Dixieland Band was bred by Bayard Sharp, a prominent and highly respected Delaware horseman and president of The Blood-Horse Inc. Out of the Sharp-owned multiple stakes winning mare, Mississippi Mud, he was a son of the 20th century's most influential sire, Northern Dancer.
In May 1983, Dixieland Band won the Pennsylvania Derby by a neck from Jacques Tip, establishing himself as a contender for the Belmont Stakes.
In addition, Dixieland Band is the damsire of two Kentucky Derby winners: Monarchos in 2001 and Street Sense in 2007.
Owner Bayard Sharp's daughter Sarah is married to prominent Kentucky horseman William S. Farish III.
Sharp died in 2002, and Dixieland Band stood at the Farish family's Lane's End Farm in Versailles.