www.loc.gov/loc/brain/emotion/Ledoux.html
Closing Session "The Future of the
Study of
Emotion"
Joseph LeDoux, Ph.D., the Henry and Lucy Moses Professor of Science at
New York University's Center for Neural Science, is the author of The
Emotional Brain.
Northern Dancer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Northern Dancer |
|
Sire |
Nearctic |
Grandsire |
Nearco |
Dam |
Natalma |
Damsire |
Native Dancer |
Sex |
Stallion |
Foaled |
May 27, 1961
Windfields Farm
Oshawa, Ontario |
Died |
November 16, 1990 (aged 29)
Windfields Farm
Cecil County, Maryland |
Country |
Canada |
Colour |
Bay |
Breeder |
Edward P. Taylor |
Owner |
Windfields Farm
Colors: Turquoise, gold dots on sleeves, gold cap |
Trainer |
Horatio Luro |
Record |
18: 14–2–2[1] |
Earnings |
US$580,647[a] |
Major wins |
Summer Stakes (1963)
Coronation Futurity Stakes (1963)
Remsen Stakes (1963)
Flamingo Stakes (1964)
Florida Derby (1964)
Blue Grass Stakes (1964)
Queen's Plate (1964)
American Classics wins:
Kentucky Derby (1964)
Preakness Stakes (1964) |
Awards |
U.S. Champion 3-Yr-Old Colt (1964)
Canadian Horse of the Year (1964)
Canadian Champion Two-Year-Old (1963)
Canadian Champion Three-Year-Old (1964)
Leading sire in North America (1971, 1977[b])
Leading broodmare sire in North America (1991)
Leading sire in Great Britain and Ireland
(1970, 1977, 1983, 1984) |
Honours |
Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (1965)
Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame (1976)
United States Racing Hall of Fame (1976)
Canadian postage stamp (1999)
Northern Dancer Blvd. in Toronto, Ontario
Northern Dancer Lane in Aurora ON
Northern Dancer Dr. in Warwick, Maryland
Life-size statue at Woodbine Racetrack
Northern Dancer Turf Stakes at Woodbine
Northern Dancer Stakes at Churchill
Northern Dancer Plate at Hyderabad Race Club (India) |
Northern Dancer (May 27, 1961 – November 16, 1990) was a Canadian-bred
Thoroughbred racehorse that won the 1964
Kentucky Derby and
Preakness Stakes
and 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 ranks him as one of the
top 100 U.S. Thoroughbred champions of the 20th century. A sire of sires, he has been called the leading male-line progenitor of modern Thoroughbreds worldwide.
At age two, Northern Dancer won the
Summer Stakes and the
Coronation Futurity in Canada and the
Remsen Stakes in New York, and was named the
Canadian Champion Two-Year-Old Colt.
At three, he started the year with wins in the
Flamingo Stakes,
Florida Derby, and
Blue Grass Stakes. Northern Dancer then became the first Canadian-bred to ever win the
Kentucky Derby, following up with a win in 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 his last race.
Northern Dancer retired to stud in 1965 at
Windfields Farm
in Canada. He was an immediate success when his first crop reached
racing age in 1968, but the success of his second crop, led by
English Triple Crown winner
Nijinsky II,
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, sired by
Nearctic and out of the mare
Natalma, whose sire was
Native Dancer.
[4] Northern Dancer's paternal grandsire was the Italian-bred horse
Nearco, two-time
Leading sire in Great Britain and Ireland.
[5] In 1952,
Edward P. Taylor, Canadian
business magnate and owner of
Windfields Farm, attended the December sale at
Newmarket, England, where he purchased
Lady Angela, a daughter of six-time leading sire
Hyperion.
In 1953, Taylor had Lady Angela bred to Nearco before bringing her to
his farm in Canada, where she foaled Nearctic in early 1954. Nearctic
was
Canadian Horse of the Year in 1958,
[6] a feat that Northern Dancer matched in 1964.
[7]
Despite his strong pedigree, Northern Dancer was a diminutive horse
and did not find a buyer at his $25,000 reserve price at the
yearling sales. As a result, Northern Dancer stayed in the Windfields Farm racing stable.
[7] Northern Dancer had powerful quarters, plus excellent balance and agility. While officially listed at 15.2
hands (62 inches, 157 cm), most horsemen personally familiar with Northern Dancer estimated his height as between 15
hands (60 inches, 152 cm) and 15.1
hands (61 inches, 155 cm).
