native dancer was the way of the future

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bloodstock history, charlie hatton, dark star, description of native dancer, john sparkman, native dancer, power horses, size and muscle in racehorses, stride horses

In a response to yesterday’s post about Dark Star, John Sparkman tipped my hand a bit by saying that the physical type of Dark Star — elegant, somewhat lightly made horses with excellent stride quality — was a type on the way out.

Indeed, the Teddy and Swynford lines that had dominated classic racing since the 1920s were finished. Only nobody knew it at the time.

In their place, a powerful animal has come to be the American classic type whose model is Native Dancer, big and heavy-topped and fast. Winner of the 1953 Preakness and Belmont Stakes, Native Dancer was a top-level classic horse. In that he wasn’t unparalleled. There have been at least a half-dozen in the decades before and after the 1950s who were approximately as good, even if not almost unbeaten. For instance, Citation had at least as good a record at 2 and 3, although he lost twice in that time.

But Native Dancer is the most excellent form of the new Thoroughbred that has come to dominate much of racing around the world.

To describe him, I will offer some notes from the Daily Racing Form columnist Charlie Hatton, who wrote: “Usually Native Dancer was the largest horse in any post parade in which he took part.” That is not solely about height, although the gray son of Polynesian stood 16.1 hands at 3, grew another inch or so.

Hatton further noted that Native Dancer “was possibly the widest horse in training across the loin and hips.” We can see the horse’s mass in some of the films of him racing more than half a century ago, and one of the wonders of technology is that we can access this historical information and view the horse, rather than rely solely on the written comments (which in this case are really helpful, Mr. Hatton).

At 2, Native Dancer’s muscular development through his shoulders and forearms was so great that Hatton recouted that “it is rather singular to find one horse having the development of a sprinter before the saddle and that of a router behind.” At 3, Native Dancer filled in his rangier hindquarters with more muscle.

His feet gave out on him, and Native Dancer ended his 3yo season in August 1953 and made only three starts as a 4yo the next year. It is possible that his mass had outgrown his frame, although the horse was essentially sound. He just kept having “little problems.”

The question of soundness would be one of the most serious breeders would have about the horse’s offspring in coming years. They had size, they had speed, and some of them were tough as nails. Doc Thomas, breeder of Our Native, once told me that the Native Dancer stock had the highest pain threshold of any animals he had ever encountered.

They need the pain tolerance because the Native Dancer physical type (great mass and great power) produces exceptional speed, but the faster anything goes, the more strain it puts on all the working parts.

The more classic version of Native Dancer morphed into Sea-Bird (a grandson by French Derby second Dan Cupid), the miniature version ruled the world through Northern Dancer (out of Native Dancer’s daughter Natalma), and the American dirt version of Native Dancer descends primarily through Raise a Native, whose best sons were Exclusive Native, Mr. Prospector, and Alydar.

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lexington: greatest american sire of the 19th century

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19th century thoroughbred breeding, bloodstock history, glencoe, lexington, physical description of lexington, the thoroughbred record, thoroughbred history

An outstanding racehorse who set records racing four-mile heats, Lexington had the combination of athletic talents that allowed his offspring to bridge the transition from long-distance heat racing to modern dash races decided in a single heat.

Especially when combined with some of the top-caliber broodmare sires, such as Glencoe, Lexington transformed his superior heat-racing qualities of ruggedness and quick recovery into fleet expressions of single-heat success.

As a result, the bay son of Boston led the American sires list 16 times and died as one of the most renowned stallions in the breed. His genetic legacy is the foundation of every American pedigree of the late 19th century and early 20th. Even today, Lexington is there in the far reaches of many pedigrees.

In an unsigned obituary from The Thoroughbred Record of 9 July 1875, probably by BG Bruce, we read that

Lexington was a blood bay, fifteen hands three inches high, with four white feet extending over the pastern joints; his head, though not small, was clean, bony and handsome — his nostrils being large, the jawbone uncommonly wide, and the jaws wide apart, affording abundant room for a clear and well detached throttle. His bones were not particularly large except the backbone, which was immensely so. His neck rose well from his shoulders and joined his head admirably. His shoulders were wide and well placed, particularly oblique, and rising well at the withers. His back was of medium length, coupling well back; a loin wide, slightly arched and very powerful. His body was large, round and full, being ribbed in the best possible manner, very deep through the heart, which made his legs look short. His hips were not remarkably wide, though strong. His arms were not large, and his second thigh [gaskin] was peculiarly light and thin, and to our eye, was his greatest defect. His feet and legs were small and clean, with tendons large and strong as catgut. His action was superb — bold, free, elastic, and full of power.

From this description, allied with photos and paintings of the horse, it is clear that Lexington a medium-sized, scopy, well-balanced animal with considerable power, although noted as lacking a really powerful gaskin. That last betrays his heritage as a thorough distance racer, and doubtless the great broodmare sire Glencoe, who is described as having an exceptional gaskin, provided some benefit to Lexington’s sons and daughters in that regard too.

Lexington was sent to stud in 1855 at WF Harper’s farm near Midway, Ky., and near the middle of 1856, RA Alexander bought the young stallion from owner Ten Broeck for $15,000. Thereafter, Lexington stood at Alexander’s Woodburn Stud until his death on 1 July 1875.