Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile: At fork in the road, Sharp Samurai pointed to dirt
ARCADIA, Calif. – The Pacific Classic was a pivotal race this year. It showed that Maximum Security was back to his best form, and it showed that runner-up Sharp Samurai could run with the best on dirt.
For Sharp Samurai, it opened options that ultimately will change his course for the Breeders’ Cup. Though he’s been one of the best middle-distance grass runners in the country for four seasons, and has made 17 of his last 18 starts on turf, Sharp Samurai will go in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile on Nov. 7 at Keeneland.
“He proved with that race that he could run at a high level on dirt,” said trainer Mark Glatt, who has expertly guided Sharp Samurai throughout his career for the father-and-son team of owners Jed and Tim Cohen, who race, respectively, as Red Baron’s Barn and Rancho Temescal. “If we’re going to take a shot at the Breeders’ Cup, we think the best fit is the dirt race.”
Sharp Samurai, a 6-year-old gelding, has been effective from one mile to the 1 1/4 miles of the Pacific Classic, with his five stakes wins all coming in a sweet spot of between one mile and 1 1/8 miles, all on turf. The Grade 1 Pacific Classic was preceded by an unlucky second-place finish behind United in the Grade 2 Eddie Read, and most recently Sharp Samurai was second to Mo Forza – the current favorite of Daily Racing Form’s Brad Free for the BC Mile – in the Grade 2 City of Hope Mile.
“It was clear the other day we’re not going to beat Mo Forza,” Glatt said. “And with the others in the Mile coming from Europe, the dirt race should be easier. Not easy. Easier.”
Sharp Samurai is not among the top 10 choices on the early line for the Mile. For the Dirt Mile, he is Free’s third choice, at 5-1, and the two ranked higher both have questions marks. Complexity, the current favorite, lost his only start going two turns. Met Mile winner Vekoma, the second choice, is almost certain to wind up in the Sprint.
Pre-entries for the Breeders’ Cup races are due Monday and announced Wednesday. Glatt said there’s a chance Sharp Samurai could be pre-entered in both the Dirt Mile and the Mile, but the clear intention is to run in the Dirt Mile. Glatt already lined up two-time reigning Eclipse Award-winning jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. for the Dirt Mile.
Sharp Samurai has raced in graded stakes in 15 of his last 16 starts dating to August 2017, when he won the Grade 3 La Jolla Handicap. He followed that with victories in the Del Mar Derby and Twilight Derby, both Grade 2 events. At age 4, he won the Grade 2 City of Hope Mile on Oct. 6, 2018, earning a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 104.
That was his last win. Though he’s lost eight straight in four-race campaigns in both 2019 and thus far in 2020, he has performed at the highest levels; his 103 Beyer in the Pacific Classic was one point shy of his all-time best. The three horses to whom he finished second in his last three starts – Mo Forza, Maximum Security, and United – all should be major players in their respective Breeders’ Cup races, the Mile, Classic, and Turf.
“He should have beat United that day, and he ran a good race against Mo Forza,” Glatt said. “He was second to three of the best horses in the country this summer.”
Glatt, 47, in recent years has steadily built his stable here at Santa Anita into one of the premier outfits on the West Coast. Last year was his best yet. He set single-season personal bests with 73 wins and more than $3.3 million in earnings. The quality of stock in his care continues to advance. He has a second Breeders’ Cup starter in the top sprinter Collusion Illusion – and he is closing in on 1,000 career victories; he stands at 996 heading into Friday’s card at Santa Anita.
Sharp Samurai has been his most successful runner, with more than $1 million in earnings. Collusion Illusion gave Glatt his first Grade 1 win, in the Bing Crosby this past summer. But Glatt’s most satisfying win might have come at Emerald Downs in August 2019, when the Washington state native won the Longacres Mile with Law Abidin Citizen with family and many old friends in attendance.
Sharp Samurai has benefited the past three seasons from campaigns in which he gets the winter off and comes back in late spring or early summer and races through the fall. It would be a testament to his durability and versatility, and the skill of his trainer, if at the end of his 6-year-old season he won the biggest race of his life.