Dance Smartly (1988–2007) was a Champion Thoroughbred racemare who went undefeated in 1991 while winning the Canadian Triple Crown and becoming the first horse bred in Canada to win a Breeders' Cup race. She was inducted into both the Canadian and American Racing Halls of Fame.

Bred in Ontario by Ernie Samuel's Sam-Son Farm, Dance Smartly was a bay mare with a distinctive white star on her forehead that earned her the nickname Daisy. She was by Danzig, one of Northern Dancer's most influential sire sons. Her dam was the Canadian Hall of Fame mare Classy 'n Smart by Smarten. She was trained by Jim Day.

Racing career

As a two-year-old, Dance Smartly won three of five races, including the Natalma Stakes, and finished third in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. She won the Sovereign Award for Canadian champion two-year-old filly. 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.

"Dance Smartly was a once in a lifetime horse," said Tammy Samuel-Balaz, the daughter of Dance Smartly's owner. "She was magic and gave us incredible thrills as both a racehorse and a broodmare. While we were fortunate enough to have bred and owned her, she was truly Canada's horse." Her dam was Classy 'n Smart, who won the Canadian Oaks and was named the Canadian champion three-year-old in 1984. Classy 'n Smart produced several other stakes winners including Smart Strike, a grade I winner and two-time leading sire in North America. Dance Smartly's second dam No Class was the foundation mare of Sam-Son Farms, producing six stakes winners and four champions including Sky Classic. No Class, Classy 'n Smart and Dance Smartly were each named Canadian Broodmare of the Year.

See also

  • List of racehorses

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
  • ESPN Dance Smartly, Champion Filly, Dead at 19