: As a two year old, Easy Jet won the All American Futurity and a wealth of prestigious races. He was named Champion 2-year old, in 1969, and in the same year was named World Champion Quarter Running Horse and Champion Stallion. This is a feat seldom bestowed upon a 2-year old. Easy Jet rose to fame in the height of the Quarter Horse racing game. In 1980, Easy Jet stood for a fee of $30,000, and was later syndicated for $30 million! He produced just over 2,500 registered foals, placing him near the top of the all time AQHA producer list. Easy Jet remained an equine celebrity throughout his life, influencing people and horses. His halter with brass name plate hung proudly in the office at Belle Mere Farms in Lexington, Oklahoma. He has remained one of the greatest Quarter Horses of all time. Easy Jet endured at incredible schedule during his 2-year old year, racing much more than other horse in the same age category, and he remained sound and willing. He remained sound his entire life. He had unseen energy. It was said that he was a "busy" horse, always active and wanting to move. Channeling that energy into racing achieved him the level of greatness that he deserved. Not only was Easy just fast, he was also quick. While that trait did not endear him to his race jockeys, in barrel racing it is an asset. In an interview with Barrel Horse News, his owner Walter Merrick stated "I think his bone had a lot to do with it (his retiring sound). He was just always sound. He never had a sore day in his life. He was never a mean colt at all, but he was on his toes all the time. He never did have any buck in him, but he was just a hyper-king of horse..he could move so quickly, so fast, it was hard to stay with him. Anything that's got Easy Jet in it, they could run. They have good minds on them, and they're smart. You could teach them about anything."
Achieving success as a stallion was due to his ability to pass on the traits that made him great. Two of Easy Jet's sons appear frequently in the pedigrees of barrel horses: Easily Smashed, himself a champion, and Easy Six, the sire of Streakin Six.. He became an extremely successful broodmare sire. Miss Chargin Hancock has Easy Jet in her blood line.
Lena's Bar was a throroughbred that was a magnificent race horse, outrunning such legends as Go Man Go and Double Bid. |