The story of Dance Smartly epitomizes the powerful breeding
empire first developed by Samuel more than three decades
ago.

It was then that Samuel, an active member of the show-horse circuit and owner of the gigantic Samuel & Son metal works company, jumped into the Thoroughbred business--first dabbling with modestly bred claiming horses and then yearling purchases.

In 1975, two of his initial yearling purchases, fillies by Nodouble and Quadrangle, proved to be the cornerstones of the Sam-Son
breeding operation .

Samuel liked to joke that No Class, the Nodouble filly that cost him $25,000, was the last horse he named himself before turning those duties over to Elizabeth.

No Class was a decent allowance runner who became one of the first Sam-Son broodmares. Her second foal, Classy 'n Smart, won the '84 Canadian Oaks and was the first of four champion offspring.

Classy 'n Smart, by Smarten, went to the breeding shed following her 3-year-old campaign and was presented with only the most fashionable mates. After producing a Secretariat colt, she foaled a leggy Danzig filly in '88 with an unusual head marking, earning the soon to be named Dance Smartly the nickname "Daisy."

Jim Day, Sam-Son's private trainer at the time, said Dance Smartly only stood out as a foal because of her breeding.

"Of course, we had high expectations for her because of her family connections," said Day. "She was tall and leggy and a nice foal."

Dance Smartly trained in groups with numerous other blue-blooded young horses, and progressed steadily in her training but didn't catch anyone's eye.

That is until a month before her career debut.

"One day, I'll never forget it," said Day. "She worked half a mile with some others; it was a routine breeze, a chapter in the book at that stage. (Jockey) Brian Swatuk was on her and when he came back he looked at me and said, 'This might be the best horse I've ever sat on in my life.' And he's never been a 'b.s.' er about a horse's value."

On July 7, 1990, Dance Smartly was the worst kept secret at Woodbine. She won her debut by 3 1/2 lengths.

Following an easy allowance score, Dance Smartly was surprisingly beaten in Fort Erie's Ontario Debutante Stakes over a sloppy track. She got back on the winning track in the Natalma Stakes on the grass and was packed up with her talented stablemate Wilderness Song and sent to Belmont's Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (gr. I).

"We all knew Dance Smartly was the best filly," Samuel told Canadian Thoroughbred magazine in 1991. "Wilderness Song couldn't train with her or do anything with her."

But the Juvenile Fillies turned out to be a debacle that local racing fans still talk about in which the stablemates dueled each other into defeat.

"It was a catastrophe," said Day. "The plan of the race was that Wilderness Song, who had Swatuk riding, would be on or near the lead and Dance Smartly, with Sandy Hawley, would run a strategic race off the pace and that would give both of them a chance."

Instead, the two fillies fought tooth-and-nail through a half-mile in a rapid :45.80 and were out of gas by the stretch run.

To her credit, Dance Smartly finished third to Meadow Star in a courageous effort.

Dance Smartly blossomed as a 3-year-old and sailed through wins in the Star Shoot, Selene, and Canadian Oaks, the latter race with American jockey Pat Day in tow, leading Samuel and Day to ponder the Queen's Plate as the filly's next target.

"Mr. Samuel was always very keen on the Plate," said
Day. "She had gotten (to the Plate) looking pretty strong."

The stable sent out a three-horse entry that day, including Wilderness Song and champion colt Rainbows for Life, but Dance Smartly left her mates and six other rivals in her dust in an eight-length romp.

She rolled through wins in Fort Erie's Prince of Wales Stakes and then completed her sweep of the Bank of Montreal Triple Crown, which offered a $1-million bonus, with a handy Breeders' Stakes score at 1 1/2 miles on the turf.

"By then she was getting to be a special horse and the connection with 'brother' Pat was pretty strong," said Jim Day. "He would ride her extremely well, very patiently. He thought of her as a high-quality filly and that confidence boosted my confidence."

