Native Dancer

Native Dancer
Native Dancer, the Gray Ghost
Sire	Polynesian
Grandsire	Unbreakable
Dam	Geisha
Damsire	Discovery
Sex	Stallion
Foaled	March 27, 1950
Died	November 16, 1967(1967-11-16) (aged 17)
Country	United States
Colour	Gray
Breeder	Alfred G. Vanderbilt II
Owner	Alfred G. Vanderbilt II Racing colors: Cerise, white diamonds, cerise, sleeves, white cap.
Trainer	William C. Winfrey
Record	22: 21-1-0
Earnings	$785,240[1]
Major wins
Youthful Stakes (1952) Flash Stakes (1952) Saratoga Special Stakes (1952) Grand Union Hotel Stakes (1952) Hopeful Stakes (1952) Futurity Stakes (1952) East View Stakes (1952) Gotham Stakes (1953) Wood Memorial (1953) Withers Stakes (1953) Dwyer Stakes (1953) Arlington Classic (1953) Travers Stakes (1953) American Derby (1953) Metropolitan Handicap (1954) American Classic Race wins: Preakness Stakes (1953) Belmont Stakes (1953)
Awards
American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt (1952) TSB/TRA Horse of the Year (1952) American Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse (1953) American Champion Older Male Horse (1954) American Horse of the Year (1954)
Honours
U.S. Racing Hall of Fame (1963) Maryland State Athletic Hall of Fame (2014) #7 - Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century Statue at Centennial Park in Saratoga Springs

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.

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 major sire whose offspring included champion Raise A Native and dual Classic winner Kauai King. Also an influential broodmare sire, Native Dancer is now "all but universal" in modern pedigrees.^[2]