(This is the first of a six part series.)
Note: Among the sources referenced for this story is Lucy Heckman’s
excellent biography Damascus (Eclipse Press:2004), listed in the bibliography below, and which examines the long life of the great horse. Her account begins with a detailed discussion of his
pedigree, followed with his racing career, and finally tenure as a stallion. This
writer strongly recommends her book.
It
was called the “Race of the Decade”, and the “Race of the Century”. Three
major titans of the American turf ,who would all one day enter the Racing Hall of Fame, and be considered among the pantheon of greatest
runners of all time, collided on an autumn day in 1967, on a New York racetrack, to settle their affairs. When the 1 1/4 mile contest was over, one would be recognized as the top equine runner in America. What transpired, in front of more than 55,000 spectators, was a display of such sheer power, that it left no doubt who the country's premiere horse was.
PART
ONE: PARENTAGE
The horse was bred and owned by Mrs. Edith W.
Bancroft. He was a result of centuries of top breeding, handed down by his
Foundation Sire, the Darley Arabian. On his dam’s side, he was descended from
an English Foundation Mare called the Bustler Mare, making him a member of Family Number Eight, which also produced
Whirlaway, Bold Ruler, Nijinsky, and Ruffian to name just a few. He was inbred
4Dx5S to Phalaris (GB), the great sire of the modern era; Selene (GB) the
outstanding filly racer and dam of the immortal Hyperion (GB); and the American
standout racer and stallion Blue Larkspur.
The colt’s sireline traced back through five
generations to the French racer and stallion Teddy (FR) until the blood coursed
its way to his father, a smallish chestnut male, foaled on April 24, 1956, and given the
name Sword Dancer.
Sire
– Sword Dancer
Sword Dancer was a Brookmeade Stable Virginia-bred son of multiple stakes winning
Sunglow out of the unraced By Jimminy mare Highland Fling. By Jimminy was the 1944
Three-Year-Old Champion Male. Sword Dancer was also inbred 4Sx5D to Fair Play, and through his
third dam, Speed Boat, was a tail-female descendent of Man o’War.
Trained by Elliott Burch, in 1958 the two-year-old Sword
Dancer made fourteen starts, usually among large fields, and lost his first
seven races, all between three and 5 ½ furlongs, while racing in Florida and
the East Coast. He finally broke his maiden in a six furlong Maiden Special
Weight on August 23, at Saratoga, against eleven other juveniles. Although the
winner’s circle continued to elude him, he ran credibly, and demonstrated
glimpses of the brilliance which would emerge the following year. Going beyond
seven furlongs for the first time at Suffolk Downs on October 18, Sword Dancer
caught a fast track and won his first stake, the one mile, seventy yard
Mayflower by four and a half lengths, defeating thirteen opponents, with plenty
in reserve. Contesting a route of ground in the 1 1/16 mile Garden State
Stakes, at Garden State Park, he posted a good third place effort over the slop
behind Tomy Lee (GB) and eventual two-year-old champion male First Landing. Sword Dancer
concluded his year with a fourth place effort in Jamaica’s Remsen Stakes.
On March 11, 1959, Sword Dancer returned as a three-year-old,
finished fifth in the 6 ½ furlong Hutchinson Stakes at Gulfstream Park, and
thirteen days later annexed a mile,
seventy yard allowance. Now pointed toward the Triple Crown races, he finished
a strong second, less than a length short of winner Easy Spur in the 1 1/8 mile
Florida Derby. Arriving at Churchill Downs on April 25, for a seven furlong
allowance, Sword Dancer again met Easy Spur in addition to the brilliant
Citation filly and Santa Anita Derby winner Silver Spoon. He went gate to wire,
keeping Easy Spur contained by a length, with Silver Spoon another length and a
half back.
On May 2, Sword Dancer became involved in a heated duel with Tomy Lee in the Kentucky Derby, after both horses stayed close to the
pace behind early leader Troilus. Heading home, Sword Dancer had a slim lead,
but it was Tomy Lee who slipped past him at the finish, the margin a nose. A
seventeen minute foul claim inquiry lodged by Sword Dancer’s rider, Bill Boland,
ensued, but the result was allowed to stand, making Tomy Lee only the second
foreign-bred horse to win America’s most famous Thoroughbred race. Finishing
third was First Landing. With Bill Shoemaker now in the irons, on May 16 Sword
Dancer played bridesmaid again, finishing second to Royal Orbit in the
Preakness Stakes after early contention.