[3]
Like Nearctic and 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 Dancer's
stud career. Trainer
Horatio Luro originally wanted to
geld the colt but Taylor refused.
[8]
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."
[8]
Racing career
1963: Two-year-old season
On August 2, 1963, Northern Dancer made his debut at
Fort Erie Race Track in a
5 1⁄2 furlong maiden race for Canadian foaled horses. 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".
[9] He beat seven 2-year-olds for a purse of $2,100.
[10]
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."
[11]
His next start was on August 17 in the
Vandal Stakes,
for which 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 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."
[9] 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 the horse is said
to have almost fallen. Despite struggling with the ground, Northern
Dancer led from the start and hung on for the win.
[9]
His next start was in the
1 1⁄16 mile
Cup and Saucer Stakes
on September 28 on 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 Carcon by
3⁄4 of a length.
[9] On October 7, he returned in the Bloordale Purse at
1 1⁄16
miles 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
1 1⁄2 lengths, with the rest of the field some twenty-five plus lengths behind Northern Flight.
[9]
On October 12, Northern Dancer faced a field of 14 rivals in the
Coronation Futurity,
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
6 1⁄4
lengths. It was Turcotte's last ride on Northern Dancer, as Luro feared
he could not maintain sufficient control of the headstrong colt. On
November 7, Northern Dancer followed up with a win in the 7 furlong
Carleton Stakes at
Greenwood on a muddy track, but 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.
[9]
Nonetheless, the colt was shipped to Aqueduct to prepare for the
Remsen Stakes. He entered the Sir Gaylord Purse, ridden by
Manuel Ycaza, and won by eight lengths. 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, he won the Remsen by two lengths in
wire-to-wire fashion.
[9]
His record of seven victories in nine starts earned Northern Dancer the
Canadian Juvenile Championship. He was rated at 123 pounds on the
Experimental Free Handicap for American juveniles of 1963, 3 pounds below co-champions
Raise a Native and
Hurry to Market.
He was the high weight on the Canadian Free Handicap for 2-year-olds of
1963 at 126 pounds, 5 pounds above second-rated Ramblin Road.
[3]
1964: Three-year-old season
After the Remsen stakes, 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 in a
six-furlong prep 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 and
get bumped again, eventually finishing third. 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.
[9] "I believe in being very patient with my horses," said Luro. "I don't want punishment—under no circumstances."
[12]
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 favorite 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 seven lengths. His time of 1:47
4⁄5 was excellent for a three-year-old in March. He then entered the seven-furlong Mrs. Florida Purse at
Gulfstream Park 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
2⁄5.
[9]
In the
Florida Derby
on April 4, Northern Dancer was the heavy 3-10 favorite in a field of
eight. With Shoemaker back up, he 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.
[13] However, his time was a disappointing 1:50
4⁄5, which caused some concern. Joe Hirsch of the
Daily Racing Form commented, "It did not appear that Shoemaker had a lot of horse left at the wire."
[9]
Before the running of the
Blue Grass Stakes at
Keeneland Race Course in
Lexington, Kentucky, Luro asked Shoemaker to commit to riding Northern Dancer in the
Kentucky Derby. But Shoemaker chose a colt he had never ridden named
Hill Rise as his Derby mount. The unbeaten Hill Rise had won the
San Felipe Stakes and the
Santa Anita Derby
in California. Shoemaker campaigned hard to get Hill Rise as his mount,
believing the colt represented his best chance for a Derby win. As a
result of Shoemaker's decision,
Bill Hartack became Northern Dancer's jockey for the remainder of his career.
[9]
In the
Blue Grass Stakes
on April 23, Northern Dancer with his new jockey faced only four
rivals, and was made the 4-5 favorite. He rated in second under a tight
hold until the head of the stretch when he coasted to the lead. Another
horse made a run down the stretch so Hartack released his grip and
Northern Dancer crossed the finish line in front by half a length. The
small margin of victory contributed to making Hill Rise the favorite for
the Derby.
[9]
Bidding for the Triple Crown
For
the Kentucky Derby on May 2, Northern Dancer drew post position 7 in a
field of 12. As the field reached the track, Northern Dancer gave a huge
buck when the band started to play "
My Old Kentucky Home", but then settled.
[9]
After the break, he settled into good position on the rail around the
first turn. 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.
[14] Author
Kevin Chong later wrote of Northern Dancer's "short, powerful legs making like a hummingbird's wings"
[15]
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 2 minutes
flat
[14] that stood until
Secretariat broke it in 1973.
