Native Dancer (March 27, 1950 – November 16, 1967), nicknamed the Gray Ghost, was one of the most celebrated and accomplished Thoroughbred racehorses in American history and was the first horse made famous through the medium of television. He was a champion in each of his three years of racing, and was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1963. In the Blood-Horse magazine List of the Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century, he was ranked seventh and in the Associated Press rankings of the greatest racehorses of the 20th century, he was ranked #3, tied with Citation, behind only Man o' War and Secretariat.
As a two-year-old, he was undefeated in his nine starts and was voted Horse of the Year in two of three major industry polls – One Count won the other. At age three, he suffered the sole defeat in his career in the 1953 Kentucky Derby, but rebounded to win the Preakness, Belmont and Travers Stakes. He made only three starts at age four before being retired due to injury, but was still named American Horse of the Year.
Retired to stud in 1955, he became a sire whose offspring included champion Raise A Native and dual Classic winner Kauai King. Also a broodmare sire, Native Dancer is now "all but universal" in modern pedigrees.
Background Native Dancer was bred by Alfred G. Vanderbilt Jr. and raced for him as a homebred. He was foaled at Scott Farm near Lexington, Kentucky but was raised at Vanderbilt's Sagamore Farm in Glyndon, Maryland, and is generally considered a Maryland-bred. Native Dancer was sired by the 1945 Preakness Stakes winner, Polynesian, who was otherwise known as a sprinter. His dam Geisha won only once in her eleven starts and produced no other stakes winners, though her daughter Orientation became a multiple stakes producer. Geisha was sired by Discovery, an outstanding distance horse and weight-carrier. Discovery was also the broodmare sire of leading sire Bold Ruler.
Native Dancer inherited his gray coat, then quite rare in Thoroughbreds, through the female line to his fourth dam, La Grisette, a daughter of Roi Herode. Roi Herode was also the sire of The Tetrarch, the "spotted wonder". Most modern gray Thoroughbreds can trace their coat to Roi Herode and his grandsire Le Sancy.
From his earliest days, Native Dancer was considered "an extremely nice colt". Ralph Kerchaval, the manager of Sagamore Farm, said that "he was playful, big and rough, but you could do anything with him." At maturity, Native Dancer stood at the withers. According to Charles Hatton of the Daily Racing Form, Native Dancer looked like a sprinter from the front and a stayer from the back. He was a massive horse with "suspicious-looking ankles". His pastern bones were short and somewhat too upright, making him more vulnerable to injury. He had a notably long stride but his action was hard and pounding. Trainer Bill Winfrey said the colt was "a regular Jekyll and Hyde" – ordinarily quiet and tractable but with a playful streak that could make him a handful.
Racing record 1952: two-year-old campaign In his first season of racing, Native Dancer won all nine starts. He was voted the American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt for 1952, with two of the three major polls also naming him Horse of the Year.
Native Dancer made his first start on April 19, 1952, in a maiden race at Jamaica Racetrack over five furlongs. Going off at odds of 7-5 in a field of nine, he settled into fourth place down the backstretch, then started a strong drive in the middle of the turn to win by lengths. Just four days later, he returned in the Youthful Stakes where he was made the odds-on favorite in a field of twelve. He pressed a fast early pace set by Retrouve then pulled away in the stretch to win by six lengths. The victory established the colt as the early leader of the two-year-old division.
Native Dancer was then given a layoff to recover from sore shins. He returned to racing on the opening day of Saratoga Race Course, August 4, in the Flash Stakes over furlongs. Again the odds-on favorite, he was ridden hard around the turn before drawing away in the stretch to win by lengths. On August 16, he entered the Saratoga Special, noteworthy at the time for having a winner-takes-all purse of $17,000. He won by lengths over a muddy track. He followed up by winning the Grand Union Hotel Stakes on August 23, defeating two previously undefeated colts – Tahitian King and Lafango. He won by lengths while running the fastest six furlongs at that year's Saratoga meeting, 1:11. He completed his dominance at Saratoga by winning the Hopeful Stakes on the meeting's closing day, August 31. Jockey Eric Guerin said, "I never had a second of worry. He took off when I asked him to."
Native Dancer made his next start on September 22 at Belmont Park in a six-furlong special weight race. He broke in fifth place in the field of six, then steadily improved his position to win by lengths. Just five days later, he returned in the Belmont Futurity, then one of the most prestigious races for two-year-olds in the United States. He turned in a "superlative performance" to win while tying the world record for furlongs, 1:14. He had been hard pressed though – Guerin admitted that he had thought the colt was beaten with an eighth of a mile remaining when he was headed by Tahitian King. But Native Dancer responded in the final furlong to open a lead advantage. He became the first gray horse to win the race.
