Gate Dancer (USA)
March 31, 1981 – March 6, 1998
Sovereign Dancer (USA) x Sun Gate (USA), by Bull Lea (USA)
Family 3-l
March 31, 1981 – March 6, 1998
Sovereign Dancer (USA) x Sun Gate (USA), by Bull Lea (USA)
Family 3-l
High-strung and quirky, Gate Dancer took every bit of National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame trainer Jack Van Berg's skill to become a top racehorse. A tough, sound runner, he was fiercely competitive and could not faulted for his gameness in a drive. Unfortunately, he was unable to reproduce his own considerable talent during his stud career.
Race record
28 starts, 7 wins, 8 seconds, 7 thirds, US$2.501.705
1983:
1984:
1985:
1986:
Assessments
Rated at 126 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American 3-year-old males of 1984, 3 pounds below champion Swale but second overall.
Rated at 124 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American older males of 1985, 2 pounds below champion sprinter Precisionist but tied for second with Lord At War, Track Barron and Vanlandingham (the official divisional champion).
Rated at 122 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American older males of 1986, 4 pounds below highweighted Precisionist and 3 pounds below Turkoman, the official divisional champion.
As an individual
A handsome bay horse, Gate Dancer raced in a distinctive hood with blinkers and earmuffs, the latter due to the need to block crowd noise from the excitable colt's hearing. Extremely competitive, he often tended to lug in during the stretch drive, causing him to be disqualified from second to third in the 1984 Breeders' Cup Classic (USA-G1) and from fourth to fifth in the 1984 Kentucky Derby (USA-G1). Gate Dancer also had a tendency to loaf if he made the lead too soon but had an excellent closing kick.
As a stallion
According to Jockey Club records, Gate Dancer sired 291 winners (66.0%) and 25 stakes winners (5.7%) from 441 named foals. The Blood-Horse credits Gate Dancer with 27 stakes winners (6.1%), none of which approached their sire's talent.
Notable progeny of daughters
Symbolic (ARG)
Connections
Gate Dancer was bred in Florida by William R. Davis, owner of Dixieland Farm. He was owned by Kenneth Opstein, who bought the colt privately as a yearling as part of a two-horse package. He was trained by Jack Van Berg. He had Angel Cordero Jr. aboard when he won the 1984 Preakness Stakes (USA-G1) but was ridden by several other top riders during his career. He entered stud in 1987 in Florida at Opstein's Good Chance Farm near Ocala. He moved to Lucas Farm in 1988 and to Silverleaf Farm near Summerhill, Florida, in 1997. His final move was to Johnson Hollow Farm near Oxford, Florida, where he died of complications of chronic laminitis on March 6, 1998.
Pedigree notes
Sired by the good Northern Dancer stallion Sovereign Dancer, Gate Dancer is inbred 5x5 to 1933 English dual Classic winner and six-time English champion sire Hyperion. He is a half brother to the minor stakes winners Harry's Secret Joy (by What a Pleasure) and Another Forbes (by Irish Castle).
Sun Gate, the dam of Gate Dancer, failed to win in 13 races. A closely inbred mare (she is by the great sire Bull Lea out of one of his own granddaughters and also carries crosses of 3x4x5 to Bull Lea's paternal grandsire Teddy), she is a half sister to Royal Entrance (by Bull Lea's champion son Tim Tam), dam of 1979 American champion 3-year-old filly Davona Dale (by Best Turn); second dam of 2006 Stephen Foster Handicap (USA-G1) winner Seek Gold, 1984 Stuttaford Fillies Guineas (SAF-G1) winner Flying Snowdrop, and English Group 2 winner Magic Gleam; and third dam of 1991 Futurity Stakes (USA-G1) winner Agincourt and 2003 Gran Premio de Las Americas (ARG-G1) winner Jamelao.
Prince's Gate (by Sun Again), the dam of Sun Gate, was a good race mare who won the 1961 Bed o' Roses Handicap. The next dam in the tail-female line, Siena Way, is a full sister to the great Citation.
Books and movies
Gate Dancer is profiled in Chapter 11 of Avalyn Hunter's American Classic Pedigrees 1914-2002 (2003, Eclipse Press).
Fun facts
Last updated: May 19, 2022
Race record
28 starts, 7 wins, 8 seconds, 7 thirds, US$2.501.705
1983:
- 2nd Los Feliz Stakes (USA-L, 6FD, Santa Anita)
1984:
- Won Super Derby Invitational Stakes (USA-G1, 10FD, Louisiana Downs; new track record 2:00-1/5)
- Won Preakness Stakes (USA-G1, 9.5FD, Pimlico)
- Won Omaha Gold Cup Stakes (USA-G3, 9FD, Ak-Sar-Ben)
- 2nd Breeders' Cup Classic (USA-G1, 10FD, Hollywood; disqualified from second)
- 2nd San Felipe Handicap (USA-G1, 8.5FD, Santa Anita)
- 2nd El Camino Real Derby (USA-L, 8.5FD, Bay Meadows)
- 3rd Arkansas Derby (USA-G1, 9FD, Oaklawn)
- 3rd Santa Catalina Stakes (USA-L, 8.5FD, Santa Anita)
1985:
- Won Cornhusker Handicap (USA-G2, 9FD, Ak-Sar-Ben)
- 2nd Breeders' Cup Classic (USA-G1, 10FD, Aqueduct)
- 2nd Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes (USA-G1, 12FD, Belmont)
- 2nd Marlboro Cup Invitational Handicap (USA-G1, 10FD, Belmont)
- 3rd Charles H. Strub Stakes (USA-G1, 10FD, Santa Anita)
- 3rd Santa Anita Handicap (USA-G1, 10FD, Santa Anita)
1986:
- 2nd Oaklawn Handicap (USA-G2, 9FD, Oaklawn)
- 3rd Widener Handicap (USA-G1, 10FD, Hialeah)
Assessments
Rated at 126 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American 3-year-old males of 1984, 3 pounds below champion Swale but second overall.
