Looking back to Cardigan Bay by Mike Paradise

Cardigan Bay was harness racing’s first superstar pacer to come to North American from New Zealand, where he was beloved in the early 1960s.

Among his major victories 'Down Under' are the 1963 New Zealand Cup when he started 54 yards behind the field and the Auckland Cup where he was given a 78 yard handicap.

The same year he also captured Australia’s Inter Dominion Pacing Championship.

One of the gelding's most memorable wins was in a major race at Addington Raceway in Christchurch, New Zealand while the grandstand as on fire. A photo of that race is considered to be one of the great iconic images of horse racing.

Cardigan Bay came to the United States at the advanced age of eight on a "racing lease" and joined the stable of National Hall of Famer Stanley Dancer for a payment of $125,000, despite the fact he had only $US137,000 in earnings. Cardigan Bay was also "down on the hip" from a severe injury he suffered earlier in New Zealand.

Cardigan Bay would be dominant in the U.S.A. for three years, beating the absolute best pacers in the country on a regular basis. He became the only horse to have defeated the three future Hall of Fame horses of that era— Bret Hanover, Overtrick and Meadow Skipper.

In 1964, Overtick and Cardigan Bay tangled in the Dan Patch Pace and the Dan Patch Encore. Cardigan Bay prevailed by the shortest of noses in the Dan Patch, but Overtrick got his revenge in the Encore.

Cardy’s most famous victory in the US came in the Pace of the Century against the great Bret Hanover in 1966. Cardigan Bay and Dancer proved best before a jammed-pack Yonkers crowd of 45,000. Bret Hanover would avenge that setback when the two great pacers met again in the "Revenge Pace." 

In 1968 at the age of 12, Cardy, near the end of his career, needed about $85,000 in his quest to become the first Standardbred to win $1million – a feat he accomplished at Freehold in his last start.

A month after he had reached the million dollar mark, the horse was honored at Yonkers on Cardigan Bay Day. The next evening he walked a long red carpet with Dancer and made his appearance on the old popular Ed Sullivan TV show.

Dancer then retired possibly the most well-known racehorse ever to come from New Zealand. Cardigan Bay finished his racing career with 80 victories, 25 seconds and 22 thirds from 154 starts and was named the U.S. Pacer of the Year in 1965 and 1968.

He was then returned to New Zealand with great fanfare and lived his retirement in luxury for nearly 20 years until his death at age 32. When Cardy passed away Dancer reflected on the horse’s final year of racing and said: “At the end he was going on heart alone . . . what a mighty heart in must have been.”

In 1970 the New Zealand Post Office issued a postage stamp to recognize the achievements of Cardinal Bay.

1968 Provincial Cup _ Windsor Raceway

It's two straight for Dancer and Cardigan Bay, harness racing's first $1 million earning horse. The victory allows Cardigan Bay to break Bret Hanover's record for career earnings. Jesta Hill is second, the highest finish in Cup history by a mare and Dancing David, original winner of the Cup, is third.

By Mike Paradise