Jose A. Martin was an American Thoroughbred horse racing

Thoroughbred horse race

Thoroughbred horse racing is a worldwide sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport: Flat racing and National Hunt racing...

 trainer

Horse trainer

In horse racing, a trainer prepares a horse for races, with responsibility for exercising it, getting it race-ready and determining which races it should enter...

 who trained three Champions

Eclipse Award

The Eclipse Award is an American thoroughbred horse racing award named after the 18th century British racehorse and sire, Eclipse. The Eclipse Awards, honoring the champions of the sport, are sponsored by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association , Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers...

 as well as multiple Grade I

Graded stakes race

A graded stakes race is a term applied since 1973 by the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association to thoroughbred horse races in the United States and Canada to describe races that derive their name from the stake, or entry fee, owners must pay...

 winner, Noble Nashua

Noble Nashua

Noble Nashua was an American Thoroughbred racehorse bred in Kentucky by Theiline Scheumann's Grousemont Farm. Impeccably bred, he was sired by U.S...

.

Jose Martin was the son of U.S. Racing Hall of Fame

National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame

The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers...

 trainer Frank "Pancho" Martin

Frank "Pancho" Martin

Frank "Pancho" Martin is a United States' Hall of Fame trainer of Thoroughbred racehorses. He is often remembered as the trainer of Sham, the horse that placed second to Secretariat in two legs of the 1973 U. S. Triple Crown series...

. He was also the father of trainer Carlos Martin.

A native of Havana

Havana

Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...

, Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

, Jose Martin came to the United in 1960 where his father was traning horses. During the years learning the business from his father, he was away for two years, serving with the 82nd Airborne Division of United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

. After being discharged, in 1967 he went out on his as a licensed Thoroughbred trainer.

In 1977, Jose Martin trained his first Eclipse Award

Eclipse Award

The Eclipse Award is an American thoroughbred horse racing award named after the 18th century British racehorse and sire, Eclipse. The Eclipse Awards, honoring the champions of the sport, are sponsored by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association , Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers...

 winner when Lakeville Miss

Lakeville Miss

Lakeville Miss was an American Thoroughbred Champion racehorse bred and raced by Great Neck, New York businessman Randolph Weinsier who in 1979 received the P.A.B...

 was voted American Champion Two-Year-Old Filly. He got his second with Wayward Lass

Wayward Lass

Wayward Lass was an American Thoroughbred Champion racehorse. Bred in Florida by Hall of Fame trainer Horatio Luro, Wayward Lass was bought in 1980 by Carl Lizza, Jr. for $30,000 at the then-Florida Breeders Sales Co. She was raced under the nom de course, Flying Zee Stable, a racing partnership...

 in 1981 when she was American Champion Three-Year-Old Filly and his last with Groovy

Groovy (horse)

Groovy was an American Thoroughbred Champion sprint racehorse known for his love of jelly donuts. As at 2011, he is the last horse to break the 130 Beyer Speed Figure having accomplished that milestone in his first two starts of 1987. In the Roseben Handicap at Aqueduct Racetrack he earned a 131...

 who, as at 2011, is the last horse to break the 130 Beyer Speed Figure

Beyer Speed Figure

The Beyer Speed Figure is a system for rating the performance of Thoroughbred racehorses in North America designed in the early 1970s by Andrew Beyer, the syndicated horse racing columnist for The Washington Post...

 having accomplished that milestone with 131 and 134 ratings in 1987 enroute to be voted that year's American Champion Sprint Horse.

Diagnosed with lung cancer

Lung cancer

Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...

 in 2001, on November 22, 2006 Jose Martin died at the North Shore University Hospital

North Shore University Hospital

North Shore University Hospital is one of the cornerstones of the North Shore-LIJ Health System, as well as an academic campus for the New York University School of Medicine and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine....

 in Manhasset, New York

Manhasset, New York

Manhasset is a hamlet and neighborhood in Nassau County, New York, on the North Shore of Long Island. As of the United States 2010 Census, the population was 8,080....

.