Northern Dancer
Encyclopedia
Northern Dancer was a Canadian
-bred Thoroughbred
racehorse
and the most successful sire
of the 20th Century. The National Thoroughbred Racing Association
calls him "one of the most influential sires in Thoroughbred history".
A bay colt
, Northern Dancer was by Nearctic
and his dam Natalma
, was by the great Native Dancer
. In 1952, Edward P. Taylor
, Canadian
business magnate and owner of Windfields Farm
, had attended the December sale at Newmarket, England where he purchased Lady Angela, a mare in foal to leading English-based sire Nearco
. The following spring, Taylor sent Lady Angela to be bred to Nearco once again, then shipped her to his farm in Canada later in 1953, and in 1954, Lady Angela foaled a colt in Canada named Nearctic
who was voted the 1958 Sovereign Award for Horse of the Year
.
At the yearling sales at Windfields in Toronto, Ontario, the diminutive Northern Dancer didn't find a buyer at the $25,000 reserve price, so he eventually joined the Windfields Farm racing stable.
in his first victory as a two-year-old at Fort Erie Race Track
. He won the Summer Stakes and the Coronation Futurity in Canada and the Remsen Stakes in New York. His record of seven victories in nine starts earned him the Canadian Juvenile Championship.
At three, Northern Dancer won the Grade I Flamingo Stakes and the Grade I Florida Derby with jockey Bill Shoemaker aboard. Before the running of the Blue Grass Stakes
at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky
, trainer Horatio Luro
asked Shoemaker to make a commitment to ride 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 an impressive campaign in California, winning the San Felipe Stakes and the Grade I Santa Anita Derby. 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 permanent jockey and guided him to victories in the Blue Grass and the Kentucky Derby
, winning the Derby over a fast finishing Hill Rise in a record time that stood until it was broken by Secretariat
in 1973. (Secretariat's record still stands). Hartack and Northern Dancer won the Preakness Stakes
, and finished third in the Belmont Stakes
to Quadrangle
and Roman Brother
. After the Belmont, Northern Dancer won Canada's Queen's Plate
by seven and a half lengths before tenderness in his left front tendon ended his racing career. He was named North America's champion three-year-old colt of 1964, and Canadian Horse of the Year.
In his two years of racing, Northern Dancer won 14 of his 18 races and never finished worse than third. In The Blood-Horse
ranking of the top 100 U.S. thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century, Northern Dancer was ranked #43.
at Taylor's Windfields Farm
in Oshawa, Ontario
until 1969, when he was moved to Windfields' Maryland
farm, where he remained until his death. Northern Dancer was the most successful 20th century Thoroughbred sire. His offspring have earned more money and won more major stakes races than those of any other sire up until the 1990s era of shuttle stallions, including North America
n, Japan
ese, Australia
n, and Europe
an champions. He sired 147 stakes winners including the great Nijinsky II
, winner of England's Triple Crown
, as well as The Minstrel
, Shareef Dancer
, Secreto
, Northernette
, El Gran Senor
, Lomond
, and Fanfreluche
, among others.
He has been named the 20th century's best sire of sires, producing multiple champions in both the United States and the United Kingdom
. According to Thoroughbred Times, Northern Dancer had at least eleven sons who became truly outstanding sires: Be My Guest
, Danzig
, El Gran Senor
, Fairy King
, Lyphard
, Nijinsky
, Northern Taste
, Nureyev
, Sadler's Wells
, Storm Bird
, and Vice Regent. Northern Dancer's influence extended to Japan
where Northern Taste stood at stud at the Yoshida family's Shadai Stallion Station
and was the leading sire in Japan
for ten years. By early 1980, Northern Dancer and his son Nijinsky II had combined to sire the winners of almost US$20 million in stakes. He also became the grandsire of 1991 Canadian Triple Crown winner Dance Smartly, who became the richest filly at that time with twelve wins from seventeen career starts including the 1991 Breeders Cup Distaff and over $2 million. She also proved to be a success as a broodmare.
led the Keeneland July Selected Yearling Sale
by average price. In the 1983 Keeneland Sales
horse auction
, one of Windfields' colts, that would eventually be named Snaafi Dancer
, became the first $10 million yearling
. In 1984 his twelve yearlings sold for an unrivalled sale-record average of price of US$
3,446.666.
