Dance Smartly

Dance Smartly
Sire	Danzig
Grandsire	Northern Dancer
Dam	Classy 'n Smart
Damsire	Smarten
Sex	Mare
Foaled	1988
Country	Canada
Colour	Bay
Breeder	Sam-Son Farm
Owner	Sam-Son Farm
Trainer	James E. Day
Record	17: 12-2-3
Earnings	$3,263,835
Major wins
Natalma Stakes (1990) Canadian Oaks (1991) Queen's Plate (1991) Prince of Wales Stakes (1991) Breeders' Stakes (1991) Molson Export Million (1991) Breeders' Cup Distaff (1991) Canadian Maturity Stakes (1992)
Awards
10th Canadian Triple Crown Champion (1991) United States Champion 3-Yr-Old Filly (1991) Canadian Horse of the Year (1991) Sovereign Award for Outstanding Broodmare (2001)
Honours
Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame (1995) United States Racing Hall of Fame (2003) Dance Smartly Stakes at Woodbine Racetrack
Last updated on 30 September 2011

Dance Smartly (1988–2007) was a Champion Thoroughbred Canadian and U.S. Hall of Fame racemare who went undefeated in 1991 while winning the Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing and becoming the first horse bred in Canada to ever win a Breeders' Cup race.

Bred in Ontario by Sam-Son Farm, the bay mare was by Danzig (a son of Northern Dancer). Her dam was the Canadian Hall of Fame mare Classy 'n Smart by Smarten.

Racing career

Trained by Jim Day, as a two-year-old, Dance Smartly won three of five races, then at age three developed into one of the top Thoroughbreds in North America, going undefeated in the 1991 racing season. Ridden by Hall of Fame jockey Pat Day, Dance Smartly became the second filly (after Queensway in 1932) to capture the Canadian Triple Crown by winning the Queen's Plate, the Prince of Wales Stakes, and the Breeders' Stakes. She capped off her year at Churchill Downs with a victory in the Breeders' Cup Distaff. For her 1991 performances, Dance Smartly was voted the Eclipse Award as North America's best three-year-old filly plus two Sovereign Awards as Canada's best three-year-old filly and the Horse of the Year honor.

Dance Smartly raced four more times at age four, then retired as the number one money-winning filly in the world.

Stud record

As a broodmare at Sam-Son Farm, she produced a number of top horses, including the back-to-back Queen's Plate winners Scatter The Gold and Dancethruthedawn (won Go For Wand Handicap), both by Mr. Prospector.

Dance Smartly was euthanized in August 2007 after suffering an irreparable injury in her paddock at Sam-Son Farm. She was 19 years old and not in foal at the time.

Honours

In 1995, Dance Smartly was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame and in 2003 into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame at Saratoga Springs, New York.

Tabulated pedigree

Pedigree of Dance Smartly (CAN), bay mare, 1988

Sire Danzig (USA) 1977	Northern Dancer (CAN) 1961	Nearctic	Nearco
			Lady Angela
		Natalma	Native Dancer
			Almahmoud
	Pas de Nom 1968	Admiral's Voyage	Crafty Admiral
			Olympia Lou
		Petitioner	Petition
			Steady Aim
Dam Classy 'n Smart (CAN) 1981	Smarten	Cyane	Turn-To
			Your Game
		Smartaire	Quibu
			Art Teacher
	No Class	Nodouble	Noholme
			Alba-Jay
		Classy Quillo	Outing Class
			Quillopoly

References

• Dance Smartly's pedigree and racing stats
• Dance Smartly at the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame
• Dance Smartly at the United States' National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
• August 20, 2007 obituary for Dance Smartly at Thoroughbred Times

External links

• ESPN Dance Smartly, Champion Filly, Dead at 19