Page 18 - August/September 2007 The Game

18 The Game, August/September 2007 Canada’s Thoroughbred Racing Newspaper
THE IMPACT AND NOBILITY OF NORTHERN DANCER
By Nelson Gareau
The Racehorse
David Willmot, Chairman and CEO of the Woodbine Entertainment Group, was a young boy when he viewed the 1964 Kentucky Derby on TV. Watching Northern Dancer’s thrilling stretch run against Hill Rise as he became the first Canadian-bred to win the prestigious Kentucky Derby was a life-changing event for Willmot.
"I watched it on TV that day, and I thought 'This is really neat,'” Willmot has often declared. “There has always been a
little chip on my shoulder about being a Canadian and loving to see Canadians do well against the U. S.”
A few years later, at a major yearling sale in Kentucky, he urged his father to buy a daughter from Northern Dancer's first crop. The filly was named Cool Mood. She went on to win the Canadian Oaks and set up a bloodline that included Canadian Triple Crown winners With Approval and Izvestia, and Belmont Stakes winner Touch Gold. The Willmot, Kinghaven, became one of Canada's
premier breeding and racing stables. They won the Queen's Plate five times, bred or raced more than 150 stakes winners and have a handsome collection of Sovereign Awards as the leading breeder or owner.
Mr. Willmot told THE GAME, “The courage and fiery temperament that he demonstrated on the race track was key to his success as a sire, as his progeny of all shapes and sizes demonstrated an indomitable will to win. Now that we have the benefit of voluminous data including his status as a sire, grand-sire,
great grand- sire and broodmare sire, we can truly crown him one of the best five sires in the history of the breed.”
No other Canadian horse has matched the Dancer’s accomplishments. He won the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and his last race, the Queen’s Plate. He never finished out of the money. In 18 career races he had 14 wins, 2 seconds and 2 thirds and earnings of $580,806. More importantly, he ended the notion that racehorses from Canada could not compete against U. S. bred horses.
He was a Canadian hero.
In 1964, Northern Dancer was named Canadian Horse of the Year and voted the top 3-year-old in North America. In the year-end poll by the Canadian Press, Northern Dancer was voted Canadian Athlete of the year, beating out Olympic medalists, hockey players like Gordie Howe and other human athletes. In 1965, he was the first animal to be inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame. In 1976, Northern Dancer was inducted into the Canadian and the U. S. Horse Racing Hall of Fames.
What did American horse racing experts think of Northern Dancer as a great racehorse? Not much...it seems. In a 1999 poll, conducted by Blood-Horse, a well- respected U. S. horse publication, Northern Dancer was ranked 43rd on a list of the top 100 racehorses of the 20th Century who had competed in the U. S. No other Canadian-bred made the list.
When Northern Dancer closed the door on his racing career to begin his new job as a stallion, no one could possible have predicted the greatness that was about to unfold.
The Sire and his Dynasty
As a racehorse, Northern Dancer was often unruly and seemed more interested in the fillies than racing. His trainer, Horatio Luro urged the legendary E.P.Taylor to geld the horse. Luckily Mr. Taylor ignored that advice. How the course of history would have been changed with that little snip.
In 1965, Northern Dancer stood at stud at Taylor’s Windfields farm in Oshawa, for a fee of $10,000. In 1968, he was shipped to Taylor’s farm in Maryland.
Continued Page 21 - see Northern Dancer
Susan Y. Foreman • Thoroughbreds •
Did you know?
Barbeau Ruckus went through the CBS Open Yearling Sale in 2000 and sold for $21,000. His Canadian earnings are $1,142,709. to date.
CTHS Selected Canadian Bred Selected Yearling Sale September 4th
#1 F. Trajectory/Geezer Squeezer #5 C. D’wildcat/Gleaming Field
#15 C. Bold Executive/Hawk Lake Fire
#36 C. Mutakddim/Launch the Rocket
#37 C. Whiskey Wisdom/Legal Rhythm
#40 C. One Way Love/Lively U
#44 C. D’wildcat/Lusty Attire
#54 C. Proud Citizen/Miss North Beach #63 C. Broken Vow/Mountain Hideaway #109 F. One Way Love/Sangoma
#123 F. Chapel Royal/Soverign Lady
#137 F. Cape Town/Valentine’stheatre #139 C. Kissin Kris/Vanetta Hill
#153 F. One Way Love/Alacrity
#167 C. Milwaukee Brew/Awesome Touch #173 F. Eavesdropper/Bid On Burgundy #194 C. Mutakddim/Crafty Cassandra #195 C. Bold Executive/Crown’s Shadow #197 C. Perigee Moon/Dancingonthewater #223 C. Forest Camp/Explosive Missile #224 C. Newfoundland/Fabulous Sign
CTHS Selected Canadian Bred Preferred Yearling Sale September 8th
#262 F. Where’s the Ring/Lady On Top #265 C. Tumblebrutus/Lake Mills Lady #268 C. Domasca Dan/Lazylou Cafe #280 F. Tumblebrutus/Marina Bella #298 C. Trajectory/Once Upon a Kiss #332 F. Porto Foricos/Skylit Red
#363 F. Sultry Song/Whytwokay Darling #384 C. Kinshasa/Bellasara
#390 C. Trajectory/Bold Consort
#409 F. Domasca Dan/Consort’s Choice #436 C. Where’s the Ring/Friendly Melody
Lewis Farm 4720 Teston Road, Kleinburg, ON • 905.417.6542
PHOTO BY DAVE LANDRY