Sword Dancer then got down to serious business. He made
seven more starts in 1959, and won all but one race. Along the way, he captured
the one mile Metropolitan Handicap, 1 ½ mile Belmont Stakes, and 1 ¼ mile
Monmouth Handicap, with the latter two over sloppy conditions. After losing by
three-quarters of a length to Babu in the 1 3/16 mile Brooklyn Handicap at Jamaica,
Sword Dancer quickly returned to the winner’s circle, winning Saratoga’s 1 ¼
mile Travers Stakes, before defeating his elders in the 1 ¼ mile Woodward
Stakes at Aqueduct, in a field that included reigning Horse of the Year Round
Table. Sword Dancer concluded his campaign with a seven length victory in the
two mile Jockey Club Gold Cup, again beating Round Table, albeit receiving
weight allowances in his last two starts.
Sword Dancer’s dominance earned him Horse of the
Year honors in addition to being named Champion Three-Year-Old Male and
co-Champion Handicap Horse.
In 1960, as the fabled gelding Kelso began his five-year
reign as American racing king, Sword Dancer returned for a credible
four-year-old season of twelve starts, but his best days were behind him; however, he occasionally showed his championship form by winning the 1 1/8 mile Grey Lag Handicap, the 1 1/4 mile Suburban Handicap, and repeated as Woodward Stakes winner. He also raced three times on the grass, finishing a game second in the 1 3/16 mile United Nations Handicap, and third in the 1 1/2 mile Man o'War Stakes. He retired
from the track with career numbers of thirty-nine starts, fifteen wins, 7
seconds, 4 thirds, and $829,610 in earnings. He was inducted into the National
Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1977.
Sword Dancer sired 15 black-type winners. One of the mares he was bred to was a chestnut named
Rock Drill by Triple Crown winner Whirlaway. Rock Drill was a black-type winner,
and with Sword Dancer produced a chestnut filly in 1963 named Lady Pitt, who
would win the Mother Goose, Coaching Club American Oaks, and be named 1966
Three-Year-Old Champion Female. Sword Dancer's other champion was a son, one year younger than Lady Pitt.
Dam
– Kerala
Kerala was an unraced bay mare, bred in Kentucky by Greentree Stud, sired by My Babu
(FR.) out of the Sickle (GB) mare Blade of Time, and foaled in 1958. My Babu
was a two-year-old English champion male and a multiple stakes winner, which
included the Two Thousand Guineas at age three. My Babu was later a successful
sire in Europe and the United States. Kerala’s
dam, Blade of Time, also produced 1945 Santa Anita Derby winner Bymeabond.
As a broodmare, Kerala’s first two foals were bay
fillies. Full View, sired by black-type winner Nadir, was born in 1962, and
became a winner from 43 starts. Kerala’s second daughter, by black-type winner
Tulyar (IRE.), arrived the following year. She was Aunt Tilt, a stakes placed runner
from 37 starts.
Kerala next visited the court of Sword Dancer, and
from that cover, on April 14, 1964, at John A. Bell III's Jonabell Farm in Kentucky, gave birth to Mrs. Bancroft's bay colt. And thanks to what the offspring later
did on the racetrack, Kerala was selected 1967 Broodmare of the Year. The colt’s
name was Damascus.
To
be continued…
Bibliography
“Damascus,” equineline.com,
http://www.equineline.com/Free-5X-Pedigree.cfm?page_state=ORDER_AND_CONFIRM&reference_number=111755®istry=T&horse_name=Damascus&dam_name=Kerala&foaling_year=1964&nicking_stats_indicator=Y
Daily Racing Form, Champions: The Lives, Times, and Past Performances of America’s
Greatest Thoroughbreds, Revised Edition, Champions from 1893-2004 (New
York: Daily Racing Form Press, 2005), p.202.
