Flashback: Northern Dancer wins Derby-Queen’s Plate double
The Kentucky Derby, first run in 1875, has long ranked as America’s most coveted prize for 3-year-old Thoroughbreds. The Queen’s Plate, Canada’s historic equivalent to the Kentucky Derby, has achieved similar status while being renewed every year since 1860.
Typically the two races draw very different fields. Whereas the Kentucky Derby is open to all comers, the Queen’s Plate is restricted to horses bred in Canada. But history was made in 1964 when the legendary Northern Dancer — arguably the greatest Canadian Thoroughbred in history — managed to sweep both races during an unforgettable championship campaign.
Northern Dancer wasn’t just the best Canadian 3-year-old of 1964 — he was the best 3-year-old, period. A homebred racing for E.P. Taylor’s Windfields Farm, Northern Dancer recorded winter/spring victories in the Flamingo, Florida Derby, and Blue Grass to emerge as a major contender for the Run for the Roses. At Churchill Downs, the son of Nearctic delivered a memorable performance, tenaciously holding off a late charge from favored Hill Rise to prevail by a neck in the record-breaking time of 2:00 flat.
Northern Dancer subsequently rolled to victory in the Preakness, and while he was beaten to third in the Belmont Stakes — ending a bid to sweep the Triple Crown — the effort didn’t seem to drain him. Whereas many horses require months of rest to recuperate from the strain of the Triple Crown, Northern Dancer returned just two weeks later for the Queen’s Plate at Woodbine, giving Canadian racing fans an opportunity to enjoy their homegrown star in the flesh.
A crowd of 31,228 turned out to witness Northern Dancer in action, and such was the colt’s reputation that he started as the overwhelming 15-100 favorite against seven rivals. Victory was considered a certainty, though bettors were surely startled when Northern Dancer employed sharply different racing tactics than usual.
Breaking from the rail under regular rider Bill Hartack, Northern Dancer was in no hurry to assert his superiority. Typically a speed horse capable of securing a tactical early position, Northern Dancer surprisingly fell back to last place during the opening half-mile, trailing Top Ruler and Langcrest through splits of :23 3/5 and :47 4/5.
It was an unexpected change in style, and even his owner and trainer were reportedly concerned by Northern Dancer’s lackadaisical approach to negotiating the 1 1/4-mile journey of the Queen’s Plat. But Hartack wasn’t worried, even when it appeared Northern Dancer was in danger of getting boxed in behind horses on the backstretch.
“It wasn’t a case of being boxed in,” Hartack told the Montreal Gazette. “I chose my position but found that my horse, going at his slowest, was overtaking the others.”
Indeed, you can’t restrain a fast horse for long, and soon Northern Dancer was making a big move. Slicing between horses, then sweeping past rivals on the far outside, the overwhelming favorite cruised to the front through a fast mile in 1:36 4/5. From there, the race was over, as Northern Dancer effortlessly widened at will without ever being asked for his best run.
“I didn’t ride him out because I didn’t have to,” explained Hartack in The Gazette. “He is far superior to the others in the field.”
Even with something less than his maximum effort, Northern Dancer crushed runner-up Langcrest by 7 1/2 lengths while flashing across the finish line in 2:02 1/5. His final time missed the Queen’s Plate stakes record by just a fifth of a second, a testament to Northern Dancer’s speed and talent.
As it turns out, the Queen’s Plate was Northern Dancer’s final race. A injury during summer training prompted his retirement to stud, where he became a breed-shaping “sire of sires” with an immeasurable impact on modern Thoroughbred pedigrees. His racing exploits were likewise heralded; Northern Dancer was voted champion 3-year-old male of 1964 in both the U.S. and Canada, and he joined the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame in 1976.
These days, Northern Dancer is best remembered for his record-setting Kentucky Derby run and his outsized impact as a stallion. But Northern Dancer also ranks as the only horse to ever complete the Kentucky Derby/Queen’s Plate double, a spectacular cross-continent achievement that truthfully might never be replicated.
J. Keeler Johnson is a writer, videographer, handicapper, and all-around horse racing enthusiast. A great fan of racing history, he considers Dr. Fager to be the greatest racehorse ever produced in America, but counts Zenyatta as his all-time favorite. You can follow him on Twitter at @J_Keelerman.