He loved to lead, and out in front is where you could almost always find this 2016 Kentucky Derby alumnus.

Initially trained by Clifford Sise, Jr., Danzing Candy showed that he was a win-early type, breaking his maiden in his second career start on opening day of Santa Anita's 2015-2016 winter/spring meet after going unplaced on debut at Del Mar a few weeks earlier. After a terrible start in his bow, Danzing Candy gave the circuit a taste of the real him next time out. Once he had the lead, he stayed there and won convincingly as he brought forth some momentum for the new season that was about to start. Aboard that day was Mike Smith, who would be his regular rider (Edwin Maldonado rode the colt in his debut).

Danzing Candy's sophomore year can be described in three words: feast or famine. The feasting happened largely in the first half of the year. Utilizing his front running style, Danzing Candy put together a two-race winning streak on Santa Anita's main track. First came an allowance optional claiming score going a mile, and that was followed by the mile and one-sixteenth San Felipe Stakes. Although Danzing Candy was showing some ability to route like his sire, Twirling Candy, the dark bay Thoroughbred would later find he had distance limitations.

Dictating the pace in the nine-furlong Santa Anita Derby on an off track, it appeared Danzing Candy was theoretically in a good position. By being out front, he would not have mud kicked in his face. But Danzing Candy could not get the distance, finishing fourth in his last Kentucky Derby prep.

As for the Run for the Roses, Danzing Candy did not get a sloppy track. But he did get the extreme outside post. Wearing number twenty, Danzing Candy did get to the front early, but ten furlongs was too much, and he faded to finish fifteenth. But the year would end on a better note, as Danzing Candy took second in the Grade III Affirmed Stakes in early summer while making his first start for trainer Bob Baffert. Ironically, the rebound from Louisville came on the rare occasion where Danzing Candy did not take the early lead. It also marked the first time Rafael Bejarano was in the irons for the graded stakes winner.

More feasting awaited Danzing Candy in 2017. In fact, that's pretty much what he did. Returning to action in the last weeks of winter, Danzing Candy tried Santa Anita's hillside turf course for the first time, placing third in the Joe Hernandez Stakes in a return to sprinting while teaming up with Smith again. The next outing saw Danzing Candy obtain his first win in over a year. Getting class relief against allowance optional claimers, the colt and Joe Talamo made their first pairing a success going a mile on the Santa Anita main track.

Next came another trip out of state. This time, it was Texas. Lone Star Park, to be exact. Entered in the Grade III Lone Star Handicap in the last part of May, Danzing Candy got Mike Smith again and the two teamed to take the contest at Grand Prairie. This gave Danzing Candy something that Twirling Candy never had the chance to achieve: winning at a track outside California (Twirling Candy never raced anywhere except for Del Mar, Hollywood Park and Santa Anita).

Back at the races for the Grade II San Carlos at Santa Anita in early July, Danzing Candy teamed up with Smith again while receiving another sprinting assignment. He also endured a duel with a couple of rivals for a sizable portion of the seven furlong San Carlos while racing on the inside. But he proved game and withstood the early battles to get the trophy.

Following an injury, Danzing Candy was retired. He finished the races with six wins, a second and a third in eleven starts. In the years since, he has become a stallion in the state where he largely raced. So far, he has sired Diamonds Danzing, Leyas Candy, Moose Mitchell, and Youteyourhonor, all of whom are black-type stakes placed. Also part of Danzing Candy's progeny are black-type stakes winner and black-type stakes placed Giver Not a Taker, and Grade III winner Yo Yo Candy.

The strategy for Danzing Candy was simple: head to the front and try to catch him. Though there were horses that did overtake the colt, Danzing Candy's propensity for going to the lead early netted him success during his two, three and four year old seasons.