Native Dancer
Infobox last modified on 15 March 2011.
Native Dancer (* March 27, 1950, † November 16, 1967 ), and the Grey Ghost ( Gray Ghost ) called, was one of the most admired and celebrated race horses in history and the first racehorse who became famous through the medium of television.
He was born on the Scott Farm near Lexington in Kentucky, raised and trained by his owner Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt II (son of Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt ) on the Sagamore Farm in Glydon in Maryland. Native Dancer was the son of Preakness Stakes winner Polynesian and geisha.
In his first season as a two year old Native Dancer won all nine races in which he participated, he said with his racing style wowed the audience, in which he displayed his great talent to the final sprint. In 1952 he was elected Horse of the Year.
As a three year old and the previously undefeated Native Dancer was given a great deal of media interest. He won the race Gotham Mile and Wood Memorial, but at the Kentucky Derby, he lost for the first time. Man accused his jockey Eric Guerin, but he was not to blame, but Native Dancer was fouled twice during the race and lost at the end just barely against Darkstar.
But then he won again in the Preakness Stakes, the Belmont Stakes and the Travers Stakes, which was only Duke of Magenta, Man o 'War and Whirlaway and after him so far only two horses have succeeded before him. This season, he did not lose, and was elected as the champion of the three- year-olds.
1954 won Native Dancer all three races in which he took part, and should be shipped to France to participate in the prestigious Prix de l' Arc de Triomphe, but because of a hoof injury he had to be taken out of the race, and was only for breeding employed. With its 21 victories in 22 races, he was elected Horse of the Year in 1954 and mapped on May 31, on the cover of Time Magazine.
In breeding, he was very successful, and countless champions of today, such as the Dubai World Cup winner Curlin, are his descendants. One of his daughters, Natalma, is the mother of the great Northern Dancer, and his grandson Mr. Prospector sired horses that dominated many Triple Crown races. Today Mr. Prospector is one of the world's best sires, such as, inter alia, his sons Machiavellian, Gone West, King Mambo, Miswaki, Seeking the Gold, Woodman, evidenced by numerous Black Type winners and successful sons in the breed.
Native Dancer was added in 1963 to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. On November 16, 1967, he died after a colic surgery and was buried on Sagamore Farm in Glyndon, Maryland. On the list of the Blood Horse Magazine of the 100 most important racehorses he is on the 7th Place.