Sagamore to Sponsor Native Dancer Stakes

Sagamore Racing, the horse racing team based at historic Sagamore Farm in Maryland, in partnership with the Maryland Jockey Club, announced today it will sponsor the $125,000 Native Dancer Stakes on Monday, January 21, 2013 at Laurel Park. Entries for the 1-1/16 mile test for older horses will be taken Thursday afternoon, January 17.

The Native Dancer Stakes will honor the legendary career of Alfred Vanderbilt’s Hall of Fame Thoroughbred, Native Dancer, known to the public as the Galloping Grey Ghost. During his racing career which spanned from 1952 to 1954, Native Dancer went 21 for 22, winning both the Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes in 1953. The magnificent son of Polynesian lost just once, finishing a neck behind Dark Star in the Kentucky Derby, during which he was bumped and then had to circle the field. He was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1963. Upon his retirement from racing, Native Dancer entered stud at Vanderbilt’s Sagamore Farm in Baltimore County, where he sired 45 stakes winners. He passed away in 1967 and is buried at Sagamore.

“We are honored and excited for the opportunity to partner with the Maryland Jockey Club for this special race,” said Tom Mullikin, Sagamore Racing General Manager. “Native Dancer is and will always remain a Sagamore Racing legend, and even as we look ahead to the upcoming race season, it is important that we remember and celebrate our deep-rooted history.”

“When you think of Sagamore, the first name that comes to mind is Native Dancer,” Maryland Jockey Club president Tom Chuckas said. “We are thrilled Kevin Plank and Tom Mullikin are putting the Sagamore name on Monday’s race.”