Captain Joy is a

Standardbred The Standardbred is an American horse breed best known for its ability in harness racing, where members of the breed compete at either a trot or pace. Developed in North America, the Standardbred is recognized worldwide, and the breed can trace i ...

pacing racehorse whose wins include 6 Group 1 victories including three Derbies, 13 consecutive wins as a 2 and 3 year old and a total of 26 wins through to the end of his 6 year old season. He is a bay gelding who was foaled in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

on the 20 October 2005 and sired by Mach Three, his dam Lady Joy was by Talk About Class. Mach Three, 1:49, earned $2,376,700 and sired several other good horses including

Auckland Reactor Auckland Reactor is a New Zealand standardbred racehorse bred by Dr. Tony & Anne Parker. He was crowned New Zealand Horse of the Year in two seasons. He was also given the nickname The Reactor Factor because most Trainers supposedly feared him. ...

and

Somebeachsomewhere Somebeachsomewhere (2005–2018) was a Standardbred Race Horse who, as a three-year-old, tied the world record for a mile (all ages) at The Red Mile with a time of 1:46.4 and earned $3,221,299. In 2008, he had the highest earnings by a pacer in a ...

. Lady Joy won 13 races and $81,169 in a brief career of just 24 starts. Beyond Captain Joy she has also produced Another Joy (9 wins $103,319), Lightning Joy (a trotter, 11 wins $103,375) and Master Joy (12 wins $137,270). Her feats were recognised in 2009 when she was awarded the Australian Broodmare of the Year title.

Racing record

His racing career began as a two-year-old in May 2008 with his first two starts when he finished mid field in races at

Harold Park Paceway Harold Park Paceway was a harness racing track in Forest Lodge, New South Wales, in use from 1890 to 2010. It was a half-mile track (804.5 metres) but was just 739 metres in circumference until some changes in its later years. Races at the tra ...

in Sydney. He then travelled to

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

to compete in the Kevin Seymour series. After a win in his heat he finished second in the G1 final. He returned to Sydney and recorded four successive wins including the G1 NSW Breeders Challenge. During this race, Captain Joy raced three wide for most of the race and broke the Australasian record for two-year-olds over the distance of one mile when he rated 1.54.8. Shortly after that, Captain Joy travelled to Victoria for the

Australasian Breeders Crown The Australasian Breeders Crown is a futurity harness racing series for horses bred in Australia and New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—th ...

in August 2008. He won the race, which was marred by a spectacular fall which knocked out four horses on the final bend. He was awarded the title of 2008 Australian 2YO C&G Pacer of the Year and NSW 2YO of the Year.

At three years

He commenced his three-year-old season at Harold Park in late November 2008 with a win in the Listed Chokin Championship on

Miracle Mile Pace The Miracle Mile is an Australian harness racing event for Standardbred Horse gait#pace, pacers that was held at Harold Park Racetrack each November until 2008 when the race was switched to Menangle Park Paceway. Prize money has long been among ...

night. His next start saw him set his season’s best time of 1:54.0 in a C0 race at

Menangle Park Menangle Park is a suburb in Sydney the state of New South Wales, Australia. Menangle Park is located 56 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Campbelltown. Menangle Park is a ...

. Over the next few months he travelled the eastern seaboard of Australia in pursuit of the Victorian, Queensland and NSW Derbies. He won all three comfortably. The Queensland Derby was notable as he broke the all comers track record only to have it broken later in the night by

Mr Feelgood Mr Feelgood is a high-class Standardbred racehorse. He is the only pacer in recent years to win major races in both North America and Australia. Foaled in the United States, his achievements in North America included the 2006 Little Brown Jug an ...

in the

Inter Dominion :''for winners of the Inter Dominion see: Inter Dominion Pacing Championship and Inter Dominion Trotting Championship'' The Inter Dominion is a harness racing competition that has been contested since 1936 in Australia and New Zealand. It is of ...

Grand Final. Towards the end of the season he won the three-year-old version of the NSW Breeders Challenge before heading to Victoria for the

.http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,,25938641-5016494,00.html Favourite Captain Joy fares well in Breeders Crown draw This resulted in his only loss for the season when he took sixth. During the 2009 season he had 13 starts for 12 wins and $382,576 1:54.0MS. Captain Joy was awarded the 2009 Australian 3YO C&G Pacer of the Year, 2009 Australian 3YO Pacer of the Year, NSW 3YO Pacer of the Year and NSW Horse of the Year.

At four years

As a four-year-old Captain Joy had just 10 starts but these races involved travel to

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

, Victoria, New South Wales,

and Auckland, New Zealand. He placed multiple times in Group races before he was successful for the only time when he dead-heated for first in Group 3 Four & Five YO Championship in Brisbane with Rohan Home.

At five years

He was competitive in the

Championships in Auckland but the highlight so far was probably a Metropolitan class race at Menangle when he ran one of the fastest times ever in Australasia when he recorded a time of 1:51.6. This was just one week after finishing fourth to Smoken Up in the first race to go faster than 1.50 in the Southern Hemisphere.

At six years

He won the Listed Stawell Cup in December before finishing 3rd in the Group 2 Bendigo Cup. Some mixed results followed before he returned to Menangle and really hit his straps. Four wins followed including the Group 3 Media Cup and Group 3 Golden Mile where he beat the likes of Sir Lincoln, Terrorway and Mr Feelgood in a blistering time of 1.51.4. In his next start he was beaten an eyelash by Smoken Up in the Group 1 Len Smith Mile. A couple of placings behind Make Mine Cullen closed out the season for him.

At seven years

Captain Joy entered his seven-year-old season with much anticipation following a great preparation. The major Victorian Cups followed by the Interdominions in Sydney were his initial goals. He headed up to Queensland with the Group 1 Queensland Pacing Championships in mind. He finished 3rd in this race behind Washakie. Making his way back to Victoria he suffered a minor leg injury which hasn't ruined his season but did rule him out until after the Interdominions. He should return to racing in April/May 2013.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Harnessjoy.com - Official Website of Captain Joy

Captain Joy profile on Australian Breeding

Harness Racing NSW

Australian Harness Racing
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Harness Racing Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait (a trot or a pace). They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, or spider, or chariot occupied by a driver. In Europe, and less frequently in Australi ...

2005 racehorse births Harness racing in Australia Racehorses trained in Australia Standardbred racehorses bred in Australia