Skip Away (April 4, 1993 – May 14, 2010), was a champion American

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are ...

racehorse who was the 1998 Horse of the Year, 1996 Champion Three-Year-Old, and 1997 and 1998 Champion Handicap Horse. He won 10

Grade One Grade 1 may refer to: *First grade, the first school year of primary education. *A Grade 1 Graded stakes race horse race * ''Grade One'' (TV series), a 2014 Chinese TV variety show *Grade 1 listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed b ...

races for $9,616,360 in prize money.

Breeding

Bred by Anna Marie Barnhart, Skip Away was foaled and reared at Hilmer Schmidt's Indian Hill Farm in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. The son of Skip Trial, out of the Diplomat's Way mare Ingot Way, Skip Away was purchased for the modest sum of $30,000 at a two-year-olds in training sale in Ocala, Florida by Hall of Fame trainer Hubert "Sonny" Hine for his wife. Carolyn Hine had particularly wanted a gray horse because vision problems made it difficult for her to see any other kind on the race track.

Racing record

Skip Away won one of six starts as a two-year-old, placing in the Cowdin and

Remsen Stakes The Remsen Stakes is an American Grade II race for Thoroughbred horse race run annually near the end of November at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York. The one and one-eighths mile race is open to two-year-olds and currently offers a purse of ...

at Belmont Park. His first stakes win came as a three-year-old, when he defeated eventual

Preakness Stakes The Preakness Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held on Armed Forces Day which is also the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs () o ...

winner Louis Quatorze by six lengths in the

Blue Grass Stakes The Blue Grass Stakes, currently the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes due to sponsorship by the Toyota Motor Corporation, is a horse race for 3-year-old Thoroughbreds held annually in April at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, Kentucky. The race is ru ...

while setting a new stakes record over a wet-fast track at

Keeneland Race Course Keeneland Association, Inc. is an equine business based in Lexington, Kentucky. It includes two distinct divisions: the Keeneland Race Course, a Thoroughbred racing facility, and Keeneland Sales, a horse auction complex. It is also known for i ...

. After an unaccountably poor performance in the Kentucky Derby, Skip Away finished second in both the

and Belmont Stakes, losing the latter by a length to Editor's Note after a prolonged duel down the long stretch. He won the 1996

Haskell Invitational Handicap The Haskell Stakes is a Grade I American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds run over a distance of miles on the dirt held annually in July at Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport, New Jersey. The event is a signature event at Monmouth ...

and in October of that year, he defeated Cigar, winner of 17 of his previous 18 races, in the

Jockey Club Gold Cup The Jockey Club Gold Cup, established in 1919, is a thoroughbred flat race open to horses of either gender three-years-old and up. It has traditionally been the main event of the fall meeting at Belmont Park, just as the Belmont Stakes is of the s ...

at Belmont Park. Seizing the lead entering the stretch, Skip Away won by a neck over the steadily closing champion.

Formal Gold Formal Gold (foaled April 20, 1993 in Ontario) is a retired Canadian-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who raced in the United States. He is famous for defeating Hall of Fame champion Skip Away in four of their six meetings, with major stakes wins incl ...

defeated Skip Away in four of their six meetings in 1997. After Skip Away was soundly defeated as a four-year-old by Formal Gold in the Philip H. Iselin Breeders' Cup Handicap at

Monmouth Park Monmouth Park Racetrack is an American race track for thoroughbred horse racing in Oceanport, New Jersey, United States. It is owned by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority and is operated under a five-year lease as a partnership with ...

and in the

Woodward Stakes The Woodward Stakes is an American Grade I stakes race and is one of the premier races for older thoroughbred horses in the United States. It is named for prominent racehorse owner William Woodward. The race was first run in 1954 at Aqueduct Rac ...

at Belmont Park, he was given a new rider,

Jerry Bailey Jerry D. Bailey (born August 29, 1957 in Dallas, Texas) is an NBC Sports thoroughbred racing analyst and a retired American Hall of Fame jockey. Early years Bailey was born in Dallas but raised in El Paso. He had a pony as a child and became ...