[8]
Northern Dancer became the first Canadian-bred horse to win the Kentucky Derby, making front-page headlines across Canada.
[16]
With the
Preakness Stakes
being run just two weeks later, Luro was concerned that Northern Dancer
would find the next 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
3⁄5 to sharpen his speed.
[17]
For the Preakness on May 16, Northern Dancer went off as the second
favorite to Hill Rise in a field of six that included the top five
finishers from the Derby. 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.
[17]
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 extra distance,
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.
[18]
With a Triple Crown at stake, eight horses showed up for the
Belmont Stakes on June 6, run that year at
Aqueduct, with Northern Dancer going off as the 4-5 favorite. With Northern Dancer under a tight hold,
[16] 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
1⁄5,
Quadrangle's jockey made his move, confident his horse had enough
stamina to outkick 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 while
Roman Brother
moved into second. When finally asked to run in the stretch, Northern
Dancer lacked his usual burst of speed and finished third, some six
lengths behind.
[19]
Aftermath
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.)
[16]
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; he promptly ate it.
[9]
On June 25, Northern Dancer was the heavy betting favorite in the
Queen's Plate at odds of 1-7 in a field of eight. He raced from off the pace, then swept past Langcrest to win by
7 1⁄2 lengths. Hartack never needed the whip.
[20] Northern Dancer completed the race in 2:02
1⁄5, which, although more than 2 seconds off his time in the Kentucky Derby, was just
1⁄5 of a second off the race record set by
Victoria Park.
[9][21] He remains the only horse to win both the Kentucky Derby and the Queen's Plate.
[3]
Northern Dancer injured himself during a workout at Belmont in July
[22] and the bowed tendon did not respond to treatment, ending his racing career.
[23]
Northern Dancer was named the
American Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse 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.
[7] He was the high weight at 128 pounds on the
Daily Racing Form's
Free Handicap for American 3-year-old males of 1964, 1 pound above
Quadrangle and Roman Brother. He was also the high weight at 132 pounds
on the Canadian Free Handicap for 3-year-old males of 1964, 12 pounds
more than second-rated Langcrest.
[9]
In his two years of racing, Northern Dancer won 14 of his 18 races and never finished worse than third. In
The Blood-Horse listing of the
top 100 U.S. Thoroughbred champions of the 20th century, he was ranked #43.
[24]
Stud record
Northern Dancer retired to
stud in 1965 at Taylor's
Windfields Farm in
Oshawa, Ontario for an initial fee of $10,000.
[16]
Due to his small size, a ramp was built in the breeding shed to allow
Northern Dancer to service mares who were larger than him.
[25] His first crop reached racing age in 1968 and "came out running."
[8]
"His first crop, he had a horse named
Viceregal who was undefeated and was horse of the year in Canada," said Ed Bowen, former editor of
The Blood-Horse.
"His first foals ran so well. Northern Dancer had that aura about him
right away." His second crop proved even more impressive, including
English Triple Crown winner
Nijinsky. As a result of his success, he was relocated to the Maryland branch of
Windfields in 1969, where he remained until his death in 1990.
[8]
He was the leading sire in North America in 1971, and also in 1977 when international earnings are included.
[2] His progeny were highly sought in Europe, where he became the
leading sire in Great Britain and Ireland in 1970, 1978, 1983, and 1984.
[26]
Lyphard resembled his father closely
[27]
He was one of the 20th century's most successful Thoroughbred sires.
[28]
According to Jockey Club records, Northern Dancer sired 411 winners
(63.7%) and 147 stakes winners (22.8%) from 645 named foals.
[3] Most of his progeny resembled him in size and shape: Nijinsky, who stood over 16 hands, proved the exception.
[29] They also generally had excellent balance and acceleration.
[3] His major stakes winners include:
[30]
With the success of his offspring, 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,
[16] with one season selling at auction for $1 million
[43] — an amount four to five times that of his closest rivals.
[44] By contrast, the highest North American stud fee in 2016 was $300,000 for
Tapit.
[45]
When Northern Dancer was 20 years old (an advanced age for a
stallion), a European syndicate offered US$40 million for him. The offer
was turned down.
[3]
Northern Dancer's entry into stud service was ranked #28 in Horse
Racing's Top 100 Moments, a review of racing in the 20th century
compiled by The Blood-Horse and released in 2006.
[3]
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."
[8] 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 $8.1 million adjusted for inflation).
