Chief!!

The longing for the days where Park Pacifica Stables and Bud Butler were a staple in my life.  How those times were the days where as you can witness Kate on Chief and Zest working the Arena for the harness of what today requires me to say, I love the facts.

True to form is the method of reality.  As this young mare that the owners had given up on came my way while living in Sacramento, California.  Kate was always in the thirst of riding as she would wet her lips to tangle her thought to her next ride.  This mare was a bit of a rogue, kind as she was she still would have jumped the Moon to land an earth (spooked a lot) and that made her a best practice.  This mare found her home with a Man that rode her off to Southern California (actually he hauled her to SoCal in a gorgeous four horse horse trailer).

A young thoroughbred colt came in a trade.  The balance of that dynamic strap was his brother.  A thoroughbred, dark bay and for the breaking of that colt this colt came to fact in memory as this young horse is in a pasture in Arlington, Texas. 

Sadly in a freak accident the colt from Paso that looks just like this your whipper snapper snapped his canon bone in that pasture where we had rented our 3 bedroom. 

It was a cold, brisk morning in Paso Robles and that young red colt and the other horse made the rounds by a galloping morning display of just feeling good.  That young colt lost his footing, he went down on his side and I just happened to have seen the entire thing out the window as I was enjoying their frolic, had I not been watching I would have not believed it. Oddly,  I told somebody at the time that I thought he should trade the breaking for the dark bay as this young colt looked a bit thin down there.  As the morning held by breath and as that colt got up he hobbled, I went immediately out the back door and low and behold my draw of air was suffocating, he snapped his canon bone straight through and the only thing hanging that leg on his leg just below his knee was hide.  I immediately went to the landlord who had a Training Facility and said we need a gun.  He turned and looked admitting I looked whiter than a sheet with his expressed serious of respond.  I said my horse just snapped his leg clean off.

He came in his quick after retrieving his gun and sure enough he said go on back in the house.  No Veterinarian could have made it as we were a good hour from town and who really knew where the large animal Vets were that particular day.  In agreement with my chopped horror that landlord was so kind.  He said get the kids away from the windows, I did as he said and that is the end of that story.  Thank goodness for Ranchers.  Be it Paso or Texas I am so grateful for that Rancher.

Kate loved Boris. He was a Northern Dancer colt bought out of the Keeneland Sales Barn.  He was a tosser of a gathering storm but he came to be the lover of my two kids, Rebecca and Kathleen (Kate).  His pedigree was a bomby one as those colts were known to be of a difficult song as their Sire was a tumbler.

Northern Dancer (CAN)

May 27, 1961 – November 16, 1990

Nearctic (CAN) x Natalma (USA), by Native Dancer (USA)

Family 2-d

One of the smallest Kentucky Derby winners ever, Northern Dancer was also the youngest to date, winning the great race 25 days before his actual third birthday. A first-class racehorse up to 1¼ miles with the versatility to win on both dirt and turf, he was an even better stallion despite standing in Canada and then Maryland. A great sire of sires, he is the leading male-line progenitor of modern Thoroughbreds.


Race record

18 starts, 14 wins, 2 seconds, 2 thirds, US$580,647 (including Canadian earnings)

1963:

• Won Remsen Stakes (USA, 8FD, Aqueduct)
• Won Summer Stakes (CAN, 8FT, Fort Erie)
• Won Coronation Futurity (CAN, 9FD, Woodbine)
• Won Carleton Stakes (CAN, 7FD, Greenwood)
• 2nd Vandal Stakes (CAN, 6.5FD, Fort Erie)
• 2nd Cup and Saucer Stakes (CAN, 8.5FT, Woodbine)

 1964:

• Won Flamingo Stakes (USA, 9FD, Hialeah)
• Won Florida Derby (USA, 9FD, Gulfstream Park)
• Won Blue Grass Stakes (USA, 9FD, Keeneland)
• Won Kentucky Derby (USA, 10FD, Churchill Downs; new track record 2:00)
• Won Preakness Stakes (USA, 9.5FD, Pimlico)
• Won Queen's Plate Stakes (CAN, 10FD, Woodbine)
• 3rd Belmont Stakes (USA, 12FD, Belmont)

Honors

• National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame (inducted in 1976)
• Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame (inducted as part of the inaugural class in 1976)
• Canadian Horse of the Year (1964)
• Canadian champion 2-year-old colt (1963)
• American champion 3-year-old male (1964)
• Canadian champion 3-year-old male (1964)

Assessments

Northern Dancer was rated #43 among the top 100 American racehorses of the 20th century by a panel of experts assembled by The Blood-Horse (Thoroughbred Champions, Eclipse Press, 7th printing, 2005).

