Sharp Samurai

Sharp Samurai broke his maiden on dirt in early 2017 but thrived once switched to grass in the spring, winning an allowance race and a listed stakes race on Santa Anita's turf.

The First Samurai gelding, co-owned and trained by Mark Glatt, picked up his first graded stakes win in the Grade 3 La Jolla Handicap at Del Mar on Aug. 6, 2017, with Hall of Famer Gary Stevens aboard. 

Sharp Samurai maintained top form in his next two starts, scoring a half-length win over Big Score in the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby on Sept. 3 and the Grade 2 Twilight Derby on Oct. 28. He closed out 2017 with a good fourth-place effort in the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby.

After a break of nearly seven months, the gelding kicked off his 4-year-old campaign in 2018 with a win in an allowance race, followed up by back-to-back runner-up efforts in graded stakes at Del Mar. On Oct. 6, he returned to the winner’s circle with a game nose win over Fly to Mars in the Grade 2 City of Hope Mile Stakes at Santa Anita.

Sharp Samurai was winless in four starts in 2019, but he ran well in defeat with one second, one third, and two fourths while facing graded stakes competition.

Sharp Samurai kicked off 2020 with a third-place finish in the Grade 3 American Stakes and followed with a closed second in the Grade 2 Eddie Read Stakes. Shifted back to the main track for the TVG Pacific Classic, Sharp Samurai finished second to Maximum Security.

In his final prep race for the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, Sharp Samurai finished second to Mo Forza in the City of Hope Mile. Switched back to dirt for the 2020 Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, he overcame early trouble to finish a game third in the $1 million race Nov. 7 at Keeneland.