[46] Combined over a period of 22 years, the top 174 Northern Dancer offspring at the Keeneland Sales sold for a total $160 million.
[44] The bidding duels between
John Magnier and
Robert Sangster of
Coolmore Stud and Sheikh
Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum of
Darley Stud became legendary.
[47][48]
As of 2014, the top ten horses on the
list of top auction prices were descended from Northern Dancer. This includes three sired by Northern Dancer himself and sold at Keeneland:
Snaafi Dancer, who became the first $10-million yearling when sold to Sheikh Mohammed for $10.2 million in 1983;
[47] a colt out of Ballade later named Imperial Falcon, who sold for $8.25 million to Sangster in 1984;
[49] and a colt out of Fabuleux Jane later named Jareer, who sold for $7.1 million to Darley Stud.
[50]
Sire of sires
In 1990, the
New York Times
called Northern Dancer "the dominant progenitor of his breed" because
his own success at stud was amplified by the impact of his sons around
the world.
[44] His leading sire sons included:
- Be My Guest - leading sire in Great Britain and Ireland (1982)[26]
- Danzig - leading sire in North America (1991-1993). also a sire of sires, including Danehill, leading sire in both Europe and Australia[51] and Green Desert, whose sire son's include Invincible Spirit, Oasis Dream and Cape Cross[52]
- Dixieland Band - sire of 117 stakes winners and damsire of two Kentucky Derby winners (Monarchos and Street Sense)
- El Gran Senor - sire of 55 stakes winners, also an important broodmare sire[40]
- Fairy King - leading sire in France 1986. also a sire of sires, including Encosta de Lago in Australia[53]
- Lyphard - led the French sire list in 1978 and 1979, American sire list in 1986, also an outstanding broodmare sire[27]
- Nijinsky - led the English sire list in 1986, when he placed second
in North America as well. leading American broodmare sire in 1993 and
1994. sire of sires including Caerleon[32]
- Northern Taste - ten-time leading sire in Japan, also a leading broodmare sire[54]
- Nureyev - led the French sire list in 1987, also a leading broodmare sire[37]
- Sadler's Wells - leading sire in Great Britain and Ireland a record
fourteen times. sire of 12 English Classics winners. also a sire of
sires, including Galileo.[42][55]
- Storm Bird - sire of 62 stakes winners, including leading American sire Storm Cat[56]
- Vice Regent - led the Canadian sire list thirteen times[57]
Although Northern Dancer never sired a winner of any of the American
Triple Crown races, his sons made up for this shortfall. Their American
Classic winners were:
He also was the grandsire of 1991
Canadian Triple Crown winner
Dance Smartly, who also became the first Canadian-bred to win a Breeders' Cup race, the 1991
Breeders' Cup Distaff. A Hall of Famer in both Canada and the United States, she was also a success as a
broodmare.
[58]
Northern Dancer was a four-time
Leading sire in Great Britain and Ireland, a feat achieved one time each by his sons
Be My Guest and Nijinsky, 14 times by his son Sadler's Wells, two times by his grandson
Caerleon, three times by his grandson
Danehill, and eight times (as of 2016) by his grandson
Galileo – a total of 33 champion sire titles in just the direct Northern Dancer to grandson bloodline. Adding his great-grandson
Danehill Dancer,
who was the leading sire in 2009, the Northern Dancer sire line
accounted for every champion sire title in Great Britain and Ireland
from 1990 to 2016 inclusive.
[26]
Although he has been dead since 1990, more Northern Dancer-descended horses are
Breeder's Cup winners than from any other horse.
[59] According to pedigree consultant John Sparkman, 35 to 40 percent of American
graded stakes
winners of 2013 were male line descendants of Northern Dancer. In
Europe and Australia, the percentage is well over 60 per cent.
[28]
Northern Dancer's impact continues well into the 21st century. In North America,
American Pharoah, winner of the 2015
U.S. Triple Crown is 5 x 5 inbred to Northern Dancer, through
Storm Bird and
El Gran Senor.
[60] California Chrome, winner of the
2014 Kentucky Derby and
2014 Preakness Stakes,
is inbred 4 x 5 to Northern Dancer on his dam's side. Other American
classic winners that are inbred to Northern Dancer include:
I'll Have Another, winner of the 2012 Derby and Preakness;
Animal Kingdom, winner of the 2011 Derby;
Union Rags, winner of the 2012 Belmont and
Drosselmeyer, winner of the 2011 Belmont.
[61] Shackleford, winner of the 2012 Preakness, is a 4th generation descendant in the male line via Storm Cat.
