Sword Dancer - A Name Replaced But Not Forgotten

 

Sword Dancer – A Name Replaced But Not Forgotten

Joseph Di Rienzi

Sword Dancer at Belmont Park in 1959
(Keeneland Library Morgan Collection)

On August 15, 2026 the New York Racing Association will run the Christophe Clement Turf Stakes at Saratoga Racetrack named in honor of the National Racing Museum and Hall of Fame trainer who passed away in 2025. Previously the Sword Dancer Stakes, it will be run over the turf at its customary 1½ mile distance. (Christophe Clement, himself had trainees win the Sword Dancer a record five times.) Before the name Sword Dancer is shelved in the attic of thoroughbred racing history, I would like to present a history of this splendid horse’s career.

Born in 1956 in Virginia at Isabel Doge Sloane’s Brookmeade Stable, Sword Dancer was a small bright chestnut colt with a white blaze running down his face and three white stockinged feet. He was trained his entire racing career by J. Elliott Burch who had succeeded his father, Preston Burch, as Brookmeade’s trainer. The colt was sired by home stallion Sunglow out of the mare Highland Fling.

Elliot Burch wasted no time in launching Sword Dancer’s racing career, as the sprightly chestnut had his first race on February 28, 1958 in a 3 furlong maiden raced at Hialeah Racetrack. Finishing a distant fourth in that dash, it would take seven more races before the colt broke his maiden. That was a 6 furlong contest at Saratoga in late August. Showing improvement with experience and competing in races of increasing distance, Sword Dancer won his first stakes race, the Mayflower, at Suffolk Downs in Massachusetts. Coming from 11^th place in the mile and 70 yard contest, the Brookmeade colt displayed a devastating closing rally to win going away by 4½ lengths.

Sword Dancer’s penultimate two-year-old race was in the Garden State Stakes, at the time the world’s richest race. He put in a solid effort to finish third, 2 lengths behind the embattled pair of First Landing and Tomy Lee, the leading juveniles of 1958. Excused for his fourth place finish in the Remsen Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack, Elliott Burch took his young horse into winter quarters in Florida, hopeful he had a legitimate contender for the 1959 classic races.

A fever delayed Sword Dancer’s initial sophomore start until March 1959, when he finished fifth in the 7 furlong Hutcheson Stakes at Gulfstream Park. Running back in less than two weeks, the Sunglow colt showed good early speed in winning a 1 mile and 70 yard allowance race by 2 easy lengths. The Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park was Sword Dancer’s first major test, and he faced the surprising Flamingo Stakes winner Troilus. Racing the latter into defeat, Sword Dancer battled through the stretch with Troilus’ stablemate Easy Spur going down in defeat by ¾ of a length.

Convinced his colt was a legitimate Kentucky Derby contender, Burch arranged for top jockey William Shoemaker to ride Sword Dancer in the 7 furlong Stepping Stone race at Churchill Downs. Defeating rival Easy Spur and the previously undefeated filly Silver Spoon in fast time, the Brookemeade colt emerged as one of the top choices for the Run for the Roses.

The main problem going into the big race was the rider. Shoemaker had already committed to Tomy Lee who after a series of defeats and illness had found his best form, recently winning the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland Racecourse. Although Shoemaker’s agent had preferred his client ride Sword Dancer, he was not able to break the agreement. Burch, after much deliberation, went to Bill Boland, a veteran jockey who had ridden Sword Dancer once before when he broke his maiden at Saratoga.

Derby Day in 1959 was May 2 and a field of seventeen was loaded into the gate. It was considered a very competitive running with the best two-year-olds of last year, First Landing and Tomy Lee, almost co-favorites. Easy Spur and Sword Dancer were accorded good chances and, sentimentally there was a lot of support for the filly Silver Spoon.  Troilus led the field the first time around the track with Tomy Lee the closest pursuer. Sword Dancer raced prominently with First Landing and Silver Spoon stalking just behind the leaders.  At the top of the stretch, Tomy Lee was in front with Sword Dancer looming on his outside. Both First Landing and Silver Spoon had opportunities to make runs but failed to sustain their respective rallies. The stretch run was intense with Tomy Lee drifting out and making contact with Sword Dancer. Bumps were exchanged and the finish was decided by a nose - Tomy Lee’s. First Landing was third 2¼ lengths back, with Royal Orbit fourth and Silver Spoon fifth. An inquiry was lodged by Sword Dancer’s jockey William Boland, and after a lengthy time interval the Kentucky stewards were unwilling (at that time) to disqualify a horse that finished first in the Kentucky Derby. Thus, as a stroke of fate, William Shoemaker who tried to get off Tomy Lee to ride Sword Dancer was credited with providing the crucial difference.

