Bill Hartack's Derby Winners
Jockey One of Only Two Riders to Win Kentucky Roses Five Times
Bill Hartack won his first Kentucky Derby with Iron Liege in 1957. In the 1960s his four champions were Venetian Way, Decidedly, Northern Dancer, and Majestic Prince.
Bill Hartack won his first Kentucky Derby in 1952, taking up where Eddie Arcaro left off. Iron Liege was Hartack's mount that year. Hartack was the Derby man in the 1960s, winning the race four more times with the likes of Venetian Way, Decidedly, Northern Dancer, and Majestic Prince.
Arcaro's last Derby win came in 1952, just five years before Hartack established a new reign. Hartack and Arcaro remain the only two jockeys ever to win the Run for the Roses five times.
The First of Five, Iron Liege, 1957
At age two, Iron Liege won two of eight starts. He took one second and one third and earned $10,705.
Iron Liege was one Thoroughbred among several very good three-year-olds in 1957.
At three, the bay son of Bull Lea and Iron Maiden by 1937 Triple Crown Champion War Admiral lived up to his breeding. He won eight of 17 starts, including the Derby. He placed second five times and captured three third place showings for earnings of $310,625.
Iron Liege raced at age four, but picked up just one win in eight starts, while placing second three times and grabbing one third. His earnings were $80,839.
Venetian Way, Number Two,1960
The chestnut Venetian Way was sired by Royal Coinage and the mare Firefly by Papa Redbird. Venetian Way fashioned a four-win season as a two-year-old. From his nine starts, he also garnered one second place and two thirds. His earnings were $141,902.
Coming into the 1960 Derby, Venetian Way was the third favorite. The Derby was one of three wins Venetian Way managed that season. He also took three seconds and one third. His earnings were $217,520.
Decidedly Gets Derby Winner's Circle,1962
A gray colt, Decidedly had a Derby-winning sire, Determine. His dam was Gloire Fille by War Glory. At age two, Decidedly won two races from eight starts, took one second and one third. He earned $7,550. Then came the Derby.
At age three, Decidedly improved his earnings, taking a season collection of $144,330 with the Derby win, but he scored in just one other race that year. He placed four times and took one third.
Decidedly raced his best in 1963, when he won five of 13 posts. He earned $150,309. He had one second place finish and two thirds. Staying on the track at the age of five, Decidedly won twice in 10 attempts and placed three times, earning $16,800.
The Great Bay, Northern Dancer, 1964
Bred in Canada, Northern Dancer was sired by the great Nearctic by Nearco. His dam was Natalma by another great, Native Dancer. His pedigree sparkled and so did the small bay.
At two, Northern Dancer won seven of nine starts and was second twice. His earnings were $90,635.
At three, Northern Dancer won the first two legs of the Triple Crown. His seven wins from nine starts, with two thirds, earned him a whopping $490,012 and boosted him to star status.
Almost Again: Majestic Prince, 1969
Majestic Prince, son of a great sire, Raise a Native by Native Dancer was in the same house, so to speak, as Northern Dancer. His dam, Gay Hostess was by Royal Charger. And the chestnut was just as good as his bay counterpart.
Majestic Prince won both his two starts at age two, earning $5,500.
Like Northern Dancer, he won the first two Triple Crown classics at three, earning a total of $408,700 in 1969 from seven wins in eight starts, with one second place finish.
Two of A Kind
If Eddie Arcaro had Whirlaway and Citation, Bill Hartack had Northern Dancer and Majestic Prince. Hartack's last two Derby winners were as close to Triple Crown champions as it gets without actually capturing the brass ring. Northern Dancer finished third in the last of the three Triple Crown races, the Belmont Stakes, while Majestic Prince came in second.
Unlike their Triple Crown winning predecessors, however, Northern Dancer and Majestic Prince raced in a new era of Thoroughbred thinking. Prolific winners have short-lived racing careers. They are quickly removed to a life of convenience in the breeding shed to pass on those speedy genes.
