse's race Saturday, but I believe it was far from his best effort."

With his new jockey, Northern Dancer was made the 1–5 favourite in a field of five in the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland on April 23. With Northern Dancer so heavily backed, only win betting was allowed. Northern Dancer rated in second behind a slow early pace until the head of the stretch when he coasted to the lead. Another horse, Allen Adair, made a run down the stretch so Hartack released his grip and Northern Dancer crossed the finish line in front by half a length. He completed the nine furlongs in a time of 1:49 and galloped out the Derby distance of ten furlongs in 2:03. Hartack was satisfied with the colt's abilities. "He is a small horse," said Hartack, "but he has lots of brawn and lots of guts."

Bidding for the Triple Crown

For the 1964 Kentucky Derby, run at a distance of miles, Northern Dancer drew post position 7 in a field of 12. He was the second betting choice at odds of 7–2 behind Hill Rise at 7–5. In the high pressure environment leading up to the race, Luro kept the press away from the colt, even substituting a stable pony for Northern Dancer during photo sessions. Northern Dancer responded by training eagerly, with a final workout of 1:00 on April 20. On the day of the race, May 2, Northern Dancer was on edge. As the field reached the track, he "bounced like a rubber ball" and gave a huge buck when the band started to play "My Old Kentucky Home". He settled during the warm up, only to balk when asked to enter the starting gate. After a few tense moments, Northern Dancer relaxed and loaded quietly. After the break, he settled into good position on the rail around the first turn behind the early pacemakers Mr. Brick and Royal. Down the backstretch, Hartack guided him through a narrow hole into the clear and started to make up ground on the leaders. He got the jump on Hill Rise, who became tangled up in traffic as the front-runners started to fade. With a quarter mile to go, Hartack urged his colt on; Northern Dancer responded by running the next furlong in a very fast 11 seconds. He had a lead of about two lengths, but Hill Rise had gotten in the clear and started to make up ground. Author Kevin Chong later wrote of Northern Dancer's "short, powerful legs making like a hummingbird's wings" as he ran down the stretch. Hill Rise closed with giant strides, but Northern Dancer prevailed by a neck in a new race record of two minutes flat that stood until Secretariat broke it in 1973. He became the first Canadian-bred horse to win the Kentucky Derby, making front-page headlines across Canada.

Hartack, known for a somewhat adversarial relationship with the press, was full of praise after the race. " orthern Danceris a game, hard trying little horse," he said. "He was always in good position and he ran real strong on the turns. He really did some running from the quarter pole to the eighth pole, and he was running his gamest at the wire." With the Preakness Stakes being run just two weeks later, Luro was concerned that Northern Dancer would find the race more demanding, especially because the track at Pimlico was deep and taxing. Accordingly, he used long gallops of between two and three miles to build up stamina. Then on the Friday before the race, he "blew out" Northern Dancer with a 3-furlong workout in a brisk :35 to sharpen his speed.

For the Preakness on May 16, Northern Dancer went off as the 2–1 second favourite to Hill Rise in a field of six that included the top five finishers from the Derby plus Quadrangle. Northern Dancer settled into third place with Hill Rise tracking just behind. Quadrangle moved to the lead down the backstretch and Northern Dancer started to make his move around the far turn. Hartack had yet to ask Northern Dancer for his run, while the jockeys of both Hill Rise and Quadrangle were working hard to maintain their position. Turning into the stretch, Hartack hit Northern Dancer once and he surged to a commanding lead. Near the finish line, Northern Dancer started to tire but Hartack was not overly worried. "If he was tired, the horses behind us would be even more tired," he explained. Northern Dancer won by two and a half lengths. Hill Rise finished third, caught at the wire by The Scoundrel who claimed second.

Northern Dancer celebrated his actual third birthday on May 27 and was presented with a cake of carrots adorned by Canadian flags. He also received hundreds of cards wishing him success in the upcoming Belmont Stakes. Taylor felt that the horse would not mind the distance of 12 furlongs, believing that Hartack would be able to judge the pace and conserve energy. Luro was more worried, believing that Northern Dancer's best distance was between eight and nine furlongs, but hoped the horse's class would be enough to carry him the extra distance.