In the 1980s, Northern Dancer's stud fee reached US$
1 million, an amount four to five times his rivals and a record amount that as of 2009 has not been equalled.
Although he has been dead for almost twenty years, there are more Northern Dancer-line Breeder's Cup winners than any other horse. According to France Galop
, since 1994 the male bloodline of every Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe
winner goes back to Nearco
, his son Nasrullah, and his grandson Northern Dancer.
Northern Dancer is also the paternal grandsire of several prominent stallions, including Storm Cat
, Deputy Minister
, El Prado
, and Danehill
. He is the great-grandsire (on both the sire and dam side) of Big Brown, the winner of the 2008 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. Northern Dancer is the great-grandsire of Australia's superstar mare, Makybe Diva
. He is an ancestor of the winners of all three U.S. Triple Crown races in 2009—Mine That Bird
in the Kentucky Derby, Rachel Alexandra
in the Preakness, and Summer Bird
in the Belmont. He is on both sides of the pedigrees of Mine That Bird and Rachel Alexandra. He is the great-great-grandsire of Sea the Stars
, who many considered the world's greatest turf horse in 2009.
Northern Dancer won the American Eclipse Award
as Three-Year Old Male Champion of 1964 and the Sovereign Award for Horse of the Year
. In 1965, he became the first horse to ever be voted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame
, an honour he held for thirty-one years and now shares with Canadian Equestrian Champion Big Ben
(inducted 1996). On its formation, he was part of the first group of inductees into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame
and was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
in 1976. In 1977, Northern Dancer won three world sires' premiership titles being for the number of international stakes winners, international stakes wins and progeny stake earnings.
He was retired from stud (breeding) on 15 April 1987 at the age of 26. He died in 1990 and is memorialized at Windfields Farm
in Oshawa, Ontario
, Canada
. Northern Dancer's remains were brought back to Canada
for burial. In 1999, Canada Post
honoured the horse with his image placed on a postage stamp. A residential street was named after Northern Dancer on the former site of the Greenwood Race Track in east-end Toronto. There is also a life size bronze statue of the horse outside Woodbine Race Track in northwest Toronto
.
During the past forty years, a number of books have been written about Northern Dancer, with the latest two editions coming out in 2006
. One, by respected pedigree authority Avalyn Hunter, author of American Classic Pedigrees (1914–2002), recounts how Northern Dancer and his sons have established a royal dynasty that has profoundly dominated the international bloodstock market.
In 2011, The Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame held their Induction Ceremony where Canadian Saxophone Instrumentalist, Matthew James Poulton, performed his tribute song entitled Northern Dancer, from his latest album "Generations". The ceremony included a 50th Anniversary Tribute for Northern Dancer.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
-bred Thoroughbred
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...
racehorse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
and the most successful sire
Father
A father, Pop, Dad, or Papa, is defined as a male parent of any type of offspring. The adjective "paternal" refers to father, parallel to "maternal" for mother...
of the 20th Century. The National Thoroughbred Racing Association
National Thoroughbred Racing Association
The National Thoroughbred Racing Association is a broad-based coalition of horse racing interests consisting of leading thoroughbred racetracks, owners, breeders, trainers and affiliated horse racing associations, charged with increasing the popularity of horse racing and improving economic...
calls him "one of the most influential sires in Thoroughbred history".
A bay colt
Colt (horse)
A colt is a young male horse, under the age of four. The term "colt" is often confused with foal, which refers to a horse of either sex under one year of age....