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.

Highweighted at 126 pounds on the Canadian Free Handicap for 2-year-olds of 1963, 5 pounds above second-rated Ramblin Road.

Highweighted 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.

Highweighted at 132 pounds on the Canadian Free Handicap for 3-year-old males of 1964,12 pounds more than second-rated Langcrest and 6 pounds more than champion older male E. Day


As an individual

A small, short-legged, muscular bay horse, Norrthern Dancer had powerful quarters and excellent balance and agility. Charles Hatton of the Daily Racing Form described Northern Dancer as having "a stride that looks two sizes too big for him but...perfectly controlled." While officially listed at 15.2 hands in his stallion advertisements, most horsemen personally familiar with Northern Dancer estimated his true height as between 15.0 and 15.1 hands. He had an exceptionally dominant personality with a high level of nervous energy and displayed much of the territorial behavior of a wild herd stallion.


As a stallion

Northern Dancer was the leading sire in North America in 1971 per The Blood-Horse and Thoroughbred Times and in 1977 per The Blood-Horse. He led the combined English/Irish general sire list four times (1970, 1977, 1983 and 1984), an unusual feat for a horse based in North America. He also finished second on the French general sire list in 1984. According to Jockey Club records, Northern Dancer sired 411 winners (63.7%) and 147 stakes winners (22.8%) from 645 named foals. His progeny came in all shapes and sizes but generally had excellent balance and acceleration and a share of his own tremendous will to win. The first North American-based stallion to sire 100 or more stakes winners, Northern Dancer proved an excellent sire of sires and had seven sons that also sired over 100 stakes winners. Northern Dancer also led the American broodmare sire list in 1991. Northern Dancer is a Brilliant/Classic chef-de-race in the Roman dosage system.


Notable progeny

Ajdal (USA), Be My Guest (USA), Cool Mood (CAN), Dance Act (CAN), Dance Number (USA), Danzig (USA), Dixieland Band (USA), El Gran Senor (USA), Fabulous Dancer (USA), Fairy King (USA), Fanfreluche (CAN), Hero's Honor (USA), Lomond (USA), Lyphard (USA), Minsky (CAN), Night Shift (CAN), Nijinsky II (CAN), Northern Baby (USA), Northern Jove (USA), Northern Taste (CAN), Northern Trick (USA), Northfields (USA), Nureyev (USA), One for All (CAN), Sadler's Wells (USA), Secreto (USA), Shareef Dancer (USA), Sovereign Dancer (USA), Storm Bird (CAN), The Minstrel (CAN), Topsider (USA), Try My Best (USA), Unfuwain (USA), Vice Regent (CAN), Viceregal (CAN), White Star Line (USA), Wild Applause (USA)


Connections

Northern Dancer was bred and owned by E. P. Taylor at Windfields Farm in Ontario, Canada. He was originally consigned to Windfields' second string and trained by Peaches Fleming. After he won the Summer Stakes in his third start, he was taken over by Fleming's boss Horatio Luro, who trained the colt for the rest of his career. Northern Dancer entered stud at Windfields in 1965 and moved to the farm's Maryland division in December 1968, where he died in 1990 after having been pensioned in April 1987. His body was taken back to Canada and buried at his birthplace.


Pedigree notes

Northern Dancer is inbred 4x5 to 1918 English Triple Crown winner Gainsborough. He is a half brother to three other stakes winners and a full brother to Arctic Dancer, dam of 1972 Canadian Horse of the Year and American champion 2-year-old filly La Prevoyante (by Buckpasser). His dam Natalma is a stakes-placed half sister to stakes winner Cosmah (by Cosmic Bomb), dam of four stakes winners including three-time American champion filly Tosmah (by Tim Tam) and two-time leading American sire Halo (by Hail to Reason). Another half sister to Natalma, Bubbling Beauty (by Hasty Road), produced 1977 Prix Ganay (FR-I) winner Arctic Tern (by Sea-Bird), the French champion sire of 1986.

