Stanley Franklin Dancer (July 25, 1927 – September 9, 2005) was an American
harness racing
Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait (a trot or a pace). They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, or spider, or chariot occupied by a driver. In Europe, and less frequently in Austral ...
driver and trainer. He was the only horseman to drive and train three Triple Crowns in horse racing. In total, he drove 23 Triple Crown winners. He was the first trainer to campaign a horse to $1 million in a career,
Cardigan Bay
Cardigan Bay ( cy, Bae Ceredigion) is a large inlet of the Irish Sea, indenting the west coast of Wales between Bardsey Island, Gwynedd in the north, and Strumble Head, Pembrokeshire at its southern end. It is the largest bay in Wales.
Geo ...
in 1968, and drove the Harness Horse of the Year seven times. During his career, he won over $28 million and 3,781 races and was called by the United States Trotting Association "perhaps the best-known personality in the sport".
Dancer was born in West Windsor Township, New Jersey on July 25, 1927 and grew up on a farm in the
New Egypt
New Egypt is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within Plumsted Township, in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States.Plumsted Township, New Jersey, living in the area for almost his entire life on a farm with a half-mile training track before moving to
Pompano Beach, Florida
Pompano Beach ( ) is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. It is located along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, just north of Fort Lauderdale. The nearby Hillsboro Inlet forms part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. As of the 2 ...
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', September 9, 2005. Accessed February 22, 2011.
He borrowed silks for his first race, driving a horse he had bought for $75 using money he had won from a
4-H
4-H is a U.S.-based network of youth organizations whose mission is "engaging youth to reach their fullest potential while advancing the field of youth development". Its name is a reference to the occurrence of the initial letter H four times i ...
Club. He started driving horses at Freehold Raceway in 1945, winning his first race the following year. Dancer started his stable in 1948 with a trotter he had bought using $250 of his wife's college savings. That horse, Candor, took home $12,000 during the following three years.
A spindly , and weighing in at , Red Smith described him as not looking "old enough to be let out for night racing." Despite his size, he used an aggressive, all-out style right from the start, and retained his aggressive methods despite 32 racing spills — including a 1955 incident in which he broke his back — four car accidents, and crashes in both an airplane and a helicopter, as well as two heart attacks during his driving career. He had been given physician's guidance to quit racing, but declined to take the advice, noting that "There is nothing dangerous about harness racing. The worst crackup I ever had came in an auto accident."
In a six-horse field at the 1961 International Trot at Roosevelt Raceway, Dancer drove
Su Mac Lad
Su Mac Lad (c. 1954 – September 19, 1982) was an American gelding trotter. He reached the peak of his racing career in the 1960s. In 1962, he was harness racing's career money leader and named United States Harness Horse of the Year. He won ...
, finishing in a time of 2:34.4 in driving rain and a sloppy track in front of 28,105 racing fans, with the French horse Kracovie in second by what ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' called "the smallest of noses" with American horse
Tie Silk
Tie has two principal meanings:
* Tie (draw), a finish to a competition with identical results, particularly sports
* Necktie, a long piece of cloth worn around the neck or shoulders
Tie or TIE may also refer to:
Engineering and technology
* Ti ...
in third. The victory made Su Mac Lad the first American horse to take the title.
Dancer rode
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...
horse
Cardigan Bay
Cardigan Bay ( cy, Bae Ceredigion) is a large inlet of the Irish Sea, indenting the west coast of Wales between Bardsey Island, Gwynedd in the north, and Strumble Head, Pembrokeshire at its southern end. It is the largest bay in Wales.
Geo ...
to $1 million in winnings in 1968, the first harness horse to surpass that milestone. Dancer and Cardigan Bay appeared together on ''
The Ed Sullivan Show
''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television program, television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in Septembe ...
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...
'', September 9. 2005. Accessed February 19, 2009.
He earned $1 million in purses in 1964, becoming the first driver to win that much in a single year, and drove
Cardigan Bay
Cardigan Bay ( cy, Bae Ceredigion) is a large inlet of the Irish Sea, indenting the west coast of Wales between Bardsey Island, Gwynedd in the north, and Strumble Head, Pembrokeshire at its southern end. It is the largest bay in Wales.
Geo ...
, the first standardbred horse to win $1 million in career prize money. He drove his 3,781st and final winner in 1995, bringing in $28,002,426 during his career as a driver. He won the Triple Crown three times, with trotters
Nevele Pride
Nevele Pride (1965 - February 19, 1993) was an American standardbred harness racehorse who set world records as fastest trotter on multiple occasions. Owned by Stanley Dancer, Nevele Pride won 57 races and was honored as Harness Horse of the ...
in 1968 and Super Bowl in 1972, and with pacer Most Happy Fella in 1970. He trained / drove the harness horse of the year seven times, with trotters
Su Mac Lad
Su Mac Lad (c. 1954 – September 19, 1982) was an American gelding trotter. He reached the peak of his racing career in the 1960s. In 1962, he was harness racing's career money leader and named United States Harness Horse of the Year. He won ...
in 1962 and Nevele Pride in 1967 through 1969, and with pacers
Albatross
Albatrosses, of the biological family Diomedeidae, are large seabirds related to the procellariids, storm petrels, and diving petrels in the order Procellariiformes (the tubenoses). They range widely in the Southern Ocean and the North P ...
in 1971 and 1972 and Keystone Ore in 1976. He won the Hambletonian four times and was inducted into the United States Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 1969.
After surgery to treat an intestinal ailment his beloved horse Dancer's Crown died three weeks before the 1983 Hambletonian, a horse that would have been favored to win the race. He reluctantly entered the little-known Duenna at the insistence of His family and friends, and won the race, the first filly to win the race in 17 years.Arnold Palmer called the victory "one of the most dramatic moments in sports".
Dancer died at age 78 on September 9, 2005 in his home in
Pompano Beach, Florida
Pompano Beach ( ) is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. It is located along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, just north of Fort Lauderdale. The nearby Hillsboro Inlet forms part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. As of the 2 ...
from
prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancerous tumor worldwide and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men. The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that su ...