With the grade II Molson Export Million in their own backyard, the Sam-Son team elected to pit their star filly against American champion Fly So Free and others in the 11/8-mile test.

Sent off as a close second choice behind Fly So Free, Dance Smartly again showed the boys no mercy and surged to a two-length victory.

With six weeks before the Distaff, Day put Dance Smartly away for three weeks of "quiet time" before charging her back up for the Breeders' Cup.

"One thing that sticks out in my mind was when we had her and Wilderness Song at Keeneland three weeks before the Distaff," said Day. "Hughie Chatman is jogging Dance Smartly one morning and he tells me she's not jogging right. I thought he was kidding."

Day's worst nightmare was true: Dance Smartly was favoring a front foot.

Somewhat easing the pain of that problem, Wilderness Song led all the way and won the Spinster Stakes (gr. I) under a masterful ride by Pat Day. But would Dance Smartly be ready for the Distaff?

"Dr. Alex Harthill helped us with her for three weeks," said Day. "But we got to a week before the race and she had done diddly-squat."

Day had time to give Dance Smartly a single, strong six-furlong workout and was relieved when she blew away a workmate and finished with verve.

It was nail-biting time for the Sam-Son team on Breeders' Cup Day when Dance Smartly and her mate went to post as the heavy 1-2 favorites.

"I vividly remember going to the paddock," said Samuel-Balaz. "I saw a lot of the gang from Woodbine and many Canadian flags. We just wanted her to go out and show the world what our Canadian-bred could do."

Dance Smartly did just that on the most important day of her racing career. Under perfect handling from Day, she sat a glorious trip behind the front runners before launching a three-wide bid two furlongs from the wire.

"Down the backside, at the half-mile pole I didn't think she was going that great," said Jim Day. "But then she charged around the turn, got into contention, and then drew off. So that was quite exciting."

With her head cocked to the grandstand as she liked to do, Dance Smartly strolled away from top-class mares such as Fit for a Queen and Brought to Mind and held off a charging Versailles Treaty to win by 1 1/2 lengths.

In owners' row, Ernie Samuel had been screeching "hurry up, hurry up" for almost half a minute as the stretch run seemed to take an eternity.

"I still remember Dad throwing his arms up in the air after the race, that was his trademark move," said Samuel-Balaz.

As Day dismounted, he was asked to compare Dance Smartly to his other top mounts. "I was fortunate enough to ride Lady's Secret when she was Horse of the Year and this filly just went by her earnings, so this filly has got to be right next to her."

As a 4-year-old, Dance Smartly raced exclusively on the grass, winning the restricted Canadian Maturity over the boys and finishing third in the grade I Beverly D. Stakes at Arlington.

Samuel announced that his prized mare had been fighting a pulled suspensory ligament in her right front leg and would be retired. Dance Smartly was never worse than third in 17 career races, winning 12 and banking $3,263,835.

Incredibly, her saga does not end there, as she has begun a new line of champions for Sam-Son in the breeding shed.

From five foals to race, Dance Smartly has produced Queen's Plate winners Scatter the Gold, now a stallion in Japan, and the filly Dancethruthedawn, a grade I winner who has already joined the broodmare band.

Samuel died May 25, 2000, at the age of 69, only a month before Scatter the Gold's Plate triumph.

Dance Smartly was named outstanding broodmare at the 2001 Sovereign Awards, the third generation of Sam-Son mares to win such an award.

"She truly stands for what my father's breeding program was all about," said Samuel-Balaz, who visited Dance Smartly and her Thunder Gulch filly foal in Kentucky in late June. "She's the whole package."

Dance Smartly has been up for induction into the National Museum of Racing Hall and of Fame at Saratoga before, but Samuel-Balaz said the family was still surprised when they got the phone call.

"It's an incredible honor," she said. "I wish Dad was here. He'd be over the moon about it. We're proud of her and, as Canadians, we believe she deserves to be in there. You know, she's being inducted based on her race record but she's so much more than just that."

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