Sky Jack (April 18, 1996 - June 30, 2016) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

racehorse Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

Background

Bred and raced by Rene and Margie Lambert, he was sired by

Jaklin Klugman Jaklin Klugman (1977–1996) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. He was owned and bred in California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. I ...

and out of the

mare A mare is an adult female horse or other equidae, equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more th ...

Sky Captive, a daughter of the 1986

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 in the United States as part of the Breeders' Cup World Champion ...

winner Skywalker.

Racing career

After a successful season in 2000, Sky Jack incurred a knee injury that required multiple surgeries. In addition, he suffered from bouts of

colic Colic or cholic () is a form of pain that starts and stops abruptly. It occurs due to muscular contractions of a hollow tube (small and large intestine, gall bladder, ureter, etc.) in an attempt to relieve an obstruction by forcing content ou ...

, all of which kept him out of racing until September 2002. Having recovered from life-threatening illnesses, the

gelding A gelding (Help:IPA/English, /ˈɡɛldɪŋ/) is a castration, castrated male horse or other equine, such as a pony, donkey or a mule. The term is also used with certain other animals and livestock, such as domesticated Camelidae, camels. By compa ...

enjoyed his most successful season, winning the Grade II Mervyn Leroy Handicap and the Grade I

Hollywood Gold Cup The Hollywood Gold Cup Stakes is a Grade II 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 $200,000 ...

. In winning the 2003

Longacres Mile Handicap The Longacres Mile Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race generally held in August at Emerald Downs in Auburn, Washington. Formerly run under Handicap (horse racing), handicap conditions, the race is open to horses three years of age and old ...

, Sky Jack set the record for both the fastest time and widest margin of victory. Sky Jack at ''California Thoroughbred Breeders Association'' magazine] (

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)

Retirement

Due to a recurring knee problem, Sky Jack was retired in November 2003 to his owners' farm near

Temecula, California Temecula (; , ; Luiseño language, Luiseño: ''Temeekunga'') is a city in southwestern Riverside County, California, United States. The city had a population of 110,003 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and was Municipal corpora ...

. Suffering from malignant melanoma, on June 30, 2016 Sky Jack was humanely euthanized.

References

{{Reflist 1996 racehorse births Thoroughbred family 3-m Racehorses bred in California Racehorses trained in the United States American Grade 1 Stakes winners