“Family 8: Bustler Mare,” Thoroughbred Heritage, Historic Dams, http://www.tbheritage.com/HistoricDams/EngFoundationMares/Family8/Family8.html
“Sword Dancer,” equineline.com,
http://www.equineline.com/Free-5X-Pedigree.cfm?page_state=ORDER_AND_CONFIRM&reference_number=493926®istry=T&horse_name=Sword
Dancer&dam_name=Highland Fling&foaling_year=1956&nicking_stats_indicator=Y
Daily Racing Form, The American Racing Manual 1992 (Hightstown, N.J.: Daily Racing
Form Inc., 1992), pp. 758, 1055.
Daily Racing Form, Champions, p. 82.
Thoroughbred Times Co., Inc., The Original Thoroughbred Times Racing Almanac 2009 (Lexington, KY:
Thoroughbred Times Books, 2008), p. 110.
Daily Racing Form, Champions, p. 170.
“Sword Dancer,” Thoroughbred
Champions: Top 100 Racehorses of the 20th Century (Lexington,
KY: The Blood-Horse, Inc., 1999), pp. 154-155.
Orlo Robertson (Associated Press), “Tomy Lee
Captures The Kentucky Derby,” The
Florence Times, May 3, 1959, p 1.
Associated Press, “English Colt Wins Kentucky
Derby,” The News and Courier, May 3, 1959.
Daily Racing Form, Champions, p. 136.
Daily Racing Form, Champions, p.170.
Daily Racing Form, Champions, p.170.
“Lady Pitt,” equineline.com,
http://www.equineline.com/Free-5X-Pedigree.cfm?page_state=ORDER_AND_CONFIRM&reference_number=262881®istry=T&horse_name=Lady
Pitt&dam_name=Rock Drill&foaling_year=1963&nicking_stats_indicator=Y
Daily Racing Form, The American Racing Manual 1992 (Hightstown, N.J.: Daily Racing
Form, Inc., 1992), pp. 735, 898.
Thoroughbred Times Co., Inc., The Original Thoroughbred Times Racing Almanac 2009, p. 110.
“Rock Drill,” equineline.com,
http://www.equineline.com/Free-5X-Pedigree.cfm?page_state=ORDER_AND_CONFIRM&reference_number=419679®istry=T&horse_name=Rock
Drill&dam_name=Flyaway
Home&foaling_year=1951&nicking_stats_indicator=Y
Lucy Heckman, Damascus
Thoroughbred Legends No. 22(Lexington, KY: Eclipse Press, 2004) p.
35-36.
“Bymeabond,” equineline.com, http://www.equineline.com/Free-5X-Pedigree.cfm?page_state=ORDER_AND_CONFIRM&reference_number=70177®istry=T&horse_name=Bymeabond&dam_name=Blade
of Time&foaling_year=1942&nicking_stats_indicator=Y
Daily Racing Form, The American Racing Manual 1992 (Hightstown, N.J.: Daily Racing
Form Inc., 1992), p. 982.
“Full View,” equineline.com,
http://www.equineline.com/Free-5X-Pedigree.cfm?page_state=ORDER_AND_CONFIRM&reference_number=177023®istry=T&horse_name=Full
View&dam_name=Kerala&foaling_year=1962&nicking_stats_indicator=Y
“Nadir,” equineline.com,
http://www.equineline.com/Free-5X-Pedigree.cfm?page_state=PROCESS_SUBMIT&horse_name=Nadir&foaling_year=1955&reference_number=340580&nicking_stats_indicator=Y
“Tulyar,” equineline.com,
http://www.equineline.com/Free-5X-Pedigree.cfm?page_state=ORDER_AND_CONFIRM&reference_number=521716®istry=T&horse_name=*Tulyar&dam_name==Neocracy
(GB)&foaling_year=1949&nicking_stats_indicator=Y
“Aunt Tilt,” equineline.com,
http://www.equineline.com/Free-5X-Pedigree.cfm?page_state=ORDER_AND_CONFIRM&reference_number=22500®istry=T&horse_name=Aunt
Tilt&dam_name=Kerala&foaling_year=1963&nicking_stats_indicator=Y
Lucy Heckman, Damascus, p.
105.
Copyright 2012 by John Califano
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