, Northern Dancer was by Nearctic
Nearctic (horse)
Nearctic was an Canadian-bred Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred by E. P. Taylor, he was out of the Irish mare Lady Angela, a daughter of the British Champion sire Hyperion...
and his dam Natalma
Natalma
Natalma was an American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse best known as the Blue Hen Dam of the most important sire, and sire of sires, of the 20th Century, Northern Dancer. Bred in Virginia, she was purchased by Canadian business mogul E. P...
, was by the great Native Dancer
Native Dancer
Native Dancer , nicknamed the Grey Ghost, was one of the most celebrated and accomplished Thoroughbred racehorses in history, the first horse made famous through the medium of television. He was one of the best horses produced in USA after the war...
. In 1952, Edward P. Taylor
E. P. Taylor
Edward Plunket Taylor was a Canadian business tycoon and famous breeder of thoroughbred race horses. Known to his friends as "Eddie", he is universally recorded as "E. P...
, Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
business magnate and owner of Windfields Farm
Windfields Farm
Windfields Farm is a six square kilometre thoroughbred horse breeding farm founded by businessman E. P. Taylor in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. The first stable and breeding operation of E. P. Taylor originated with a property near the city of Toronto known as Parkwood Stable when it was owned by...
, had attended the December sale at Newmarket, England where he purchased Lady Angela, a mare in foal to leading English-based sire Nearco
Nearco
Nearco was an Italian bred Thoroughbred racehorse described by Thoroughbred Heritage as "one of the greatest racehorses of the Twentieth Century" and "one of the most important sires of the century." He was not only unbeaten, winning 14 races at distances from 5 furlongs to 1 mile 7 furlongs ,...
. The following spring, Taylor sent Lady Angela to be bred to Nearco once again, then shipped her to his farm in Canada later in 1953, and in 1954, Lady Angela foaled a colt in Canada named Nearctic
Nearctic (horse)
Nearctic was an Canadian-bred Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred by E. P. Taylor, he was out of the Irish mare Lady Angela, a daughter of the British Champion sire Hyperion...
who was voted the 1958 Sovereign Award for Horse of the Year
Sovereign Award for Horse of the Year
The Canadian Horse of the Year is a thoroughbred horse racing honor given annually since 1951 by the Jockey Club of Canada. It is the most prestigious honor in Canadian thoroughbred horse racing....
.
At the yearling sales at Windfields in Toronto, Ontario, the diminutive Northern Dancer didn't find a buyer at the $25,000 reserve price, so he eventually joined the Windfields Farm racing stable.
Racing career
Northern Dancer was ridden by Ron TurcotteRon Turcotte
Ron Joseph Morel Turcotte, CM is a Hall of Fame thoroughbred race horse jockey best known as the rider of Secretariat, winner of the U.S. Triple Crown in 1973....
in his first victory as a two-year-old at Fort Erie Race Track
Fort Erie Race Track
Fort Erie Race Track is a horse racing facility in Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada built by the Fort Erie Jockey Club and inaugurated on June 16, 1897....
. He won the Summer Stakes and the Coronation Futurity in Canada and the Remsen Stakes in New York. His record of seven victories in nine starts earned him the Canadian Juvenile Championship.
At three, Northern Dancer won the Grade I Flamingo Stakes and the Grade I Florida Derby with jockey Bill Shoemaker aboard. Before the running of the Blue Grass Stakes
Blue Grass Stakes
The Toyota Blue Grass Stakes, currently sponsored by the Toyota Motor Corporation, is an American Grade 1 horse race for 3-year-old Thoroughbreds held annually in mid April at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, Kentucky....
at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...
, trainer Horatio Luro
Horatio Luro
Horatio A. Luro was a thoroughbred horse racing trainer in the United States.Born in Argentina into a wealthy family that had been involved with horses for several generations, a suave young Horatio Luro grew up as something of a playboy and maintained this lifestyle after moving to the United...
asked Shoemaker to make a commitment to ride Northern Dancer in the Kentucky Derby
Kentucky Derby
The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter mile at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry...