Native Dancer made his final start as a two-year-old in the East View Stakes at Jamaica on October 22 over a distance of miles. He won with ease, "wiggling his ears and having much fun" as he crossed the finish line lengths ahead of Laffango, who had earlier won the Champagne Stakes. Guerin confirmed that Native Dancer had eased himself after taking the lead at the head of the stretch. "He's not going to do any more than you make him do," he said. "I never hit him with the whip."
Native Dancer finished the year with nine wins, seven of them in stakes races, and earnings of $230,245, then a record for a two-year-old. He had been the odds-on favorite in all but his first start. He was named the American Champion Two-Year-Old. The Thoroughbred Racing Association also named him the American Horse of the Year, a "break with tradition" as two-year-olds are not normally considered for the award since they typically only race against horses of the same age and competition is not considered as deep. The Turf and Sports Digest, polling 176 sportswriters, also awarded him Horse of the Year honors However, the Daily Racing Form voted instead for One Count, winner of the Belmont and Jockey Club Gold Cup.
He was assigned 130 pounds in the Experimental Free Handicap, seven pounds ahead of Laffango and Tahitian King.
1953: three-year-old campaign In his three-year-old campaign, Native Dancer received a great deal of media attention leading up to the 1953 Kentucky Derby. He won the Gotham Stakes and the prestigious Wood Memorial, but in the 1953 Kentucky Derby, he lost for the only time in his career. Native Dancer subsequently won the Preakness, Belmont and Travers Stakes, a feat accomplished until then only by Duke of Magenta, Grenada, Man o' War and Whirlaway. Native Dancer finished the season with nine wins (all of them stakes races) from ten starts and was named Champion Three-Year-Old Colt.
Preparing for the Triple Crown Native Dancer was given some time off at the end of his two-year-old campaign, then resumed training in California at Santa Anita Racetrack. He gave his connections a scare in late January when he threw his exercise rider after stumbling to his knees following a workout. He then bolted and was loose for five minutes, running into the paddock where he jumped some benches and ran through flower beds. When he tangled a leg in the reins, he finally slowed down enough to be recaptured. No serious damage was done.
He was shipped to New York in mid-March and made his first start of the year in the Gotham Stakes on April 18. As the race attracted 18 entries, it was run in two divisions, with Native Dancer the odds-on favorite is his division and Laffango the favorite in the second division. He raced in mid-pack during the early part of the race, then "did a bit of hustling" turning into the stretch to take the lead. He won under a hand ride by two lengths. Sportswriter George Ryall wrote, "Any question in your mind about Native Dancer is easy to answer; he's as good as you thought."
Native Dancer extended his winning streak to eleven in the Wood Memorial on April 25. Going off as the 1-10 favorite, he was restrained until the top of the stretch, then "whizzed away" from his rivals to win by lengths over Tahitian King.
The Gotham and Wood Memorial were both televised by NBC. Native Dancer's gray coat helped him stand out on the black and white screens of the day, helping him to become the first TV star of the sport.
Kentucky Derby The 1953 Kentucky Derby, held on May 2, was the sole loss of Native Dancer's career. He dominated news coverage leading up to the race and was the odds-on favorite. His main rival was supposed to have been Correspondent, who had won three straight, including the Blue Grass Stakes in which he set a track record. Dark Star won the Derby Trial a few days before the Derby but was largely dismissed by the bettors at odds of 25-1.
Dark Star, starting from the next-to-outside post position, went to the early lead and moved over to the rail. Native Dancer was eighth as they went down the stretch for the first time and was then bumped by longshot Money Maker as they entered the first turn. He started to make up ground on the final turn while racing wide, then was moved to the inside as he entered the stretch in third place. Still nearly three lengths behind, Guerin went to the whip and Native Dancer gradually closed ground. Dark Star held his position on the rail so Native Dancer was swung to the outside. He continued to edge closer with each stride but fell just short, losing by a head.
In addition to Native Dancer being fouled on the first turn, Guerin commented after the race that the colt had not cared for the track. However, Guerin was given a large share of the blame for the loss because of his racing tactics. One reporter wrote, "he took that colt everywhere on the track except the ladies' room." Native Dancer was farther back than usual in the early part of the race, which resulted in more traffic problems. Instead of mounting a single drive on the outside, Guerin changed position several times in the final quarter of a mile, costing the colt momentum. Guerin later explained, "He just didn't want to run early. And when he didn't want to run, he didn't run."
Time magazine later reported, "When he lost the Kentucky Derby by a head, thousands turned from their TV screens in sorrow, a few in tears." As a measure of Native Dancer's growing fame, Time added, "Hundreds of people, old and young, have sent him letters and greeting cards. Little girls have organized fan clubs in his name."
Native Dancer made his next start in the Withers Stakes on May 16 at Belmont Park. Facing only two other horses, he went off as the 1-20 favorite (the legal minimum) with win-only betting allowed. Native Dancer stumbled when leaving the starting gate but quickly recovered. He took a narrow lead about three furlongs from the finish and opened a significant margin around the eighth pole when Guerin flicked his whip. The final margin was four lengths.
Preakness Stakes