Native Diver

Registered brown Thoroughbred gelding 1959-1967

(Imbros x Fleet Diver)

Native Diver was the first race horse to capture my heart. He was the first California bred millionaire but that wasn't what drew me to him. He was big, almost black & magnificent. He ran like the wind & was the fantasy horse of a young girl's dreams. I was so very fortunate to live in S CA, not far from Hollywood Park & Santa Anita race tracks. Even luckier was that I could occasionally talk my mother into taking me to the tracks to watch the morning work outs. Watching those impressive horses run was enough to take my breath away. I was awestruck as they flew past the rail, splattering us with dirt. I could have hung on that rail for days, just watching them run. I still today watch horse racing on tv every chance I get, but in the 1960s there was more racing televised than there is today. It was easier to follow a favorite horse. I watched The Diver, as he was called, run as often as he was on tv. I also read about his races in the newspaper. No one cheered more for him than I. I can still remember the thrill of seeing him person. I'd read in the paper that The Diver was going to go on parade at Hollywood Park. I don't remember how much begging & pleading & promising to do chores it took, but my mother took me to see him. It was probably the most exciting day of my young life. After the morning work outs were done, here came that big, brown,almost black horse prancing around the track. He knew he was on display & he made the most of it. The thought of him that day still catches my breath. I can still see the look in his eye & imagine the fire I saw there. He was awesome & he knew it. It wasn't long after that The Diver died. He was the first horse I ever cried over. I still have news clippings of his death packed away & every few years I come across them & remember. I remember a young girl's love for the fastest horse alive.