. But Shoemaker chose a colt he had never ridden named Hill Rise
Hill Rise
Hill Rise was an American Thoroughbred Champion racehorse. He was bred at El Peco Ranch in Madera, California by George A. Pope, Jr. who also owned and bred 1962 Kentucky Derby winner Decidedly...
as his Derby mount. The unbeaten Hill Rise had an impressive campaign in California, winning the San Felipe Stakes and the Grade I Santa Anita Derby. 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
Bill Hartack
William John Hartack Jr. was a Hall of Fame jockey. He was born in Ebensburg, Pennsylvania.Referred to by the media as both "Bill" and "Willie" during his racing career, Hartack grew up on his widowed father's farm in the Blacklick...
became Northern Dancer's permanent jockey and guided him to victories in the Blue Grass and the Kentucky Derby
Kentucky Derby
The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter mile at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry...
, winning the Derby over a fast finishing Hill Rise in a record time that stood until it was broken by Secretariat
Secretariat (horse)
Secretariat was an American Thoroughbred racehorse, that in 1973 became the first U.S. Triple Crown champion in 25 years, setting new race records in two of the three events in the Series—the Kentucky Derby , and the Belmont Stakes —records that still stand today.Secretariat was sired by Bold...
in 1973. (Secretariat's record still stands). Hartack and Northern Dancer won the Preakness Stakes
Preakness Stakes
The Preakness Stakes is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held on the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs on dirt. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds ; fillies 121 lb...
, and finished third in the Belmont Stakes
Belmont Stakes
The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes Thoroughbred horse race held every June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is a 1.5-mile horse race, open to three year old Thoroughbreds. Colts and geldings carry a weight of 126 pounds ; fillies carry 121 pounds...
to Quadrangle
Quadrangle (horse)
Quadrangle was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 1964 Belmont Stakes. Bred in Virginia by Paul Mellon, he was out of the mare Tap Day, a daughter of the Calumet Farm Champion stallion, Bull Lea...
and Roman Brother
Roman Brother
Roman Brother was an American Champion Thoroughbred racehorse.Owned by Louis Wolfson's Harbor View Farm, he was trained by future U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee, Burley Parke. As a two-year-old, Roman Brother's best results were a second to Hurry to Market in the Garden State Stakes and a win...
. After the Belmont, Northern Dancer won Canada's Queen's Plate
Queen's Plate
The Queen's Plate is Canada's oldest thoroughbred horse race. It is run at a distance of 1¼ miles for 3-year-old thoroughbred horses foaled in Canada. The race takes place each summer in June or July at Woodbine Racetrack, Etobicoke , Ontario...
by seven and a half lengths before tenderness in his left front tendon ended his racing career. He was named North America's champion three-year-old colt of 1964, and Canadian Horse of the Year.
In his two years of racing, Northern Dancer won 14 of his 18 races and never finished worse than third. In The Blood-Horse
The Blood-Horse magazine
The Blood-Horse is an international weekly news magazine about Thoroughbred horses, horse breeding, and horseracing. It was founded in 1916, the oldest continually published North American Thoroughbred magazine. The magazine is based in Lexington, Kentucky, the Horse Capital of the World...
ranking of the top 100 U.S. thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century, Northern Dancer was ranked #43.
Stud record
Northern Dancer stood at studHorse breeding
Horse breeding is reproduction in horses, and particularly the human-directed process of selective breeding of animals, particularly purebred horses of a given breed. Planned matings can be used to produce specifically desired characteristics in domesticated horses...
at Taylor's Windfields Farm
Windfields Farm
Windfields Farm is a six square kilometre thoroughbred horse breeding farm founded by businessman E. P. Taylor in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. The first stable and breeding operation of E. P. Taylor originated with a property near the city of Toronto known as Parkwood Stable when it was owned by...
in Oshawa, Ontario
Oshawa, Ontario
Oshawa is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It lies in Southern Ontario approximately 60 kilometres east of downtown Toronto. It is commonly viewed as the eastern anchor of both the Greater Toronto Area and the Golden Horseshoe. It is now commonly referred to as the most...