Rated at 124 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American older males of 1985, 2 pounds below champion sprinter Precisionist but tied for second with Lord At War, Track Barron and Vanlandingham (the official divisional champion).
Rated at 122 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American older males of 1986, 4 pounds below highweighted Precisionist and 3 pounds below Turkoman, the official divisional champion.
As an individual
A handsome bay horse, Gate Dancer raced in a distinctive hood with blinkers and earmuffs, the latter due to the need to block crowd noise from the excitable colt's hearing. Extremely competitive, he often tended to lug in during the stretch drive, causing him to be disqualified from second to third in the 1984 Breeders' Cup Classic (USA-G1) and from fourth to fifth in the 1984 Kentucky Derby (USA-G1). Gate Dancer also had a tendency to loaf if he made the lead too soon but had an excellent closing kick.
As a stallion
According to Jockey Club records, Gate Dancer sired 291 winners (66.0%) and 25 stakes winners (5.7%) from 441 named foals. The Blood-Horse credits Gate Dancer with 27 stakes winners (6.1%), none of which approached their sire's talent.
Notable progeny of daughters
Symbolic (ARG)
Connections
Gate Dancer was bred in Florida by William R. Davis, owner of Dixieland Farm. He was owned by Kenneth Opstein, who bought the colt privately as a yearling as part of a two-horse package. He was trained by Jack Van Berg. He had Angel Cordero Jr. aboard when he won the 1984 Preakness Stakes (USA-G1) but was ridden by several other top riders during his career. He entered stud in 1987 in Florida at Opstein's Good Chance Farm near Ocala. He moved to Lucas Farm in 1988 and to Silverleaf Farm near Summerhill, Florida, in 1997. His final move was to Johnson Hollow Farm near Oxford, Florida, where he died of complications of chronic laminitis on March 6, 1998.
Pedigree notes
Sired by the good Northern Dancer stallion Sovereign Dancer, Gate Dancer is inbred 5x5 to 1933 English dual Classic winner and six-time English champion sire Hyperion. He is a half brother to the minor stakes winners Harry's Secret Joy (by What a Pleasure) and Another Forbes (by Irish Castle).
Sun Gate, the dam of Gate Dancer, failed to win in 13 races. A closely inbred mare (she is by the great sire Bull Lea out of one of his own granddaughters and also carries crosses of 3x4x5 to Bull Lea's paternal grandsire Teddy), she is a half sister to Royal Entrance (by Bull Lea's champion son Tim Tam), dam of 1979 American champion 3-year-old filly Davona Dale (by Best Turn); second dam of 2006 Stephen Foster Handicap (USA-G1) winner Seek Gold, 1984 Stuttaford Fillies Guineas (SAF-G1) winner Flying Snowdrop, and English Group 2 winner Magic Gleam; and third dam of 1991 Futurity Stakes (USA-G1) winner Agincourt and 2003 Gran Premio de Las Americas (ARG-G1) winner Jamelao.
Prince's Gate (by Sun Again), the dam of Sun Gate, was a good race mare who won the 1961 Bed o' Roses Handicap. The next dam in the tail-female line, Siena Way, is a full sister to the great Citation.
Books and movies
Gate Dancer is profiled in Chapter 11 of Avalyn Hunter's American Classic Pedigrees 1914-2002 (2003, Eclipse Press).
Fun facts
- Gate Dancer is the first winner of an American Triple Crown race to have broken his maiden in Nebraska, which he did at the now-defunct Ak-Sar-Ben Racetrack in June 1983.
- As of 2022, Gate Dancer is the only horse to have been disqualified from a win or placing in the Breeders' Cup Classic (USA-G1). He was also the first horse ever to be disqualified for interference in the Kentucky Derby (USA-G1), getting dropped from fourth to fifth place.
- According to trainer Jack Van Berg, Gate Dancer would try to stomp on pigeons if they were on the ground in the shedrow when he was being walked there.
- Gate Dancer ran the 9.5 furlongs of the Preakess Stakes in 1:53-3/5, breaking what was then the official Pimlico track record of 1:54 set by Canonero II. Gate Dancer lost the distinction of having held the track record after a 2012 review of the films of Secretariat's 1973 Preakness win established that Secretariat had run the distance in 1:53.
Last updated: May 19, 2022