[4] Bred and owned by Ogden Phipps, Easy Goer was a son of Alydar out of the 1981 American Champion Older Female Horse Relaxing (by Buckpasser).

He had puffy, problematic ankles,[6] a clubfoot, and a turned-out left knee, all providing the potential for injury once the horse began serious workouts.

[8] Racing writer Edward L. Bowen said: "Easy Goer was a glowing chestnut with a fluid stride that belied his short pasterns and less than perfect foot.

"[13] His running style was multifaceted and flexible, and he was able to adjust to racing conditions;[14][15] he could go to the lead or come from behind,[16] he was able to put pressure on speed horses and stay with a faster pace, or drop back if needed.

McGaughey was concerned because he thought he might have to stop the colt's training; however, treatment by hosing and poulticing the leg to draw out the heat was successful.

[7] Three weeks later, he then won a 6+1⁄2-furlong allowance race by five and a half lengths at Belmont Park, again under little urging, running one-fifth of a second off the track record in 1:15+2⁄5, while carrying five pounds more than his opponents.

"[22] After another three week break, Easy Goer next won the seven-furlong Grade I Cowdin Stakes with little encouragement, defeating Is It True again by four lengths.

He also defeated Canadian Champion Two-Year-Old Colt Mercedes Won, who was the Hopeful Stakes and Florida Derby winner.

"[27] Three weeks after the Champagne, he finished second by a little more than a length in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile on a muddy track at Churchill Downs, losing to his frequent foe Is It True.

[7] At three, Easy Goer started his year in Florida by winning the Swale Stakes in the fastest seven furlongs of the Gulfstream Park meeting in a time of 1:22+1⁄5 while carrying ten pounds more than the runner up.

Easy Goer ran close to the lead the entire race and won by three lengths over Federico Tesio Stakes winner Rock Point.

The two first met in the 1989 Kentucky Derby where Sunday Silence won by 2+1⁄2 lengths with Easy Goer finishing second, struggling on the muddy track like he did in the Breeders' Cup the year before.

Throughout Preakness week, as late as the day before the race, Easy Goer's front feet were being soaked in a tub of Epsom salts due to small scratches or cracks on both heels.

[36] Easy Goer, after breaking in the air at the start, made a big, early move down the backstretch which catapulted him to a two-length lead over Sunday Silence with a half mile remaining, with the six-furlong split being run in a rapid 1:09+3⁄5.

Jockey Pat Day was criticized for reining Easy Goer's head sideways to the right in deep stretch with a short lead right before the finish line.

[31] Bill Christine of the Los Angeles Times, and trainer McGaughey also expressed their opinions on the mistakes they thought Day made during the race.

[41] There was some controversy leading into the race because at the time, New York was the only state that banned all race-day drugs and medications,[42] including Lasix which is now common place.

[21] After taking a few months off, Easy Goer's next race was on August 5 in the mile and an eighth Grade I Whitney Handicap at Saratoga, defeating older horses, including Cryptoclearance, by over four lengths in near record time while earning another lofty 119 Beyer Speed Figure.

"[15] Two weeks later at Saratoga, he won the $1.08 million mile and a quarter Grade I Travers Stakes by three lengths also in near-record time while earning another outstanding 121 Beyer Speed Figure.

[46] It was the third fastest in Travers history, behind General Assembly and Honest Pleasure, and remains the fifth fastest all time[47] Easy Goer then won the $809,000 mile and a quarter Grade I Woodward Stakes by two lengths on a muddy track, again defeating older horses while carrying more weight and being stuck in traffic, boxed in on the rail and checking twice.

[48][49] Three weeks later, he won the $1.09 million mile and a half Grade I Jockey Club Gold Cup by four lengths on October 7, again defeating older horses, included among them were the aforementioned Cryptoclearance, who finished second.

[48][50] After going their separate ways, the rivalry with Sunday Silence concluded in the Breeders' Cup Classic, run on November 4 at 1+1⁄4 miles.

Sunday Silence then made a charge turning for home and gained the lead in the final furlong, with Easy Goer still trailing by four lengths.

"[58] Easy Goer's 1989 three-year-old campaign is considered by some to be the greatest in American racing history without yielding any year-end championship awards.

On May 16, 1990, Easy Goer started the season by winning the seven-furlong Gold Stage Stakes easily on a sloppy track by over seven lengths, Twelve days later, he was third in the Grade I Metropolitan Mile, marking the only time he did not finish either first or second in his career.

[63] Easy Goer was beaten by a little more than a length behind eventual Horse of the Year Criminal Type and two-time sprint champion Housebuster while carrying considerably more weight than those competitors (fourteen and seven pounds, respectively).

Given the combination of his pedigree and the high-quality mares to which he was bred at Claiborne, it was speculated by The Blood-Horse that he would have been even more significant as a stallion had he lived longer.

[66] Dr. Thomas Swerczek, the veterinary pathologist at the University of Kentucky, who conducted Easy Goer's necropsy, determined the horse died of an anaphylactic reaction to an undetermined allergen and also had cancerous tumors in multiple organs.