With 12 days to the Kentucky Derby, thought I’d

Northern Dancer
Doug Saunders photo

see how many horses in the field descended from Canada’s Northern Dancer.  If you guessed the entire 20 horses, you’d be correct. But then, according to Irish researchers, 97% of Thoroughbreds, world-wide, will find Northern Dancer in their family tree.

This fall marks the 30th anniversary of his death, yet the extraordinary dominance of this, the ‘little horse no-one wanted,’ continues.