until 1969, when he was moved to Windfields' Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
farm, where he remained until his death. Northern Dancer was the most successful 20th century Thoroughbred sire. His offspring have earned more money and won more major stakes races than those of any other sire up until the 1990s era of shuttle stallions, including North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
n, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n, and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an champions. He sired 147 stakes winners including the great Nijinsky II
Nijinsky II
The racehorse Nijinsky was one of the greatest horses in Thoroughbred horse-racing history. He won the U.K. Triple Crown of racing. Retired to stud he became the Leading sire in Great Britain & Ireland and the Leading broodmare sire in North America.He was bred at E. P...
, winner of England's Triple Crown
Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing
The Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing consists of three races for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses. Winning all three of these Thoroughbred horse races is considered the greatest accomplishment of a Thoroughbred racehorse...
, as well as The Minstrel
The Minstrel
The Minstrel was a champion Thoroughbred racehorse in Great Britain and Ireland. His performances led to him becoming the Horse of the Year in the United Kingdom, Horse of the Year in Ireland and being inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.Foaled at E.P...
, Shareef Dancer
Shareef Dancer
Shareef Dancer was an American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse owned by Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and based at his family's Godolphin Stables in England....
, Secreto
Secreto
Secreto was a Maryland bred Thoroughbred racehorse who raced in the United Kingdom and Ireland.A son of Northern Dancer, Secretro's damsire was the U.S. Triple Crown champion, Secretariat. He was bred by E. P. Taylor at the Maryland branch of his Windfields Farm...
, Northernette
Northernette
Northernette is a Canadian Thoroughbred Hall of Fame filly racehorse. The Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame says that she "was among the best Canadian-bred race fillies ever raised in this country." A full sister to Storm Bird, she was bred by E. P...
, El Gran Senor
El Gran Senor
El Gran Senor was an American-bred Thoroughbred race horse, foaled at Windfields Farm in Maryland.An outstanding two-year-old who went on to win European classics over a mile and over 12 furlongs, El Gran Senor received a Timeform rated 136...
, Lomond
Lomond (horse)
Lomond was an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 1983 Classic 2,000 Guineas Stakes. He was sired by Northern Dancer, the most successful sire of the 20th Century, whom the National Thoroughbred Racing Association calls "one of the most influential sires in Thoroughbred...
, and Fanfreluche
Fanfreluche (horse)
Fanfreluche was a Canadian-bred Champion Thoroughbred racehorse. She was named by her French Canadian owner for the title character of a popular children's television show on the French-language division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation...
, among others.
He has been named the 20th century's best sire of sires, producing multiple champions in both the United States and the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. According to Thoroughbred Times, Northern Dancer had at least eleven sons who became truly outstanding sires: Be My Guest
Be My Guest (horse)
Be My Guest was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and Champion sire. He was bred in Kentucky by Walter Haefner, a Swiss businessman and owner of Moyglare Stud Farm in Ireland...
, Danzig
Danzig (horse)
Danzig was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who is best known as a leading sire. He was purchased for $310,000 by Henryk de Kwiatkowski at the 1978 Saratoga Yearling Sale...
, El Gran Senor
El Gran Senor
El Gran Senor was an American-bred Thoroughbred race horse, foaled at Windfields Farm in Maryland.An outstanding two-year-old who went on to win European classics over a mile and over 12 furlongs, El Gran Senor received a Timeform rated 136...
, Fairy King
Fairy King
Fairy King was an American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse and a successful sire. A full brother to Sadler's Wells, he was bred and raced by Robert Sangster and associates. Out of the mare Fairy Bridge, he was sired by Northern Dancer who is regarded as the 20th century’s best sire of sires. Fairy...
, Lyphard
Lyphard
Lyphard was a French Thoroughbred racehorse and an important sire. American bred in Pennsylvania, Lyphard was a son of Northern Dancer out of the mare Goofed. He was auctioned as a weanling at November's Keeneland Sales to Tim Rogers, a horseman from Ireland, who then put him up for sale at...
