Ultimately, his ownership and breeding rights were split into 60 shares worth $500,000 each—a total of $30 million.

Longtime Quarter Horse breeder and racehorse owner Walter Merrick of Sayre, Oklahoma,[7] bred Easy Jet from two future AQHA Hall of Fame members, Jet Deck and Thoroughbred mare Lena's Bar in 1967.

When fully grown, he stood about 15.3 hands high (63 inches; 160 cm) and weighed about 1,300 pounds (590 kg).

[8] Of Easy Jet's stamina and busy training regimen, Merrick said, "I guess he ate at night; I don't know when else.

[9] Training for the race track generally begins when a horse is a long yearling—between one and a half and two years of age.

Easy Jet's performance prompted Merrick to enter him in a yearling race at Blue Ribbon Downs, which the colt won by more than a length.

[4] His jockey, Willie Lovell, explained that he needed to do very little to win: "In the stretch, when I saw Easy Jet had it, I let him run his own race.

"[11] His time of 20.46 seconds to cover 400 yards (370 m) was remarkable considering that three days of rain before the start of the race had turned the track into a muddy quagmire.

[11][c] At another stakes, the Ribbon Futurity at Sallisaw, Oklahoma, Easy Jet won by three-quarters of a length and set a new track record of 16.92 seconds for 330 yards (300 m).

"[9] Despite all of the starts, Easy Jet had enough energy to be difficult to handle; in this respect, he was considered high-spirited rather than mean.

[4] During the Rocky Mountain Quarter Horse Derby at Centennial Park in Denver, Colorado, on October 4, 1970, which Easy Jet won without ever relinquishing the lead, the stallion became the highest-earning Quarter Horse racer of all time, with earnings of more than $440,000 (equivalent to $3,452,134 in 2023).

[1] Before his retirement from racing in 1970, Easy Jet had already started standing at stud, returning to the track only after the breeding season.

[2][8] The oil bust of the 1980s, and changes in US tax laws affecting horse operations, led to financial problems for the horse market in general and the syndicate, which led to financial difficulties for Merrick and resulted in many changes of ownership for Easy Jet until the death of the champion in 1992.

[8] More than 1,500 of his offspring earned their AQHA Race Register of Merit, and nine became World Champion Quarter Running Horses.

[3][8] His foal Sunset Gallant Jet was the 1979 and 1980 AQHA High Point Cutting & Chariot Racing Co-Champion.