With a Triple Crown at stake, a then-record crowd of 61,215 showed up for the Belmont Stakes on June 6, run that year at Aqueduct due to renovations at Belmont Park. Northern Dancer went off as the 4–5 favourite in a field of eight, with Hill Rise the second choice at 2–1 and Quadrangle at 13–2. With Northern Dancer under a tight hold, he and Hill Rise tracked each other for the first mile behind a slow pace set by outsider Orientalist. Quadrangle was in second, relaxed and saving ground with excellent position on the rail. After a mile in 1:39, Quadrangle's jockey, Manuel Ycaza, made his move, confident his horse had enough stamina to outlast the others. Hartack on Northern Dancer and Shoemaker on Hill Rise appeared to underestimate Quadrangle and did not at first respond, allowing Quadrangle to build a substantial lead into the stretch. When finally asked to run, Northern Dancer closed the gap to within half a length in midstretch. However, he then tired and was passed by Roman Brother to finish third, some six lengths behind the winner. Bill Shoemaker on Hill Rise, who finished fourth, lodged an objection against Hartack for being squeezed off on the final turn but the stewards disallowed the claim. The time of 2:28 was just two-fifths of a second off the track record. Hartack said he had been worried about several horses, including Quadrangle, before the race and felt the distance was the decisive factor. Asked if he felt disappointed by the result, he replied, "How can it be a disappointment when a horse runs his heart out for you? He certainly didn't disgrace himself – not to me, anyway."

Return to Canada

In spite of the loss in the Belmont, the mayor of Toronto declared June 8, 1964, to be "Northern Dancer Day", which included a ceremony held at city hall. (The idea of a ticker-tape parade down Bay Street was nixed due to the colt's high-strung temperament.) E. P. Taylor was presented with a key to the city—carved out of a carrot. Taylor presented the key to Northern Dancer when the horse arrived at Woodbine a few days later; the colt promptly ate it.

On June 25, Northern Dancer was the heavy betting favourite in the Queen's Plate at odds of 1–7 in a field of eight. He raced from well off the pace, trailing the field around the first turn and still in sixth down the backstretch. Hartack relaxed his hold entering the far turn, and Northern Dancer "zoomed" past the early leaders, then drew off to win by lengths. Hartack never needed the whip. Northern Dancer completed the race in 2:02, which, although more than two seconds off his time in the Kentucky Derby, was just one-fifth of a second off the race record set by Victoria Park in 1960. "My main concern was with the first turn," said Luro after the race. "You see, we were in the No. 1 post position, and it could have been tough to get around other horses at the turn." Accordingly, Hartack had restrained Northern Dancer at the start to avoid traffic problems. However, the colt's poor position made Hartack move sooner than he would have preferred. Despite the easy win, Hartack felt the colt had been somewhat "dull", and possibly unsound.

Northern Dancer remains the only Kentucky Derby winner to also take the Queen's Plate.

Aftermath

Northern Dancer pulled up lame after a workout at Belmont in July. According to Luro, Northern Dancer had run with a splint on the inside of his left front leg since age two but had never before shown visible evidence of injury. The earlier symptoms of lameness noticed by Turcotte and Hartack had only manifested at full racing speed. Assistant trainer Norman Bowles later said the horse "would probably run through anything – he was a tough little man – and you never can tell when one of those things may start stinging. This time, he had developed a bowed tendon. It did not respond to treatment, and this ended his racing career.

Northern Dancer was named the Champion Three-Year-Old Colt of 1964 in the United States. He was also named the three-year-old champion in Canada and Canadian Horse of the Year. In addition, he was named Canadian Athlete of the Year. He was the high weight at 128 pounds on the ''Daily Racing Forms American Free Handicap for three-year-olds, one pound above both Roman Brother and Quadrangle. He was also the high weight at 132 pounds on the Canadian Free Handicap, 12 pounds more than Langcrest.

In his two-year racing career, Northern Dancer won 14 of his 18 starts and never finished worse than third. His earnings totaled $580,000, then a record for a Canadian-bred horse. In '' The Blood-Horse'' listing of the top 100 American Thoroughbred racehorses of the 20th century, he was ranked number 43.

