by Mark Anthony

May is a special month in the life story of Northern Dancer. He was born on the 27th and achieved his greatest moment on the racetrack on the 2nd. In the first of a two-part series, we pay tribute to this supreme thoroughbred.

Northern Dancer needs no introduction to South African racing fans. His fame endures throughout the racing world as the pre-eminent sire of the last 40 years and his descendants have certainly left their mark on local racing.

However, his breeding achievements have tended to overshadow his actual racing career and while everyone knows of Northern Dancer the sire, there are many who are unaware of his status as Canada`s greatest racehorse. With his 45th birth anniversary looming, it`s worth revisiting his thrilling story and we start by looking at what happened before he actually went to stud.

Northern Dancer was certainly bred for greatness. His father Nearctic was a son of the legendary Nearco, Italy`s second-greatest racehorse of all time, who retired unbeaten after 14 races (1000m-3000m).

The measure of Nearco`s greatness came in his final race. Although famous throughout Europe for his exploits, he had never run outside Italy, which is not one of racing`s powerhouses, so his unbeaten record must have looked a bit suspect to the traditional European power bases of Britain, Ireland and France. In 1938, he was entered for France`s Grand Prix de Paris, which was run a mere six days after he had won the Gran Premio di Milano, also over 3000m. To add to his difficulties, he had to endure a gruelling 36-hour train ride to get to Paris, so one could have forgiven him had he run below form. Instead, he won under a hands-and-heels ride, beating among others, winners and placed horses from the Epsom Derby and French Derby and Oaks.

His point proved, Nearco then retired to stud, becoming an important stallion influence in his own right, with Northern Dancer destined to become the most famous of his descendants.

Northern Dancer also boasted blue blood in his female line. His dam, Natalma, was a daughter of the great Native Dancer, a brilliant and charismatic grey who electrified American racing in the 1950s. With 21 wins from 22 starts, Native Dancer`s only defeat came in the Kentucky Derby, a desperately unlucky second after twice being seriously hampered. Champion of his age group at 2 and 3 and Horse of the Year as well, Native Dancer made the cover of Time Magazine in 1954!

Natalma was actually not intended to go to stud that season, as she was in training; but an injury curtailed her racing plans and at the last minute, she was rushed to be covered by Nearctic and the result was Northern Dancer. On such small twists of fate do great events turn!

It is ironic that Northern Dancer, whose own progeny would fetch record prices in due course, failed to reach his reserve of $25,000 at the national yearling sales. This was all the more surprising considering his high-class pedigree, but it may be due to the fact that he was a relatively small horse and simply did not look as impressive or imposing as his rivals. He was therefore returned to his breeder, E P Taylor and gained a reputation for being a difficult and temperamental customer, a disruptive influence in the training yard.

By the end of the next season, however, Taylor must have been thanking his lucky stars as Northern Dancer established himself as the best juvenile in Canada (and arguably the whole of North America) winning 7 of his 9 races.

At age 3, he was aimed south of the border at the major US classics and when he won two important preparation races in the Flamingo Stakes and Florida Derby, he was considered a serious contender for America`s biggest prize, the Kentucky Derby. Bill Shoemaker had ridden him in these two events, but he now deserted the little Canadian colt in favour of Hill Rise, a large, striking Californian contender, who had won the Santa Anita Derby.

Bill Hartack then came in for the ride and on 2 May 1964, Northern Dancer lined up at Churchill Downs as second favourite behind Hill Rise for the Kentucky Derby. Blessed with a high cruising speed and a serious turn of foot, Northern Dancer stayed in midfield early on and then rushed through to hit the front turning for home. Although poaching two-length lead, he then came under severe pressure from Hill Rise who had suffered interference on the back stretch. In a rousing finish, the two left the rest of the field behind and it became a question of whether the Canadian raider could hold off the favourite`s powerful late challenge. Hartack was not a very sympathetic rider and he threw the kitchen sink at Northern Dancer, who did not flinch and, hard up against the inside rail, fought on courageously. It looked like Hill Rise might overwhelm him close to home, but the Dancer held on and at line had won by a neck.

Canada went into raptures over their little star`s brave victory and their joy increased further when the two colts met again in the second leg of the American Triple Crown, the 1900m Preakness Stakes. Hill Rise was sent off an odds-on favourite, as his fans felt he had been unlucky in the Derby and that given a clear run, he would turn the tables on Northern Dancer. However, Northern Dancer`s superior speed was even more telling over this shorter trip and he won decisively by two lengths with Hill Rise fading into third.

Excitement now reached fever pitch as Northern Dancer headed for the 2400m Belmont Stakes, bidding to become the first horse since Citation (1948) to win the Triple Crown. He finished a well beaten third, six lengths behind Quadrangle and was found to have strained a tendon. However, the general consensus is that he probably failed to stay the distance in any event.

Despite this disappointment, Northern Dancer had firmly established himself as Canada`s greatest horse and he returned to a hero`s welcome in his native country where he won the prestigious Queens Plate by 7,50 lengths. Sadly, this was to be his final race, as his tendon finally gave way in training and he had to be retired.

In 1965, a year after his Kentucky Derby heroics, he was inducted into Canada`s Sport`s Hall of Fame- the first non-human to be so honoured.

At the time of his retirement, fans must have mourned the premature end to such a glittering racing career, which had brought 14 wins and 4 places from 18 starts. Little did they know that the story was only beginning and over the next twenty years he would set an indelible stamp on the history of the thoroughbred, causing his actual racing exploits to be forgotten in many quarters.

Northern Dancer is now honoured via his extraordinary dynasty of graded stakes winners: 146 out of 645 foals (22,6%). Many of them have gone on to become outstanding sires in their own right and from a breeding point of view, his son Sadler`s Wells has been most successful in carrying the torch, especially in Britain and Europe.

Sadler`s Wells (born 1981) was a top class 3-year-old and his Group 1 record includes wins in the Irish 2,000 Guineas, Irish Champion Stakes and Eclipse Stakes as well as second in the French Derby and the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Stakes. At stud, he has scaled even greater heights as 12-times champion sire and producing a string of Group 1 winners such as High Chaparral (Epsom and Irish Derbies and Breeders Cup Turf), Galileo (Epsom and Irish Derbies) and the top filly Salsabil who beat the colts in the Irish Derby after winning the English 1,000 Guineas and Oaks. The best of Sadler`s Wells progeny, however, must be the brilliant French colt Montjeu, winner of the French and Irish Derbies and Arc de Triomphe. Montjeu is now Europe`s hottest young sire, giving us amongst others, current reigning Horse of the Year, Hurricane Run. For South Africans, Sadler`s Wells` most important son is none other than champion sire Fort Wood.

Sadler`s Wells may be his best son at stud, but on the racetrack itself, Northern Dancer`s greatest offspring came early on, from his second crop and it is his story that we take up next week.