After such a dramatic Derby, the Preakness Stakes two weeks later was a decided let down.  First of all, the connections of Tomy Lee shipped him back to California after a frenzied Kentucky campaign. Silver Spoon also returned to California and for most of her career was restricted to races against her own sex.
The Preakness was billed as a race between the second and third finishers in the Kentucky Derby, Sword Dancer (with Shoemaker back aboard) and First Landing, respectively. However, it was the Derby fourth, Royal Orbit who made a dramatic run from the rear to sweep by the field defeating Sword Dancer by 4 widening lengths with Dunce third.  First Landing showed little in finishing ninth and was discovered suffering from a liver illness which prevented his return to the races until late fall. 

There was a four week interval between the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes, and Elliott Burch used that time to enter his three-year-old in the Metropolitan Handicap at one mile against older horses.  Burch’s reason was two-fold. He wanted a race for his hardy battler, and at the scale of weights he thought the classic tested Sword Dancer had a great chance to win. Carrying 114 lb. Sword Dancer scored an authoritative victory over some of the best Eastern older horses and started a pattern that Elliot Burch would use successfully with two other Belmont Stakes winners. 

As for the 1959 Belmont Stakes, despite Royal Orbit’s presence, the public settled on the twice classic placed Sword Dancer fresh off his Metropolitan Mile win as the favorite. The race was not without drama and tragedy. King Ranch’s Black Hills making a menacing move on the stretch turn broke down and crashed into fellow Belmont contender, Lake Erie. The most memorable image from the race was the unconscious Eddie Arcaro (rider of Black Hills) lying face down in the mud on the turn. Fortunately, his injuries were not fatal, and he returned to riding later in the year. However, Black Hills injuries were severe enough that he had to be euthanized, casting a pall on the race.  Somewhat anticlimactically, Sword Dancer wore down West Coast invader Bagdad in the stretch to win the Belmont Stakes by ¾ of a length with Royal Orbit a distant third.  So, the American classics ended with a separate winner for each race, but with a horse, Sword Dancer, a diminutive bright chestnut with three white stockings, assuming the leadership of the division with his hardiness, stamina, and determination.  The rest of 1959 would see “Little Red” expand and extend this dominance.

Sword Dancer was given a little over a month’s rest and when he returned it was in the Monmouth Handicap at 1¼ miles against established older horses. Rallying from off the pace, the Brookemeade color bearer defeated Amerigo and Talent Show. Continuing to face his elders, the sturdy chestnut suffered a narrow lost to Chilean import Babu in the Brooklyn Handicap at Jamaica Racetrack while conceding 12 lb. in actual weight. Back in his own division, Sword Dancer cemented the three-year-old championship with a narrow ½ length victory while conceding weight to Middle Brother in the Travers Stakes – the Midsummer’s Derby at Saratoga Racetrack.

By the end of the summer it was surmised that the three best racehorses in the United States were the defending champ five-year-old Round Table, the California raced four-year-old Hillsdale, and the upstart three-year-old, Sword Dancer. The venue for a “Clash of the Titans” was the new racetrack in New York City, Aqueduct.  Hillsdale had shipped east and won a prep race at Belmont Park, then was victorious in the Aqueduct Handicap at one mile in the inaugural stakes run at the racetrack. The Woodward Stakes on Saturday, September 26, at 1¼ miles under weight-for-age conditions was the stage set to determine Horse of the Year honors. Only longshot Inside Tract was entered other than the “Big Three”. There was a significant and eventful jockey switch. William Shoemaker who had assumed the mount on Sword Dancer after the Kentucky Derby, was also the regular rider on Round Table. He chose the older horse over the three-year-old. Elliot Burch contracted the veteran big race rider Eddie Arcaro to highlight the importance he attached to winning this race. Hillsdale’s connections showed remarkable restraint in retaining his regular rider, Tommy Barrow, who was hardly a household name in the racing world.

As a race, the Woodward Stakes was a thriller. As usual in a small field there was race riding that may have determined the outcome. Hillsdale went to the front and set a leisurely pace with Round Table a close second. Inside Track and Sword Dancer traded places for third and fourth with the three-year-old saving ground on the inside. As the field entered the stretch, Sword Dancer seemed trapped on the rail as Hillsdale was fighting off Round Table’s bid. It appeared that Barrow aboard Hillsdale was so intent on defeating Round Table that he allowed his mount to drift off the rail just sufficient to allow Arcaro to slip Sword Dancer through and in a desperate finish win by a head. Round Table was a clearly beaten third.

This was the only meeting among these three equine stars. Hillsdale was retired after the Woodward.  Sword Dancer and Round Table would face each other one more time in the two mile Jockey Club Gold Cup. The race was anticlimactic, but nevertheless, definitive in that Sword Dancer won by 7 lengths over a sloppy racetrack surface not conducive to Round Table. In the year end awards Sword Dancer was voted Three-Year-Old Champion, Co-champion Male Handicap Horse and Horse of the Year whereas Round Table was Co-champion Male Handicap Horse and Turf Champion. 

