Owner Gertrude Widener raced Ambrose Light in France and brought him to the United States to stand at stud where he sired Hula Dancer's dam, Flash On.
Gertrude Widener sent Hula Dancer to trainer Etienne Pollet at his stables at Chantilly Racecourse in France.
She broke the track record for 1 mile at Longchamp in 1:36 and defeated the likes of Relko who went on the next year to win the Epsom Derby along with a whole slew of other stakes races.
At age three, Hula Dancer raced both in France and in England where she again defeated colts on a regular basis as well as older horses in the Champion Stakes at Newmarket Racecourse.
In 1968, Raymond Guest paid a European auction record price of 1.020 million French francs for her.