Canadian-bred greats remembered in lavish new book as the country's Jockey Club marks its anniversary

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Here, Martin Stevens chats to Doug Anderson of The Jockey Club of Canada about the nation's breeding and racing stars, commemorated in a new book – subscribers can get more great insight every Monday to Friday.

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Mention Canadian breeding and thoughts immediately turn to the pint-sized patriarch Northern Dancer and all the wonderful horses his owner EP Taylor bred from him at Windfields in Oshawa: Nijinsky, Storm Bird, The Minstrel and so on. 

Nothing wrong with being associated with those titans of the turf, of course, but there’s more to the Canadian thoroughbred industry than that.  

Take the sire of the moment Justify, for example. He might have been foaled in Kentucky but he was bred by Canadian John Gunther and nine of his ancestors within four generations boast the CAN suffix. Cut him and he’d bleed maple syrup. 

Canada’s bountiful contribution to the breed is smartly illustrated in a sumptuous new book published by the country’s Jockey Club. 50 of the Finest, as it is named, updates and expands on a celebration of the country’s champions produced in the 1980s.  

Leafing through the book, it really is remarkable how many superstars have hailed from America’s northern neighbour in the past half century, besides Northern Dancer and his famous sons who found fame on this side of the Atlantic. 

There are the great racehorses, from Afleet to With Approval, other important sires like Awesome Again, Deputy Minister and Smart Strike, and several highly influential blue hen mares on the world stage.  

Awaasif, bred by Taylor from the imported Derby hero Snow Knight, took the Yorkshire Oaks and finished third in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe before producing for Sheikh Mohammed his promoted Oaks winner Snow Bride, who in turn bred the champion Lammtarra, while Glorious Song, a Halo full-sister to top two-year-old Devi’s Bag also bred by Taylor, became the dam of Rahy and Singspiel and therefore features in the pedigrees of numerous celebrity runners. 

Doug Anderson, the chief steward of The Jockey Club of Canada who oversaw the task of chronicling Canada’s best thoroughbreds, says: “We realised last year that it was 50 years since Mr Taylor founded the organisation and decided we’d celebrate the anniversary in two ways. 

“First, we sponsored a race at each of the major tracks across Canada: Woodbine and Fort Erie in Ontario; Assiniboia Downs in Manitoba; Century Downs and Century Mile in Alberta; and Hastings Park in British Columbia. 

“Then we set about producing this book, 50 of the Finest, taking our inspiration from the book in the 1980s. We drew up a list of 100 of the most distinguished thoroughbreds of the last 50 years, not just racehorses but stallions and broodmares too, and invited members of the Jockey Club to vote for their favourites or suggest another horse. 

“We tabulated the votes to produce the final 50 but were clear from the outset that the horses would be organised alphabetically, so there was no ranking of the horses. One of the idiosyncrasies of the book is that it’s actually 51 of the finest, as there was a tie in the voting and we couldn’t bring ourselves to leave one out.” 

All of the 51 horses have a page to themselves, featuring a picture, profile and pen portrait produced by award-winning writers. The finished product, not a commercial endeavour, was distributed to The Jockey Club of Canada members at its AGM in June, and a digital version will be available to view on the organisation’s website.

Northern Dancer (right) becomes the first Canadian-bred horse to win the Kentucky Derby in 1964

Northern Dancer, the horse who revolutionised the country’s breeding industry, has two pages dedicated to him at the start of the book. He is, with full justification, first among equals. 

“Understandably, there is a substantial skew to the 1970s in the book,” says Anderson. “It was a wonderful time for native Canadian breeding. Northern Dancer fell outside of the timeframe, as he was born, raced and went to stud well before 1973, but everything we’ve got flows from him and Mr Taylor. 

“We calculated that 34 of the 51 horses in the book descend from Northern Dancer through either the sire or the dam, and nine are descended from him through both. That’s pretty typical, as Northern Dancer shows up in about 70 per cent of pedigrees. 

“We were actually a little surprised that the figure wasn’t higher, when he was such a dominant influence, but on further reflection it was understandable. Mr Taylor stood other prominent sires like Halo – Glorious Song had no Northern Dancer in her pedigree, for instance – and some of the other leading Canadian breeders of the time were using stallions like Buckpasser and Damascus. 

“No Class, bred by Jack Hood Farms from Nodouble, is another example of a superb horse not descended from Northern Dancer. She was an accomplished, if not outstanding, racehorse but the impact she had on the breed was phenomenal.” 

