FIRST SAMURARI juvenile Jolly Samurai stayed perfect in two starts on Sunday evening with a win in the Kip Deville Stakes at Remington Park.
Trained by Danny Pish for Jake Brown, the gelding was happy to take up a spot at the back of the field. Staying near the back for the first half of the race, it wasn’t until they were leaving the turn that Jolly Samurai started to move through the field.
Jolly Samurai swung wide into the stretch and showed a big closing kick to power up the outside. The move came just in time with Jolly Samurai winning by a neck at the line to become his sire’s 38th stakes winner.
Jolly Samurai was bred by David Cobb in Texas out of a winning half-sister to Grade 3 winner Change Up and two other stakes performers with Change Up also producing the stakes winning Pinch Hit.
The sire of six stakes performers in 2024, FIRST SAMURAI is the sire of 12% stakes performers overall with 39 placing at the graded stakes level.