Northern Dancer: The Legendary Horse That Inspired a Nation

by Kevin Chong

 In every sport there are a select few competitors that come to define the excellence that all others must forever aspire to. In “the sport of kings,” there is one that stands alone. Northern Dancer is not only a Canadian legend, but the cornerstone of his breed. It has been estimated that 70 percent of the thoroughbreds alive today are his descendants, which includes the majority of the horses running in the biggest races around the world. His offspring received record breaking prices on the auction floor.While much has been written about Northern Dancer’s prepotence as a sire, this book is the only one devoted to his 1964 campaign, which saw him win two of the Triple Crown races in the U.S. and Canada’s Queen’s Plate. In that time, he captured the attention of the world and the hearts of all Canadians. In Northern Dancer, the world-famous horse comes alive through the people whose lives he touched: E.P. Taylor,the visionary industrialist whose web of business placed him at the end of every consumer transaction for every Canadian and made him the subject of scorn; Horatio Luro, the dapper Argentinean trainer (and tango dancer, pilot, and race car driver) who was notorious for his affairs with Hollywood starlets and his tender treatment of horses; and Bill Hartack,a wildly successful jockey whose squabbles with the press and his inability to conceal his unvarnished truth from influential owners and trainers was, by 1964, beginning to affect his career. Using news clippings from 1964 and interviews, this book offers novelistic detail not only on the remarkable 1964 Triple Crown and Queen’s Plate races, but also revisits,fifty years later, the era in which Canada was struggling to establish an identity, needing,more than anything, a national hero.

Genres: Sports, History

320 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2014

Reviews

[Stefanie Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Northern Dancer was a bay Thoroughbred racehorse. The horse was foaled on May 27, 1961, by Nearctic, out of Natalma. Native Dancer was owned by Windfields Farm. This horse would go on to become the first Canadian-bred horse to win the Kentucky Derby. He won the Preakness Stakes, but came in third in the Belmont Stakes, the Triple Crown eluding him. He won the Bluegrass Stakes, Flamingo Stakes, and the Florida Derby, among other notable races. He was retired to stud in 1965, producing some exceptional offspring: Nijinsky, Storm Bird, and White Star Line to name a few.

I love horses and horse racing. I enjoyed learning about the life and career of one of the most well-known sires. I really liked this book.

[Marjorie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Northern Dancer was an underdog until he became a "world" Champion. Kevin Chong includes all the interesting characters and their histories involved with this amazing stallion. It seems these men were as colourful and driven as Northern Dancer. Included is the rise and it seems the demise of racing today.

[Marissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is about the history behind one of the world greatest horse not to win the Triple Crown as we go back into the sixties. It was a time when horse racing was relatively innocent and Canada was trying to find itself.

How a horse captivate a country as it rose to fame from its humble beginnings in Canada. We see how its owner E.P. Taylor became a diversified business entrepreneur that led him to be a fixture in the racing world with the aid of Northern Dancer descendants today.

We learn about his trainer and the various jockeys that rode him along his way to fame who became famous along the way. We see the jockey view before the race as they rode Northern Dancer in a race. It is their perception of the horse at that moment in time and that of its trainer.

This is a book that horse racing fans who enjoy knowing the background information of a special horse.

[Robert Intriago · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as well written or with as much emotion as "Seabiscuit", but extremely informative. Those of you that enjoy horse racing will appreciate the amount of work that the author did to tell a history of this famous horse, the people around him and of Canada during this period of time.

The amazing thing about Northern Dancer is not only his accomplishments as a race horse but his importance as a stallion, which Seabiscuit never accomplished. He became a foundation stallion and his progeny still populate race tracks around the world. One of his grandsons: Storm Cat is probably the greatest modern day stallion. Storm Cat at the peak of his career charged one million dollars for a live foal. Northern Dancer progeny were able to run on any surface and at any distance.

[Lisa Katsiris · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was quite disappointed with this book. It was more about the people around Northern Dancer and the evolving world & times during the horse's brief career rather than about Northern Dancer.
The moments that were about horses were almost painful to read, Mr. Chong writes about horses with the same "feel" as someone who has no first hand knowledge of horses.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I entered to win this goodreads book on Northern Dancer by Kevin Chong as a gift for my husband. He has little time to read so has just finished it and said he enjoyed in very much. He was very happy to have such a great gift.
Cheers

[Eva · Rating 5 out of 5]

The carefully researched story of Canada's Northern Dancer comes to
life in Kevin Chong's book. I enjoyed learning about this horse's claim to fame and the involvement of EP Taylor. This book was part of a GoodReads' Giveaway.

[Caroline]

[I received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads.]

[Carrol · Rating 4 out of 5]

very well researched and written.