Phenomenal is the word. No Class produced Canadian champions Classy ‘N Smart, Grey Classic, Regal Classic and Sky Classic, as well as another Grade 1 winner in Always A Classic. Classy ‘N Smart was herself the dam of champions Dance Smartly and Smart Strike, while Always A Classic, Regal Classic and Sky Classic were sires

Perhaps the ultimate compliment to Canadian breeding lies in the honourable mentions section of 50 of the Finest. Some great horses feature among those who didn’t quite make the cut.  

“Some surprised me,” says Anderson. “Northern Baby, for example. He was an accomplished horse in Europe, and not a bad sire; not as laudable as others, perhaps, but he produced some very nice horses along the way.” 

It has to be said that Canada isn’t the force it once was in breeding, but then it set itself a dizzyingly high standard with Northern Dancer and his offspring. 

The CAN suffix is seen far less often in Europe now, although there has been the odd success: Cornwallis Stakes winner and popular young sire Sergei Prokofiev, bred by David Anderson in Ontario (no relation to Doug), for one, and Railway Stakes scorer Van Beethoven, bred by Ballycroy Training Centre, for two. 

Sergei Prokofiev: success carrying the (CAN) suffixCredit: Kitty Trice

“There’s been a re-energisation,” says Anderson. “Since Covid the Canadian foal crop has rebounded. We have a mare recruitment programme that gives breeders a subsidy if they bring an in-foal mare to Canada and foal her here, which is half the value of the mare up to Can$25,000. We’ve had 275 or so pregnant mares come into Ontario in the last three years with the help of that scheme. 

“We have people like Dave [Anderson] and the Kemps at Ballycroy breeding really good horses. There’s also Adena Springs, the Krembils at Chiefswood Stables, Highfield Stock Farm and many more operations going well. Charles Fipke foals mares in Canada as well as the US, and there are plenty of other entities who do that too.” 

The health of individual breeding jurisdictions is usually dependent on its stallion population – Northern Dancer certainly created a rising tide that lifted all boats in Canada for more than two decades – and the country lacks a world-class name who would attract more inward investment at present.  

“The last stallion of true international repute we had was probably Silver Deputy, a son of Deputy Minister who eventually went to Kentucky,” says Anderson. “But we’ve got some decent horses here. Point Of Entry and Souper Speedy do well, and Silent Name, who was beaten narrowly in the Prix de la Foret before becoming a leading turf horse in North America, has been Canadian champion sire twice. 

“We have an exciting new horse for next year, too, with the Krembils standing their high-class Pioneerof The Nile colt Weyburn in Ontario.”

Similarly, the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society’s annual yearling sale might not have been turbo-boosted by Northern Dancer for decades, but it is on a bit of a roll. 

The Can$115,000 top lot in 2022 was the Cairo Prince colt My Boy Prince, third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf and a close second in the weather-delayed King’s Plate at Woodbine last Friday for trainer Mark Casse and owner Gary Barber, while last year’s Can$150,000 sale-topper was a full-brother to the brilliant sprinter Pink Lloyd, one of the recent additions to 50 of the Finest. 

This year’s auction, featuring 244 hips, takes place at the Woodbine sales pavilion on Wednesday. 

“We worked quite actively this year to invigorate the sale, recruiting yearlings who might otherwise have been directed to Keeneland or Fasig-Tipton in September and October,” says Anderson. “We’ve also been busy getting US-based buyers on board. 

Doug Anderson: 'We worked quite actively this year to invigorate the sale'

“The bloodstock agent Donato Lanni was at the sale last year and as well as buying for Madaket, SF and X-Men Racing, he also has a group called Canuck Racing that he buys for here. Mark Casse, who trains at Woodbine in addition to his bases in the US, also looks at horses here for owners like Gary Barber.

“We’ve got yearlings by stallions such as Cairo Prince, Caravaggio, Kitten’s Joy, Liam’s Map, Maximum Security, Nyquist, Omaha Beach and Practical Joke, as well as Frosted, who’s rebounded. We don’t get the Curlins or Into Mischiefs, but we’ve got their sons.”

He adds: “It’s not what it used to be. I’m old enough to remember the last Northern Dancer yearlings that went through the Ontario sale, and seeing one sell for Can$1 million and everyone standing and applauding. Those were the days when representatives of the Maktoums and Robert Sangster would be involved. 

“But, you know, Donato signs tickets for multi-million-dollar yearlings; he’s not an inconsequential buyer. Gary Barber, who’s won the King’s Plate a couple of times, continues to invest in Canadian-breds. There’s respect for our stock out there.”

 It might just be worth consulting the catalogue for the sale. It could contain an entry in a future update to 50 of the Finest.

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