, Nijinsky
Nijinsky II
The racehorse Nijinsky was one of the greatest horses in Thoroughbred horse-racing history. He won the U.K. Triple Crown of racing. Retired to stud he became the Leading sire in Great Britain & Ireland and the Leading broodmare sire in North America.He was bred at E. P...
, Northern Taste
Northern Taste
Northern Taste was a Canadian-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who raced in France and who became a legendary sire in Japan. Bred by E. P. Taylor at his Windfields Farm in Oshawa, Ontario, Northern Taste was out of the mare Lady Victoria, a daughter of Canadian Hall of Fame inductee, Victoria Park. ...
, Nureyev
Nureyev (horse)
Nureyev was a Kentucky-bred Thoroughbred racehorse and champion sire. As a racehorse he was best known as the disqualified "winner" of the 2000 Guineas in 1980.-Background:...
, Sadler's Wells
Sadler's Wells (horse)
Sadler's Wells was a Thoroughbred racehorse that was later a leading sire in France, Great Britain & Ireland and North America during the 1990s. He was foaled in 1981 in the United States, but achieved most of his racing and breeding fame in Europe....
, Storm Bird
Storm Bird
Storm Bird was a Canadian-bred Thoroughbred racehorse in Ireland. He was a son of 1964 U.S. Champion 3-Yr-Old Colt Northern Dancer, "one of the most influential sires in Thoroughbred history." At age 2,trained by Vincent O'Brien, he won all five starts and was voted Champion in England and Ireland...
, and Vice Regent. Northern Dancer's influence extended to Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
where Northern Taste stood at stud at the Yoshida family's Shadai Stallion Station
Shadai Stallion Station
is a thoroughbred breeding facility located in Abira on the island of Hokkaido in Japan. The farm was begun in the late 1970s, early 1980s by the late Zenya Yoshida and is now run jointly by his sons , known collectively as the Shadai Group. As of 2006, the brothers own 3,000 horses worldwide...
and was the leading sire in Japan
Leading sire in Japan
The list below shows the leading Thoroughbred sire of racehorses in Japan for each year since 1924. This is determined by the amount of prizemoney won by the sire's progeny during the season.-----References:* -See also:* Leading sire in Australia...
for ten years. By early 1980, Northern Dancer and his son Nijinsky II had combined to sire the winners of almost US$20 million in stakes. He also became the grandsire of 1991 Canadian Triple Crown winner Dance Smartly, who became the richest filly at that time with twelve wins from seventeen career starts including the 1991 Breeders Cup Distaff and over $2 million. She also proved to be a success as a broodmare.
$1 million stud fee and world record offspring prices
Between 1974 and 1988, twelve times Northern Dancer yearlingsYearling (horse)
A yearling is a young horse of either sex that is between one and two years old. Yearlings are comparable in development to a very early adolescent, they are not fully mature physically, and while they may be in the earliest stages of sexual maturity, they are considered too young to be breeding...
led the Keeneland July Selected Yearling Sale
Keeneland Sales
The Keeneland Sales is an American Thoroughbred auction house in Lexington, Kentucky founded in 1935 as a nonprofit racing/auction entity on 147 acres of farmland west of Lexington, which had been owned by Jack O. Keene...
by average price. In the 1983 Keeneland Sales
Keeneland Sales
The Keeneland Sales is an American Thoroughbred auction house in Lexington, Kentucky founded in 1935 as a nonprofit racing/auction entity on 147 acres of farmland west of Lexington, which had been owned by Jack O. Keene...
horse auction
Auction
An auction is a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bid, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder...
, one of Windfields' colts, that would eventually be named Snaafi Dancer
Snaafi Dancer
Snaafi Dancer is an Thoroughbred racehorse who was the first yearling to sell for more than $10 million. Bred by Donald T...
