The History of the Grey Thoroughbred

The first horse I ever bet on was a grey horse named Spectacular Bid. I had the Bid and my father had the rest of the field. The Bid won and I received a quarter from my father. I no longer bet on horse races but still admire the thoroughbred. Over the years, I couldn’t help but notice that greys were rare in comparison to chestnuts, bays, browns and blacks.

At first, I thought it was because the grey color may be caused by a recessive gene in horses. I was wrong. According to How to Raise Horses: Everything You Need to Know (Voyageur Press; 2007) the gray color gene is dominant in horses. In order to get a grey thoroughbred, either the sire or dam needs to be grey. So why aren’t there more grey thoroughbreds?

Prejudice Against Greys

Europe of the early 1800s was convinced that grey horses were diseased. Grey horses are more prone to getting skin cancer, but this can be prevented by protecting the horse from the sun. A veterinary handbook from the 1840s, A Compendium of the Veterinary Art, notes that some grey horses suffered from melanosis, or lethal tumors under the tail and around the genitals. Melanosis is not much of a problem for today’s horses.

By the late 1800s, greys were removed from thoroughbred breeding programs. One of the world’s most influential thoroughbred breeders, Federico Tesio (1869 – 1954), would insist that grey thoroughbreds were diseased and not just differently colored. Greys became stigmatized to the point where they were not allowed to run against other colored thoroughbreds. There were some grey-only races in America as late as the 1940s.

Le Sancy

Greys would have disappeared from the thoroughbred gene pool entirely if not for the success of one temperamental French stallion named Le Sancy. He was foaled in 1884 from a grey mare named Gem of Gems. After a respectable career on the track (27 wins from 43 starts), he became in demand at stud despite his color. When his first crop of foals began winning at the track, the demand intensified.

One of his grandsons, The Tetrarch, was a spectacular racehorse in England and quelled doubts about greys for the UK. Sadly, Le Sancy died at the relatively young age of 16. All grey thoroughbreds today can trace their ancestry back to Le Sancy and Gem of Gems, mostly through The Tetrarch.

Native Dancer

Arguably the most influential thoroughbred stallion of the 20^th century was Native Dancer (1950 – 1967), who was the grandsire of Mr. Prospector, Alydar and the immortal Northern Dancer. Native Dancer was nicknamed “Grey Ghost” by his adoring fans, which numbered in the millions. He was the first superstar of horse racing because his grey coat showed up well on the new medium of television. He also had a knack for come-from-behind wins. He died from intestinal tumors at the age of 17. His offspring would live well into their 20s and into their 30s.

Native Dancer was also the first grey thoroughbred to become an American champion and Horse of the Year (which he won twice). There had been stakes-winning greys before – most notably First Fiddle in the 1940s – but none won such prestigious races as the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes. Grey Horse of the Year winners include Lady’s Secret (1986), Skip Away (1998) and Spectacular Bid (1980.)

Additional References

Native Dancer, The Grey Ghost: Hero of a Golden Age. John Eisenberg. Warner Books; 2003.

Federico Tesio: In His Own Words. Federico Tesio. The Russell Meerdink Company; 2003.

Thoroughbred Heritage