The 1964 Derby was highlighted by the first win for a Canadian horse at the Derby. That horse was the legendary Northern Dancer. He would go on to become the most successful sire of the 20th century. He won the Derby in the record time of 2 minutes flat. That record stood until 1973 when "the living, breathing locomotive" Secretariat ran the course in 1 min 59.4 seconds. The only horse to break the 2 min barrier since 1973 was Monarchos in 2001 with a winning time of 1 min 59.97 secs.
Called the Sire of Champions Northern Dance sired 147 stakes winners including the great Nijinsky II who was the last horse to win England's Triple Crown in 1970. One of his other sons Northern Taste was the leading sire in Japan for 10 years.
Northern Dancer was retired from stud in 1987 and died in 1990.
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