, became the first $10 million yearling
Yearling (horse)
A yearling is a young horse of either sex that is between one and two years old. Yearlings are comparable in development to a very early adolescent, they are not fully mature physically, and while they may be in the earliest stages of sexual maturity, they are considered too young to be breeding...
. In 1984 his twelve yearlings sold for an unrivalled sale-record average of price of US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
3,446.666.
In the 1980s, Northern Dancer's stud fee reached US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
1 million, an amount four to five times his rivals and a record amount that as of 2009 has not been equalled.
Although he has been dead for almost twenty years, there are more Northern Dancer-line Breeder's Cup winners than any other horse. According to France Galop
France Galop
France Galop is the governing body of flat and steeplechase horse racing in France. It was founded on May 3, 1995 as the result of the amalgamation of four different industry organizations...
, since 1994 the male bloodline of every Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe
Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe
The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe is a Group 1 flat horse race in France which is open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 2,400 metres , and it is scheduled to take place each year, usually on the first Sunday in October.Popularly referred to as the...
winner goes back to Nearco
Nearco
Nearco was an Italian bred Thoroughbred racehorse described by Thoroughbred Heritage as "one of the greatest racehorses of the Twentieth Century" and "one of the most important sires of the century." He was not only unbeaten, winning 14 races at distances from 5 furlongs to 1 mile 7 furlongs ,...
, his son Nasrullah, and his grandson Northern Dancer.
Northern Dancer is also the paternal grandsire of several prominent stallions, including Storm Cat
Storm Cat
Storm Cat was an American Thoroughbred stallion whose breeding fee during the peak of his stud career was $500,000, the highest in the world. As such, he was one of the few horses with a 24-hour armed guard....
, Deputy Minister
Deputy Minister (horse)
Deputy Minister was a Canadian-bred Thoroughbred horse racing Champion. At age two, he won eight out of his nine starts and was voted the 1981 Sovereign and Eclipse Award winner as North American Champion 2-Yr-Old, and was also voted Canada's Sovereign Award for Horse of the Year...
, El Prado
El Prado (horse)
El Prado was a retired Thoroughbred racehorse and Champion sire. He was sired by Sadler's Wells, who was a fourteen-time Leading sire in Great Britain & Ireland. Out of the mare, Lady Capulet, his damsire was Sir Ivor whose wins included the 1968 Epsom Derby, 2,000 Guineas Stakes, and Washington,...
, and Danehill
Danehill (horse)
Danehill was a Thoroughbred racehorse who was bred in the United States. During his phenomenal stud career Danehill became a champion sire on both sides of the Equator...
. He is the great-grandsire (on both the sire and dam side) of Big Brown, the winner of the 2008 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. Northern Dancer is the great-grandsire of Australia's superstar mare, Makybe Diva
Makybe Diva
Makybe Diva is a British-bred, Australian-trained Thoroughbred who became the first racehorse to win the famed Melbourne Cup on three occasions: 2003, 2004, and 2005. In 2005, she also won the Cox Plate. Makybe Diva is the highest stakes-earner in Australasian horse racing history, with winnings...
. He is an ancestor of the winners of all three U.S. Triple Crown races in 2009—Mine That Bird
Mine That Bird
Mine That Bird is a retired American racehorse. He is best known for being one of only nine geldings to win the Kentucky Derby, and the second gelding to win the race since 1929...
in the Kentucky Derby, Rachel Alexandra
Rachel Alexandra
Rachel Alexandra is a retired American Thoroughbred filly racehorse and the 2009 Horse of the Year. She is renowned as the May 16, 2009 Preakness Stakes winner, the second jewel of the Triple Crown, the first filly to win the race in 85 years history...
in the Preakness, and Summer Bird
Summer Bird
Summer Bird is a retired American Thoroughbred racehorse, son of 2004 Belmont Stakes winner Birdstone. He was bred by retired cardiologist Kalarikkal Jayaraman and his wife, retired pathologist Vilasini Jayaraman, at their Tiffany Farm near Ocala, Florida...
in the Belmont. He is on both sides of the pedigrees of Mine That Bird and Rachel Alexandra. He is the great-great-grandsire of Sea the Stars
Sea the Stars
Sea The Stars is a champion Irish Thoroughbred colt racehorse. Regarded by many as one of the greatest racehorses of all time, he is best known for winning the 2,000 Guineas, the Epsom Derby, the Eclipse Stakes, - the first colt to accomplish this treble since 1989 champion Nashwan - the...
