Captain Joy

Captain Joy

Captain Joy at Menangle
Breed	Standardbred
Discipline	Pacing
Sire	Mach Three
Grandsire	Matts Scooter
Dam	Lady Joy
Maternal grandsire	Talk About Class
Sex	Gelding
Foaled	20 October 2005
Country	Australia
Color	Bay
Breeder	Marie Ross
Owner	Marie Ross
Trainer	Susan Hunter
Earnings
$1,000,291
Major wins
2008 G1 Australasian Breeders Crown 2008 G1 NSW Breeders Challenge (2c&g) 2009 G1 NSW Derby 2009 G1 Victoria Derby 2009 G1 Queensland Derby 2009 G1 NSW Breeders Challenge (3c&g) 2010 G3 Queensland 4&5YO Championship 2011 Listed Stawell Cup 2012 G3 Media Cup 2012 G3 Golden Mile
Other awards
2008 Australian 2YO C&G Pacer of the Year 2008 NSW 2YO Pacer of the Year 2009 Australian 3YO C&G Pacer of the Year 2009 Australian 3YO Pacer of the Year 2009 NSW 3YO Pacer of the Year 2009 NSW Horse of the Year
Last updated on: 28 March 2013.

Captain Joy is a Standardbred 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, Australia 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 and Somebeachsomewhere. 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.

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 in Sydney. He then travelled to Queensland 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 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.

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

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 in the Inter Dominion 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 Australasian Breeders Crown. 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.