14 Facts About Stanley Dancer

Stanley Franklin Dancer was an American harness racing driver and trainer.

Stanley Dancer was the only horseman to drive and train three Triple Crowns in horse racing.

Stanley Dancer was the first trainer to campaign a horse to $1 million in a career, Cardigan Bay in 1968, and drove the Harness Horse of the Year seven times.

Stanley Dancer borrowed silks for his first race, driving a horse he had bought for $75 using money he had won from a 4-H Club.

Stanley Dancer started driving horses at Freehold Raceway in 1945, winning his first race the following year.

Stanley Dancer started his stable in 1948 with a trotter he had bought using $250 of his wife's college savings.

Stanley Dancer rode New Zealand horse Cardigan Bay to $1 million in winnings in 1968, the first harness horse to surpass that milestone.

Stanley Dancer earned $1 million in purses in 1964, becoming the first driver to win that much in a single year, and drove Cardigan Bay, the first standardbred horse to win $1 million in career prize money.

Stanley Dancer drove his 3,781st and final winner in 1995, bringing in $28,002,426 during his career as a driver.

Stanley Dancer won the Triple Crown three times, with trotters Nevele Pride in 1968 and Super Bowl in 1972, and with pacer Most Happy Fella in 1970.

Stanley Dancer won the Hambletonian four times and was inducted into the United States Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 1969.

Stanley Dancer reluctantly entered the little-known Duenna at the insistence of His family and friends, and won the race, the first filly to win the race in 17 years.

Stanley Dancer died at age 78 on September 8,2005, in his home in Pompano Beach, Florida, from prostate cancer.

Stanley Dancer was survived by his wife Jody, whom he married in 1985; two sons, two daughters, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.