Norcliffe

Norcliffe
Norcliffe, oil on canvas
painted by Bob Demuyser (1920-2003)
SireBuckpasser
GrandsireTom Fool
DamDrama School
DamsireNorthern Dancer
SexStallion
Foaled1973
CountryCanada
ColourBay
BreederE. P. Taylor
OwnerNorcliffe Stable (Charles F. Baker)
TrainerRoger Attfield
Record33: 14-8-3
Earnings$434,066
Major wins
Coronation Futurity Stakes (1975)
Plate Trial Stakes (1976)
Carling O'Keefe Invitational Handicap
(1976, 1977)
Colonel R. S. McLaughlin Handicap (1976)
Canadian Maturity Stakes (1977)

Canadian Triple Crown series:
Queen's Plate (1976)
Prince of Wales Stakes (1976)

Awards
Canadian Champion 3-Yr-Old Colt (1976)
Canadian Horse of the Year (1976)
Canadian Champion Older Male Horse (1977)
Honours
Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame (2005)
Last updated on September 17, 2006

Norcliffe (1973–1984) was a Canadian Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse. He was sired by U.S. Hall of Fame Champion Buckpasser out of the mare Drama School by Northern Dancer.

Owned by the Norcliffe Stable of Charles F. Baker, Chairman of the Board of the Ontario Jockey Club, Norcliffe was trained by Roger Attfield.[1] Ridden by jockey Jeffrey Fell, Norcliffe won two of the first three legs of the 1976 Canadian Triple Crown races on dirt at Woodbine Racetrack, capturing the Queen's Plate and the Prince of Wales Stakes. The Breeders' Stakes, the final leg, is a race run on the grass course at Fort Erie Race Track and Norcliffe finished fifth.[2] Norcliffe earned 1976 Horse of the Year honours in Canada.[3] In 1977 he earned a Sovereign Award as top older horse and was elected to the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2005.[3][4]

As a sire

Retired to stud at the end of the 1977 racing season, Norcliffe was North America's leading juvenile sire by number of wins and second in earnings in 1981.[4] He sired Groovy who was voted the 1987 Eclipse Award for American Champion Sprint Horse and who was a Texas State Champion twice.[5]

Another successful son of Norcliffe was At the Threshold, a 1981 foal out of the mare Winver. She was a daughter of Vertex, a multiple winner of top level stakes and the sire of 1965 Kentucky Derby winner Lucky Debonair and 1968 U.S. Champion Two-Year-Old Colt, Top Knight. At the Threshold's wins include the Grade 1 American Derby and Arlington Classic Stakes, the Grade 2 Ohio Derby and he ran third in the 1984 Kentucky Derby. He also was the sire of 1992 Kentucky Derby winner Lil E. Tee.[6][7]

Pedigree

Pedigree of Norcliffe, bay stallion, 1973
Sire
Buckpasser 		Tom Fool Menow Pharamond
Alcibiades
Gaga Bull Dog
Alpoise
Busanda War Admiral Man o' War
Brushup
Businesslike Blue Larkspur
La Troienne
Dam
Drama School 		Northern Dancer Nearctic Nearco
Lady Angela
Natalma Native Dancer
Almahmoud
Stalina Stalino Stardust
Inkling
Boscabell Fairford
Hellenize (family: 10-d)

References

  1. ^ "Norcliffe Scores at Toronto". New York Times, page 151. 1976-06-27. Retrieved 2021-08-17.
  2. ^ "Woodbine Media Guide" (PDF). Woodbine Entertainment Group. 2019-10-22. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-10-22. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
  3. ^ a b "Sovereign Awards - Past Award Winners". Jockey Club of Canada. 2020-11-30. Archived from the original on 2020-11-30. Retrieved 2021-03-30.
  4. ^ a b "Norcliffe". Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame. 2005-12-01. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  5. ^ "Eclipse Awards History". NTRA. 2021-01-02. Retrieved 2021-01-02.
  6. ^ "At the Threshold, Sire of Derby Winner Lil E. Tee, Dead". BloodHorse.com. 28 March 2002.
  7. ^ Kentucky Derby History, 1992