Statistics

An asterisk after the odds means Northern Dancer was the post-time favourite.

Breeding career

Northern Dancer retired to stud in 1965 at Taylor's Windfields Farm in Oshawa, Ontario, for an initial fee of $10,000.Lennox, p. 209 Due to his small size, a ramp was built in the breeding shed to allow Northern Dancer to service mares who were taller than him. He was bred to 35 mares, with 21 live foals being produced in 1966. The first crop reached racing age in 1968 and was an immediate success, including Viceregal, who was named Canadian Horse of the Year. Nine others also became stakes winners, an "astounding" 47.6% of the crop. "His first foals ran so well," said Ed Bowen, former editor of ''The Blood-Horse''. "Northern Dancer had that aura about him right away."

Although his second crop produced only four stakes winners, it played a crucial role in his developing reputation. His leading performer was Nijinsky, who was purchased by Irish trainer Vincent O'Brien at the Canadian yearling sale for $84,000. Nijinsky went on to win the 1970 English Triple Crown, the first horse to do so since 1935. Nijinsky was named Horse of the Year in England and Ireland. Meanwhile, Fanfreluche was named Canadian Horse of the Year and co-champion three year-old-filly in both Canada and the United States.

As the result of his success, Northern Dancer was relocated to the Maryland division of Windfields Farm in December 1968 and was syndicated in August 1970 for $2.4 million. Taylor retained several shares in the stallion, while other members included Claiborne Farm, Allaire du Pont, Greentree Stud, J. Louis Levesque, Paul Mellon, Spendthrift Farm, Tartan Farm and Alfred G. Vanderbilt. Each share in the syndicate provided an annual breeding right to Northern Dancer, and relatively few other breeding rights were publicly available. As a result of the scarcity of his services and his continued success, Northern Dancer's stud fee rose, slowly at first: from $10,000 (live foal) in 1965, to $15,000 (live foal) in 1969, to $25,000 (live foal) in 1971 to $35,000 ($10,000 of which was non-refundable) in 1975 to $50,000 (no guarantee) in 1978. His published fee, with no guarantee that a live foal would result, then started a rapid increase: $100,000 in 1980, $150,000 in 1981, $250,000 in 1982, $300,000 in 1983 and $500,000 in 1984. For his final years at stud (1985–1987), his breeding rights were privately negotiated, with one season selling at auction for $1 million, an amount four to five times that of his closest rivals. By contrast, the highest North American stud fee in 2016 was $300,000 for Tapit.

Northern Dancer was one of the 20th century's most successful Thoroughbred sires. From 645 named foals, he sired 411 winners (63.7%) and 147 stakes winners (22.8%). The 147 stakes winners was then a record. He was the 1971 leading sire in North America and also in 1977 when international earnings are included. His progeny were highly sought in Europe, and he became the leading sire in Great Britain and Ireland in 1970, 1978, 1983, and 1984. Most of his progeny resembled him in size and shape: Nijinsky, who stood over , proved the exception. They were also generally known for their balance and acceleration.

When Northern Dancer was 20 years old (an advanced age for a stallion), his owners turned down an offer of US$40 million from a European syndicate for him. Northern Dancer's entry into stud service was ranked number 28 in "Horse Racing's Top 100 Moments", a 2006 review of American racing in the 20th century by ''The Blood-Horse'' magazine.

Notable progeny

Northern Dancer's major stakes winners include:

''c = colt, f = filly, g = gelding''

Sales records

Former Keeneland chairman Ted Bassett wrote in his autobiography that between 1974 and 1988, the sons and daughters of Northern Dancer fetched the highest prices of all sires at the yearling sales 12 times, "and that constitutes a record that may last forever." Northern Dancer's yearlings also led the Keeneland July Selected Yearling Sale by average price 12 times in the same period. In 1984, 12 yearlings by Northern Dancer sold for an unrivaled sale-record average price of US$3,446,666 (about $ million adjusted for inflation). Combined over a period of 22 years, the top 174 Northern Dancer offspring at the Keeneland Sales sold for a total $160 million. The bidding duels between John Magnier and Robert Sangster

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