Nicknamed the Gray Ghost, Native Dancer was one of the most celebrated and accomplished thoroughbred racehorses in history. Voted Horse of the Year for 1954, he appeared on the May 31st cover of Time Magazine and is considered the first animal start of the multimedia era.

Born at Scott Farm near Lexington, Kentucky Native Dancer was raised and trained at owner Alfred G. Vanderbilt Jr.'s Sagamore Farm in Glyndon, Maryland. The Grey Ghost was the son of 1945 Preakness Stakes winner Polynesian by the mare Geisha. In Native Dancer’s first season of racing won all nine races he entered, thrilling crowds with his come-from-behind running style. He was voted the Eclipse Award as Champion 2-year-old for 1952 with two of the three major polls naming him Horse of the Year.

In his three-year-old campaign, the undefeated racehorse received a great deal of media attention leading up to the 1953 Kentucky Derby. He won both the Gotham Mile and the prestigious Wood Memorial on route to racings most prestigious event but at the Derby, Native Dancer lost for the first time. Following his loss at Churchill Downs, Native Dancer quickly reestablished himself by winning the Preakness Stakes, the Belmont Stakes and the Travers Stakes. Native Dancer never lost again that season and was named Champion Three Year Old Colt.

In 1954, Native Dancer won all three races he entered and was scheduled to be shipped to France to compete in the prestigious Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. However, he had to be retired as a result of a recurring foot injury with a record of 21 wins out of 22 lifetime races.

Native Dancer has also become a very successful sire, and is an ancestor of countless modern champions. One of his daughters, a mare named Natalma produced the great Northern Dancer. His tail-male descendants, particularly through his grandson Mr. Prospector, have come to dominate many U.S. Triple Crown races.

Native Dancer was inducted in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1963 and on November 16, 1967 he passed away and was buried at Sagamore Farm in Glyndon, Maryland.

Native Dancer's race record:
 

Age	Starts	1st	2nd	3rd	earnings
2	9	9	0	0	$230,495
3	10	9	1	0	513,425
4	3	3	0	0	41,320
Totals	22	21	1	0	$785,240

His pedigree:

NATIVE DANCER gr.c. 1950	Polynesian 1942	Unbreakable 1935	Sickle 1924	Phalaris Selene
			Blue Glass 1917	Prince Palatine Hour Glass II
		Black Polly 1936	Polymelian 1914	Polymelus Pasquita
			Black Queen 1930	Pompey Black Maria
	Geisha 1943	Discovery 1931	Display 1923	Fair Play Cicuta
			Ariadne 1926	Light Brigade Adrienne
		1935	John P. Grier 1917	Whisk Broom II Wonder
			La Chica 1930	Sweep La Grisette