Jolly Jake is a Thoroughbred

Thoroughbred

The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...

 racehorse who won the New Zealand Derby

New Zealand Derby

The New Zealand Derby is a set-weights Thoroughbred horserace for three-year-old, run over a distance of 2,400 metres at Ellerslie Racecourse in Auckland, New Zealand. It is held on the first Saturday in March, as the opening day of Auckland Cup Week. From 2009, it was run for a purse of $2.2...

 in 1985.

It took five attempts for the colt to clear maiden company, which he did at Pukekohe four months before his Derby triumph, but he steadily improved, performing consistently throughout. He only finished further back than fifth twice, once in the Waikato Guineas and once over an unsuitable 1200 m at Te Aroha, and was also successful in the Avondale Guineas prior to winning the Derby.

He won the Derby in 2:27.39, a race record that stood until broken by The Phantom Chance

The Phantom Chance

The Phantom Chance is a New Zealand Thoroughbred racehorse who won the New Zealand Derby in 1992 and Cox Plate in 1993, earning over $2 million in his 44-race career....

8 years later. This race, easily his greatest career performance, turned out to be his final career start.