Kept in training in 1960 as a four-year-old, Sword Dancer began the year regarded as a superstar. That appellation would be tarnished in that the consistency the son of Sunglow showed as a three-year-old was not evident. However, Sword Dancer did show flashes of his championship brilliance.

Elliot Burch started his colt’s four-year-old campaign in Florida over the winter, but he was slow to reach his best form. After a fourth-place finish in a 7 furlong allowance race at Hialeah Racetrack, Sword Dancer was entered in the Widener Handicap, the signature race for older horses at Hialeah, assigned top weight of 129 lb. In it he faced an emerging champion in Cain Hoy Stable’s Bald Eagle. The leggy dark bay five-year-old son of Nasrullah, trained by Woody Stephens, was a re-patriate from England initially thought by his connections to have classic potential on grass. He was slow to catch on to American racing, but had a very productive four-year-old campaign in 1959 finishing second to both Round Table and Hillsdale in stakes races, winning the venerable Suburban Handicap and capping the year with a victory in the Washington, D. C. International at Laurel Racetrack.

What was most impressive was Bald Eagle’s ability to handle both grass and dirt racing with equal facility and race at top form from 8 to 12 furlongs. In the Widener Handicap, the Cain Hoy horse, carrying 123 lb. defeated Calumet Farm’s On-and-On setting a new track record for the 1¼ mile race. Sword Dancer showed no spark in finishing seventh of eighth. Winning an allowance race at Gulfstream Park, Sword Dancer faced Bald Eagle again in the 1¼ mile Gulfstream Park Handicap with the weight difference now only 1 lb. However, the latter won again with Sword Dancer finishing a well beaten fourth.

Just when it looked like the year was lost, Sword Dancer regained his top form defeating his old rival First Landing by a neck in the 9 furlong Grey Lag Handicap at Aqueduct. Buoyed by that, Elliott Burch entered Sword Dancer in the Metropolitan Handicap facing Bald Eagle for a third meeting, this time having a 1 lb. advantage the weights. Any hopes for a repeat triumph in the Met Mile were dashed as the little chestnut’s rally only managed to garner fourth place. Bald Eagle, at his absolute best, won the Metropolitan Handicap defeating First Landing by 3½ lengths, setting a new track record for the 1 mile distance.

Bald Eagle, First Landing and Sword Dancer all returned in the 1¼ mile Suburban Handicap, the second leg of the Handicap Triple Crown. Bald Eagle, who appeared at this point unbeatable, was assigned 133 lb. to Sword Dancer’s 125 lb. and First Landing’s 122 lb. Whether it was the impost, the weight differential, or the difficulty in maintaining his brilliance, Bald Eagle finished a well beaten fourth with Sword Dancer wearing down First Landing in deep stretch for a ½ length victory.  

In the last leg of The Handicap Triple – Bald Eagle, Sword Dancer and First Landing all finished out of the money as On-and-On, regaining his Florida form, triumphed in a very sloppy running of the Brooklyn Handicap.

After this series of races in New York, Burch shipped Sword Dancer out of state and tried him on grass. In the Arlington Handicap, he finished sixth to Cain Hoy Stable’s One-Eyed King but was beaten only 3 lengths. In the United Nations Handicap at Atlantic City Racetrack, Sword Dancer out finished all but sophomore T. V. Lark, losing by 1½ lengths while conceding 7 lb. On September 24, one week after the U. N. race, Sword Dancer ran in the Woodward Stakes facing both Bald Eagle and T. V. Lark. Under Eddie Arcaro, the hardy chestnut triumphed again in this important weight-for-age race, rallying strongly to defeat Dotted Swiss by 1½ lengths with Bald Eagle another 2½ lengths back in third. The final time was a new track record for the distance.

Back on the grass one month later in the 1½ mile Man o’War Stakes, Sword Dancer finished in third behind upsetter Harmonizing with Bald Eagle second. An ankle injury prevented Sword Dancer from making his final start in the Washington, D. C. International. He was retired to stand stud at Darby Dan Farm in Lexington, KY. Overall, the son of Sunglow raced 39 times over the course of three years, achieving 15 victories and 11 placings, racing often at the highest level.

In stud, he was modestly successful siring champions Lady Pitt and Damascus, the latter considered one of the greatest horses of the 20^th century. In the latter part of his life Sword Dancer stood stud in France, dying in 1984.  In 1977, Sword Dancer was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame – a fitting honor for a horse who combined speed, stamina and determination, all attributes we honor in the thoroughbred.