Native Diver
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| Native Diver | |
|---|---|
| Sire | Imbros |
| Grandsire | Polynesian |
| Dam | Fleet Diver |
| Damsire | Devil Diver |
| Sex | Gelding |
| Foaled | 1959 |
| Country | United States  |
| Colour | Brown |
| Breeder | Mr. & Mrs. L. K. Shapiro |
| Owner | Mr. & Mrs. L. K. Shapiro |
| Trainer | Buster Millerick |
| Record | 81 Starts: 37-7-12 |
| Earnings | $1,026,500 |
| Major Racing Wins, Awards and Honours | |
| Major Racing Wins | |
| El Camino Handicap (1961) Bay Meadows Hillside Handicap (1961) Debonair Stakes (1962) Malibu Stakes (1962) San Jose Handicap (1962) Salinas Handicap (1962) Hillsdale Handicap (1962) Inglewood Handicap (1963 & 1964 & 1966) San Diego Handicap (1964 & 1965 & 1966) Golden Gate Handicap (1963) San Francisco Mile Handicap (1963 & 1967) Westlake Handicap (1963) Oakland Handicap (1964) William G. Gilmore Handicap (1964) Palos Verdes Handicap (1964 & 1965) Redwood City Handicap (1964) Hollywood Gold Cup (1965 & 1966 & 1967) Los Angeles Handicap (1965 & 1967) San Carlos Handicap (1965 & 1967) American Handicap (1965) Albany Handicap (1965 & 1967) San Bernadino Handicap (1966) San Pasqual Handicap (1966) Del Mar Handicap (1967) |
|
| Honours | |
| U.S. Racing Hall of Fame (1978) #60 - Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century Grade III Native Diver Handicap at Hollywood Park Racetrack |
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| Infobox last updated on: 09:37, Tuesday June 10, 2008 (UTC). | |
Native Diver (1959-1967) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse bred and owned by Mr. and Mrs. L. K. Shapiro who had claimed his dam, Fleet Diver, the daughter of Devil Diver out of Our Fleet by Count Fleet. Despite the fact that her immediate lineage included members of Blood-Horse magazine List of the Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century (Count Fleet at no. 5 and Devil Diver at no. 55), as well as the fact that Fleet Diver had just given the jockey Johnny Longden his 4,000 racing win, Our Fleet's claiming price was the small sum of $3,500. They bought the racing mare in January of 1954. Five years later she was to give them Native Diver, as wild and unpredictable and charismatic as any horse seen on Californian tracks. He was by Imbros, himself a good racehorse, having set a world record in the Californian Stakes of 1954.
They called him “the Diver” and though he never won outside California or brought home any championships, he was as much a matinee idol in his time as Silky Sullivan a generation back. Unlike Silky, who raced when he felt like it, Native Diver loved to run. It seemed he merely tolerated his bit and rider, taking no commands. The Diver ran all his races full bore. Sometimes he lost, quite often he won, and his fans found every race he ran thrilling.
He was wild from the beginning, injuring his back in a youthful fit of enthusiasm. Ever after he ran holding his head high to ease the strain on his spine. He was gelded to calm him, but it seemed to make no difference.
At two, Native Diver won his first three starts by a combined margin of 23 and 3/4 [( ThreeQuarters)] lengths and was on his way to setting six career track records. He set three of those records carrying a hefty 130 pounds. He was also versatile. He could sprint at six furlongs or rate at nine, setting track records at both distances. He won stakes at six different California racetracks and was only the second horse ever to accomplish that feat.
Native Diver won the Hollywood Gold Cup three times in three consecutive years, running it faster each time.
Still racing at eight years of age, his owners vowed to retire him the moment they saw he was slowing down. Sadly, before that could happen (he’d just equaled the track record for the Del Mar Handicap in 1967, he fell ill. Taken to the University of California at Davis, he died of enterio toxemia better known as intestinal horse colic.
By the time of his death, he had won 34 stakes, was the seventh racing millionaire, and the first California bred to win a million dollars.
Native Diver is buried at Hollywood Park under a monument near the grandstand.
