Native Dancer and Kauai King: two generations of Triple Crown near-misses
On June 13, 1953, Alfred G. Vanderbilt Jr. watched his homebred Native Dancer win the Belmont Stakes, eking out a nose victory to complete the third leg of Thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown. He’d won three weeks earlier, too, at Pimlico, but had lost the Kentucky Derby. One might have forgiven Vanderbilt for a bittersweet sadness…