Natalma and her siblings were produced from the stakes-winning Mahmoud mare Almahmoud, a full sister to stakes winners Burra Sahib and Dispute and to Avatara, second dam of 1974 Jersey Derby (USA-I) winner Better Arbitor. Almahmoud, in turn, was produced from the Peace Chance mare Arbitrator, a half sister to the minor stakes winner Gosling (by St. Germans) and to Gooseflesh (by Mad Hatter), second dam of 1953 Comely Handicap winner Home-Made.

The next dam in the tail-female line, Mother Goose (by Chicle), won the 1924 Futurity Stakes and is generally considered the co-champion American juvenile filly of that year with Maud Muller. Mother Goose is a full sister to 1929 American champion 2-year-old male Whichone and is out of Flying Witch, by Broomstick.


Books and media

• Northern Dancer: The Legend and His Legacy was written by Muriel Lennox and was published in 1995 by Beach House Books.
• The Kingmaker: How Northern Dancer Founded a Racing Dynasty was written by Avalyn Hunter and was published in 2006 by Eclipse Press.
• Northern Dancer: King of the Racetrack (Larger Than Life) was a children's book written by Gare Joyce. It was published by Fitzhenry & Whiteside in 2011.
• Northern Dancer: The Legendary Horse That Inspired a Nation was written by Kevin Chong and was published by Penguin Group Canada in 2014. The book was a finalist for the 2014 Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award.
• “Northern Dancer: A Derby Winner Who Left His Mark Forever” is the 13th chapter in Jim Bolus' Remembering the Derby (1994, Pelican Publishing Company).
• Northern Dancer is one of 75 stallions profiled in Tony Morris' Thoroughbred Stallions (1990, The Crowood Press).
• Northern Dancer is profiled in Part 5 of Edward Bowen's Dynasties (2000, Eclipse Press).
• Northern Dancer is profiled in Chapter 9 of Avalyn Hunter's American Classic Pedigrees 1914-2002 (2003, Eclipse Press).
• Northern Dancer is one of 205 stallions whose accomplishments at stud are profiled in Great Thoroughbred Sires of the World (2006, The Australian Bloodhorse Review), a massive reference work written by Jennifer Churchill, Andrew Reichard and Byron Rogers.
• Northern Dancer is one of 50 Thoroughbreds profiled in Royal Blood: Fifty Years of Classic Thoroughbreds. Written by racing historian Jim Bolus with illustrations and commentary by noted equine artist Richard Stone Reeves, the book was released by The Blood-Horse, Inc., in 1994.

Fun facts

• Northern Dancer was just 2 years, 11 months and 5 days old at the time of his Kentucky Derby win and 2 years, 11 months and 19 days old when he won the Preakness Stakes. The 1964 Belmont Stakes was his first race after his actual third birthday.
• Northern Dancer was named Canada's Athlete of the Year for 1964 by a vote of Canada's sports editors and journalists.
• Northern Dancer was the first Canadian-bred to win the Kentucky Derby. He remains the only horse to win both the Kentucky Derby and the Queen's Plate, Canada's most important Classic race.
• 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.
• At the peak of Northern Dancer's stud career, “no guarantee” seasons to the stallion were selling for as much as US$1 million.
• At the age of 20, Northern Dancer was the subject of a US$40 million dollar offer from a European syndicate. The offer was turned down.
• Although Northern Dancer stood in North America throughout his stud career, he sired three winners of the Derby Stakes (ENG-I) in England (Nijinsky II, The Minstrel and Secreto) but sired only one Kentucky Derby starter; that runner, Giboulee, finished seventh in 1977.
• Northern Dancer is the only winner of an American Triple Crown race to have sired a winner of any of the English Triple Crown races. Aside from his three Derby winners, he sired three winners of the Two Thousand Guineas (ENG-I) (Nijinsky II, Lomond and El Gran Senor) and one winner of the St. Leger Stakes (ENG-I) (Nijinsky II).
• The mating that produced Northern Dancer came about by chance. His dam, Natalma, was sidelined from racing by a knee chip and was mated to Nearctic to help fill out the young stallion's first book. Natalma was the last mare Neartic covered during the season.
• Northern Dancer was offered for CAN$25,000 at E. P. Taylor's annual pre-priced yearling sale at Windfields. There were no takers.
• After Windfields Farm closed its Maryland operation in 1988, it spent some US$80,000 per year to maintain Northern Dancer as a pensioner until the stallion's death in 1990.

© 2014-2018 by Avalyn Hunter. All rights reserved.

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