, who replaced Shane Sellers. With Bailey at the reins, Skip Away adopted a new front-running style and won nine consecutive races, including a six-length victory in the 1997

Breeders' Cup Classic The Breeders' Cup Classic is a Grade I Weight for Age thoroughbred horse race for 3-year-olds and older run at a distance of on dirt. It is held annually at a different racetrack as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships in late October ...

, contested that year at

Hollywood Park Racetrack Hollywood Park was a thoroughbred race course located in Inglewood, California, about 3 miles (5 km) from Los Angeles International Airport and adjacent to the Forum indoor arena. In 1994, the original Hollywood Park Casino was added to t ...

, setting a record time of 1:59:16 under another new rider, Mike Smith. As a five-year-old, Skip Away won seven consecutive races including five Grade I events, such as the 1998

Pimlico Special The Pimlico Special is a Grade 3 American thoroughbred horse race for horses age three and older over a distance of miles ( furlongs) held at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland in mid May. The race currently offers a purse of $300,000. ...

Hollywood Gold Cup The Hollywood Gold Cup Stakes is a Grade I American thoroughbred horse race for horses age three and older over a distance of miles on the dirt held at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California in May. The race currently offers a purse of $400,000 ...

, and Woodward Stakes. Although he failed to repeat his Breeders' Cup win at Churchill Downs, he was voted the

Eclipse Award The Eclipse Award is an American Thoroughbred horse racing award named after the 18th-century British racehorse and sire, Eclipse. An Eclipse Award Trophy is presented to the winner in each division that is made by a few small selected American ...

as both Champion Handicap Horse and Horse of the Year for 1998. He was retired to stud that fall with 18 wins and 34 in-the-money finishes from 38 career starts and earnings of $9,616,360.

Stud record

During his 12 years at stud, Skip Away sired 489 foals and from the nine crops of racing age, he had 21 stakes winners, who earned $19,424,552 His more notable offspring include Skipshot ( Swaps Stakes), Skip Code (

Grey Stakes The Grey Stakes is a Canadian Thoroughbred horse race held annually during the first week of October at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto. A Grade III, it is open to two-year-old horses and is raced on dirt at a distance of miles. Since 2006, the d ...

), and Sister Swank ( Valley View Stakes). At age seventeen, Skip Away died of an apparent

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

in his paddock on May 14, 2010 at Hopewell Farm in Midway, Kentucky.Sports Horse News
Retrieved 2011-1-22 Skip Away is interred at

Old Friends Farm Old Friends is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) equine retirement facility in Georgetown, Kentucky, accredited by the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA). The organization started with one leased paddock and two horses, but now owns 136 acres, Dreamchase ...

in Georgetown, Kentucky.

Honors

Skip Away was inducted into National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 2004. In the

Blood-Horse magazine ''BloodHorse'' is a multimedia news organization covering Thoroughbred racing and breeding that started with a newsletter first published in 1916 as a monthly bulletin put out by the Thoroughbred Horse Association.

ranking of the top 100 U.S. Thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century, Skip Away was ranked No.32. In 2001, Gulfstream Park Racetrack in

Hallandale Beach, Florida Hallandale Beach (formerly known simply as Hallandale) is a city in southern Broward County, Florida, United States. The city is named after Luther Halland, the son of a Swedish worker for Henry Flagler's Florida East Coast Railroad. As of the 20 ...

honored Skip Away by renaming its Broward Handicap the

Skip Away Handicap The Skip Away Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida. A Listed event open to horses age four and older, it is contested on dirt over a distance of miles (9 furlongs). The race is ...

Pedigree

References

External links

Skip Away's pedigree, with photo
{{Breeders' Cup Classic Winners 1993 racehorse births 2010 racehorse deaths Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom Racehorses bred in Florida Breeders' Cup Classic winners American Grade 1 Stakes winners Eclipse Award winners American Thoroughbred Horse of the Year United States Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame inductees Thoroughbred family 14-f Old Friends Equine Retirement