Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt

Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt. Son of a sporting coachman, who went down on the Lusitania, Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt took over his family's Sagamore Farm in Maryland after his 21st birthday in 1933. He soon purchased Discovery, which campaigned across the country for several years as one of America's most rugged Thoroughbred champions. Vanderbilt also was drawn into race track management. Pimlico Race Course, and its Preakness Stakes, prospered under his presidency, and Vanderbilt had two stints as president of New York tracks. After service in the Pacific as a P-T boat commander, Vanderbilt continued breeding and racing and turned out a series of champions including Next Move, Bed 'o Roses, and Native Dancer. Bred at Dan Scott farm outside Lexington, Vanderbilt's "Gray Ghost" Native Dancer was the nation's first Thoroughbred television idol. He won 21 of 22 races from 1952-54, his only loss being an upset by Dark Star in the Kentucky Derby. As sire of Raise a Native and grandsire of Northern Dancer, the gray champion became internationally predominant in Thoroughbred pedigrees.