, who many considered the world's greatest turf horse in 2009.
Honours
Eclipse Award
The Eclipse Award is an American thoroughbred horse racing award named after the 18th century British racehorse and sire, Eclipse. The Eclipse Awards, honoring the champions of the sport, are sponsored by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association , Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers...
as Three-Year Old Male Champion of 1964 and the Sovereign Award for Horse of the Year
Sovereign Award for Horse of the Year
The Canadian Horse of the Year is a thoroughbred horse racing honor given annually since 1951 by the Jockey Club of Canada. It is the most prestigious honor in Canadian thoroughbred horse racing....
. In 1965, he became the first horse to ever be voted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame
Canada's Sports Hall of Fame
Canada's Sports Hall of Fame is a hall of fame established in 1955 to "preserve the record of Canadian sports achievements and to promote a greater awareness of Canada's heritage of sport." It is located at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary, Alberta...
, an honour he held for thirty-one years and now shares with Canadian Equestrian Champion Big Ben
Big Ben (horse)
Big Ben was a world champion show jumping horse.-Birth and Acquisition by Ian Millar:First named "Winston", Big Ben was born at the van Hooydonk Farm in Kalmthout . Although his dam was only 15 hh, Big Ben grew to be a very large horse of 17.3 hands high...
(inducted 1996). On its formation, he was part of the first group of inductees into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame
Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame
The Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame was established in 1976 at the Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario to honor those who have made a significant contribution to the sport of harness and thoroughbred horse racing in Canada....
and was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers...
in 1976. In 1977, Northern Dancer won three world sires' premiership titles being for the number of international stakes winners, international stakes wins and progeny stake earnings.
He was retired from stud (breeding) on 15 April 1987 at the age of 26. He died in 1990 and is memorialized at Windfields Farm
Windfields Farm
Windfields Farm is a six square kilometre thoroughbred horse breeding farm founded by businessman E. P. Taylor in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. The first stable and breeding operation of E. P. Taylor originated with a property near the city of Toronto known as Parkwood Stable when it was owned by...
in Oshawa, Ontario
Oshawa, Ontario
Oshawa is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It lies in Southern Ontario approximately 60 kilometres east of downtown Toronto. It is commonly viewed as the eastern anchor of both the Greater Toronto Area and the Golden Horseshoe. It is now commonly referred to as the most...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. Northern Dancer's remains were brought back to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
for burial. In 1999, Canada Post
Canada Post
Canada Post Corporation, known more simply as Canada Post , is the Canadian crown corporation which functions as the country's primary postal operator...
honoured the horse with his image placed on a postage stamp. A residential street was named after Northern Dancer on the former site of the Greenwood Race Track in east-end Toronto. There is also a life size bronze statue of the horse outside Woodbine Race Track in northwest Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
.
During the past forty years, a number of books have been written about Northern Dancer, with the latest two editions coming out in 2006
2006 in literature
The year 2006 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Literature:*Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - Half of a Yellow Sun*Chris Adrian - The Children's Hospital *Martin Amis - House of Meetings...
. One, by respected pedigree authority Avalyn Hunter, author of American Classic Pedigrees (1914–2002), recounts how Northern Dancer and his sons have established a royal dynasty that has profoundly dominated the international bloodstock market.
In 2011, The Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame held their Induction Ceremony where Canadian Saxophone Instrumentalist, Matthew James Poulton, performed his tribute song entitled Northern Dancer, from his latest album "Generations". The ceremony included a 50th Anniversary Tribute for Northern Dancer.