NEWS
Natalma among Canadian Hall of Fame inductees
Posted: Tuesday, May 22, 2007 7:09 PM
Natalma, the dam of breed-shaping sire Northern Dancer, and two-time Canadian Horse of the Year L’Enjoleur were among four Thoroughbred inductees elected into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame on Tuesday.
This year’s class will be inducted into the Canadian Hall of Fame during a special ceremony on August 23 at the Mississauga Convention Centre in Mississauga, Ontario.
Jockey Chris Loseth also is slated for induction along with Russ and Lois Bennett and Jack McNiven, who will be honored in the Builders category, and standout Standardbreds Bettors Delight and Cathedra.
Owned by E. P. Taylor, Natalma’s first foal was Northern Dancer, among the most influential sires of the 20th century.
Natalma, by Native Dancer, is out of Almahmoud, by *Mahmoud. The bay mare crossed the finish line first but was placed third in the 1959 Spinaway Stakes at Saratoga Race Course.
Natalma is the dam of five stakes winners, including Arctic Dancer, a full sister to Northern Dancer who produced La Prevoyante, Canada’s 1972 Horse of the Year and champion two-year-old filly in both Canada and the United States.
But it was Northern Dancer who would stamp Natalma’s lasting legacy.
Bred in Canada at Taylor’s Windfields Farm, Northern Dancer, by Nearctic, won the 1964 Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Queen’s Plate.
The bay horse wrapped up his two-year racing career in 1964 with 14 wins in 18 starts, including ten stakes wins, and $580,647 in earnings. Northern Dancer was named champion three-year-old male in the United States and Canada’s Horse of the Year in 1964.
Northern Dancer, who died in 1990, was a tremendous success in the breeding shed, siring 23 champions and 77 graded stakes winners in 23 crops and becoming one of the great sires of sires. His progeny include leading sires Nijinsky II, Nureyev, Lyphard, Sadler’s Wells, and Dixieland Band.
L’Enjoleur became the first horse to win consecutive Canadian Horse of the Year honors in 1974-’75. Owned by Jean-Louis Levesque, the Buckpasser horse out of the Northern Dancer mare Fanfreluche was named Canada’s champion two-year-old colt in 1974 after winning eight of his 15 starts, including a victory in the Laurel Futurity (G1).
L’Enjoleur won the Queens Plate and Prince of Wales Stakes to capture the first two legs of the Canadian Triple Crown in 1975, then finished third in the Breeders’ Stakes. The dark bay or brown horse was named Canada’s champion three-year-old colt in 1975 and earned all but one of his 15 wins in stakes races during a two-year racing career that concluded with $546,079 in earnings.
Canadian Hall of Fame member Yonnie Star trained L’Enjoleur and Jammed Lovely, who also will be inducted along with Canadian Champ, the 1956 Canadian Triple Crown winner and Horse of the Year.
Bill Beasley’s Canadian Champ, by Windfields, earned 15 of his 20 career wins in stakes races. He concluded his three-year racing career in 1957 as Canada’s all-time leading Thoroughbred money earner with $151,705.
Canadian Champ sired Canebora, the 1963 Canadian Horse of the Year, Triple Crown winner, and champion three-year-old; and Tilted Hero, a two-time Canadian champion.
A 12-person veteran’s committee chose to elect Canadian Champ for induction. A 16-person committee selected Thoroughbred and Standardbred inductees.
Conn Smythe’s Jammed Lovely was named Canada’s champion two-year-old in 1966. She was the lone filly entered in the 1967 Queen’s Plate Stakes, winning the race by a neck over Pine Point.
Loseth won the Sovereign Award as Canada’s champion apprentice rider in 1976, and was named Canada’s top jockey in 1984. A career winner of 3,669 races, Loseth earned eight wins on a single card at Hastings Park. He was presented with the Avelino Gomez Memorial Award at Woodbine in 2001.
Russ and Lois Bennett won the Sovereign Award for breeder in 1983. They bred Travelling Victor, Canada’s 1983 Horse of the Year and champion older horse who was regularly ridden by Loseth.
McNiven stood three of Canada’s leading stallions—Frisco Byrd, Dallas Almahurst, and Run The Table, a 2006 Canadian Hall of Fame inductee.
