NATIVE DANCER'S SAGAMORE
By: Tom Ferry
When you drive through the spectacular countryside of the Worthington Valley, you can’t miss it. The early style cupolas atop the signature red-roofed barns and miles of white fences dot the Glyndon-Reisterstown, Maryland landscape. Sagamore Farm is one of the premier breeding and training grounds in the American Thoroughbred industry and one of its most recognizable landmarks. While it is known today for being the 530-acre estate owned by Under Armour CEO and founder Kevin Plank, it will forever be the home of the Grey Ghost of Sagamore… Native Dancer.
Sagamore was founded in 1925 by Issac E. Emerson who invented the headache remedy Bromo-Seltzer. Emerson gave the farm to daughter Margaret who bequeathed it to son Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt, Jr. in 1933 for his 21st birthday. Vanderbilt would have a significant impact on the sport of horse racing. He pioneered the use of the starting gate and the photo finish. And while still in his 20s, he would run Maryland’s Pimlico Race Course and New York’s Belmont Park. Surrounded by wealth and opportunity, Alfred personally oversaw the breeding and training of horses at Sagamore.
In 1936, his successful handicap champion Discovery retired to stud at Sagamore and became the farm’s foundation sire. While the horse only sired 25 stakes winners across a 21-year stallion career, he produced three daughters who would help change the sport forever. One daughter produced Bed o’ Roses, a two-time filly/mare champion and member of the Racing Hall of Fame. Another produced Bold Ruler, who was the Leading Sire in North America a record eight times and sired a horse by the name of Secretariat. In 1949, Discovery’s daughter Geisha was bred to 1945 Preakness champion Polynesian. On March 27, 1950, the resulting foal was born at Scott Farm near Lexington, Kentucky and was moved soon afterwards to Sagamore. He would call the farm home for the next 17 years but along the way Native Dancer would win 21 of 22 career starts, appear on the cover of Time Magazine and become horse racing’s first television superstar.
Native Dancer won all nine starts during his two-year-old season and won his first of two Horse of the Year titles. Fans across America who watched the grey horse on television were captivated by his thrilling come from behind running style. During his three-year-old year, TV Guide ranked him second to Ed Sullivan as the biggest attraction on television. Thousands tuned in as Native Dancer entered the 1953 Kentucky Derby (G1) as the unbeaten 7-10 favorite. Anticipation turned to heartbreak as the seemingly unbeatable Grey Ghost was defeated by a head by 24-1 longshot Dark Star. But he would never lose again. In the following weeks and months, he would capture the Preakness Stakes (G1), Belmont Stakes (G1) and Travers Stakes (G1) , among others. When he retired during the 1954 season due to a recurring foot injury, he concluded his career with 21 wins in 22 starts and earnings of $785,240.
Native Dancer carried his racing success over to the breeding shed at Sagamore Farm and sired 44 stakes winners including 1966 Kentucky Derby winner Kauai King. More significantly, he was the grandsire of the great Mr. Prospector and broodmare sire of the legendary Northern Dancer. Visitors to Sagamore today can walk into Native Dancer’s historic stallion barn. During Sagamore’s glory days, every barn and building told a story about the farm’s racing and breeding legacy. There was the famous 90-stall training barn with its quarter-mile interior track. A 20-stall broodmare barn and a 16-stall foaling barn were also in place. And a seven furlong training track helped prepare some of the greatest racehorses the sport has ever seen.
In 1986, Vanderbilt sold the farm to developer James Ward. Twenty years later, the farm had fallen into disrepair. The familiar red barn roofs had begun to cave in and the one-time bright white fences had started to peel. That is when Kevin Plank stepped in and purchased Sagamore with a long-term plan for a major restoration. With eyes towards the future yet with deep love and respect for the farm’s past, Plank and team aggressively moved forward and began by restoring the fencing, followed by the historic barns. Then came the outdoor training track. The hallowed seven-furlong ground once galloped on by Native Dancer, Bed o’ Roses, and Discovery was covered with weeds, rocks and broken rails. Plank said re-do it and, subsequently, the old footprint of the track was used and a synthetic Tapeta Footings surface was installed.
The ambitions were lofty. It wouldn’t be enough to merely return Sagamore Farm to a major racing and breeding operation. The stated goal then and now is to win the Triple Crown. On November 5, 2010, three years after the farm was purchased, dreams began to come true when four-year-old Sagamore filly Shared Account entered the Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Churchill Downs. Facing a field of 10, including past Breeders’ Cup champions Forever Together and Midday, Shared Account pulled off a 46-1 upset to capture the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1) championship.
Today, the black and gray and maroon diamond silks of Sagamore compete at racetracks across America. The farm regularly enters Winners’ Circles with stakes and graded stakes winners and the future is bright with exciting racehorses like Recruiting Ready and Global Campaign.
Just inside the farm’s entry gates is a barn. And in the barn, there is a particular stall. While Native Dancer died in 1967, his stall looks as it did more than 50 years ago and appears as if he might return at any minute. Just outside the stall is an old white and deep red trunk containing the initials “AGV” on its top. Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt’s legacy is very much alive today. When echoes of yesterday merge with the promise of tomorrow, it is an unbeatable combination.