[62] In 2009, Northern Dancer was an ancestor of the winners of all three U.S. Triple Crown races:
Mine That Bird in the Kentucky Derby,
Rachel Alexandra in the Preakness, and
Summer Bird in the Belmont. Northern Dancer is the great-grandsire (on both the sire and dam side) of
Big Brown, the winner of the
2008 Kentucky Derby and
Preakness Stakes.
[61] He appears at least once in the pedigree of every contestant in the
2018 Kentucky Derby.
[63]
Makybe Diva is a descendant of Northern Dancer
In Australia, the undefeated mare
Black Caviar
traces to Northern Dancer both in the direct sire line through Nijinsky
and in the broodmare sire line through Danzig. An earlier Australian
champion,
Sunline, was bred on the reverse cross.
[64] The great mare
Makybe Diva, three-time winner of the Melbourne Cup, is inbred 4 x 4 x 4 to Northern Dancer.
[65]
In Japan, although Sunday Silence's line dominates the leading sire
lists, many of his best runners were out of Northern Dancer line mares.
This includes
Japanese Horses of the Year Orfevre,
[66] Deep Impact and
Gentildonna.
[67]
In England, Northern Dancer's bloodline is pervasive.
[48] He is the paternal grand-sire of a record 29 different English Classic winners — the next closest in this regard is
St. Simon with 23.
[55] Undefeated racehorse
Frankel is
inbred
3 x 4 to Northern Dancer, meaning Northern Dancer appears once in the
third generation and once in the fourth generation of his pedigree.
[68] As for the Epsom Derby, every winner since 1998 has had Northern Dancer in his pedigree,
[69] almost all through the male sire-line.
Galileo,
High Chaparral,
Motivator,
New Approach,
Sea the Stars,
Camelot,
Australia,
Golden Horn and
Harzand are included in this number.
[41]
Inbreeding
Because of the prevalence of Northern Dancer's bloodline, a certain degree of
inbreeding to him is becoming common, especially in Europe and Australia.
[70]
Whenever this happens, there is a concern that the inbreeding will
weaken the breed, making horses more prone to injury and potentially
leading to
inbreeding depression.
Statistical studies have shown that inbreeding has increased by a small
but significant amount in the last 50 years, partly because of the
larger number of foals that a successful stallion will now sire each
year compared to in the past.
[71] To illustrate this last point, Northern Dancer produced 645 foals
[3] in 20 years at stud, whereas his grandson Danehill sired 2,499 foals
[72] in 14 years at stud.
The undefeated Frankel is inbred to Northern Dancer
Statistical analysis has shown that inbreeding to Northern Dancer is on average slightly
less
effective than when stallions of his line are bred to mares who do not
have Northern Dancer in their pedigree (referred to as an
outcross).
[70] However, many successful stallions are inbred, in part because this can make it easier to pass on
dominant characteristics. Notable sires that are inbred to Northern Dancer (within four generations) include
Oasis Dream,
Rock of Gibraltar,
Hernando,
Spinning World, and
Redoute's Choice.
[73] The undefeated
Frankel
is also inbred to Northern Dancer, but it is too early to evaluate his
success as a stallion as his first crop just reached racing age in 2016.
[68]
Analysis of inbreeding to Northern Dancer has shown that best
practice is inbreeding "through" the best, which means to use horses
that have demonstrated their fitness on the racecourse. In contrast,
inbreeding to a descendant such as Danzig is viewed as potentially
problematic because he was retired from racing due to unsoundness after
only three starts.
[74] However, Danzig line horses have been crossed successfully with other Northern Dancer line horses, especially Sadlers' Wells.
[75]
Outcross bloodlines can still be found, most notably via the German-bred stallion
Monsun.
[76] Northern Dancer lines were originally outcrossed on descendants of
Mr. Prospector or
Nasrullah,
but this had been done to such as extent that it is increasingly
difficult to find horses from these lines without some trace of Northern
Dancer breeding.
[77]
In North America, Northern Dancer often appears further back in the
pedigree of major stallions, which reduces the risks associated with
inbreeding. For example,
Tapit,
the leading sire in North America for 2014-2015, is inbred to Nijinsky 3
x 5 (thus only 4 x 6 to Northern Dancer) and has crossed well with
mares from other Northern Dancer lines.
[78]
End of life and burial
Northern Dancer was retired from stud on April 15, 1987 at the age of 26. After a severe attack of
colic, he was
euthanized on November 16, 1990 at the age of 29, and his remains were brought back to Canada for burial at Windfields Farm in
Oshawa, Ontario.
[7] Windfields Farm has subsequently been sold to the
University of Ontario, and Northern Dancer's burial site is not publicly accessible.
[79] There is a proposal to designate portions of the Farm, including Northern Dancer's grave near Barn 6, under the
Ontario Heritage Act.
[80]
Recognition
In 1964, Northern Dancer was the
American Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse and the
Canadian Horse of the Year.
[3] In 1965, he became the first horse voted into
Canada's Sports Hall of Fame.
[81] In 1976, Northern Dancer was an inaugural inductee to the new
Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame[7] and was also inducted into the
United States Horse Racing Hall of Fame.
[82]
In 1977, Northern Dancer won three world sires' premiership titles for
the number of international stakes winners, international stakes wins,
and total stake earnings of his progeny.
[4]
Northern Dancer was inducted into the
Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 1998.
[83] In 1999,
Canada Post honoured the horse with his image placed on a
postage stamp.
[84] A residential street was named after Northern Dancer on the former site of the
Greenwood Race Track in east-end Toronto.
[85] Also, a life-sized bronze statue of the horse was placed outside
Woodbine Race Track in northwest
Toronto.
Over the decades, a number of books have been written about Northern
Dancer. In 1995, Muriel Lennox, who had worked for Taylor, published
Northern Dancer: The Legend and His Legacy.
[16] In 2003, Avalyn Hunter's book
American Classic Pedigrees (1914–2002), extensively covered the influence of Northern Dancer on North America classic winners around the end of the 20th century.
[86] Her later book,
The Kingmaker: How Northern Dancer Founded a Racing Dynasty covers Northern Dancer's international legacy.
[87] In 2015, Kevin Chong wrote
Northern Dancer: The Legendary Horse That Inspired A Nation.
[88]
In 2011, the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame held an induction
ceremony that included a 50th-anniversary tribute for Northern Dancer.
Saxophone instrumentalist Matthew James performed his tribute song,
entitled "Northern Dancer", from his album,
Generations.
[89][90] In 2012,
Breyer Animal Creations released a portrait model of Northern Dancer sculpted by Jeanne Mellin Herrick.
[91] In 2014, the
Canadian Film Centre unveiled the Northern Dancer Pavilion on its Windfields Farms heritage campus.
[92]
Pedigree
Northern Dancer was by Nearctic, who was by leading sire Nearco, considered a "breed-shaping" sire of sires.
[93] Nearctic's broodmare sire is Hyperion, who led the sire list eight times.
[94] Northern Dancer's own broodmare sire (maternal grandsire) was
Native Dancer,
who also was an important sire of sires, chiefly through Raise A Native
and Mr. Prospector. Northern Dancer was thus an immediate descendant of
three of the most important bloodlines of the middle twentieth century.
[95]
His female family is equally distinguished, if not as well-known. Northern Dancer's dam
Natalma was a stakes-placed mare who was disqualified from a win in the
Spinaway Stakes.
[96] She was sidelined from racing by a knee chip and was mated to Nearctic to help fill out his first book of mares.
[3] Natalma established herself as a "
blue hen",
producing not only Northern Dancer but three other stakes winners. Her
daughters have further extended the family: Arctic Dancer, a full sister
of Northern Dancer, became the dam of
La Prevoyante, 1972 Canadian Horse of the Year;
[3]
Spring Adieu became the second dam of leading international sire
Danehill (who is inbred to Natalma as he is also a grandson of Northern
Dancer); and Raise the Standard is the granddam of important European
sire
Machiavellian.
[96]
Natalma's dam Almahmoud produced several other influential daughters
including Cosmah, the dam of four stakes winners including three-time
American champion filly
Tosmah and two-time leading American sire
Halo, who would go on to sire
Sunday Silence. Another half sister to Natalma, Bubbling Beauty, produced 1977 Prix Ganay (FR-I) winner
Arctic Tern, the French champion sire of 1986.
[96]
The family traces to Mother Goose, who won the 1924 Futurity Stakes and
is generally considered the co-champion American juvenile filly of that
year along with Maud Muller.
[3]
Northern Dancer is inbred to Gainsborough (GB) 4S X 5D, meaning
Gainsborough appears in the 4th generation of the sire side of the
pedigree and in the 5th generation of the dam's side. He is also inbred
to Chaucer (GB) 5S X 5S.
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