Claiborne Farm to stand First Samurai

First Samurai is expected to make his next start in the Blue Grass on April 15  (Lauren J. Pomeroy/Horsephotos.com)

Multiple Grade 1 winner FIRST SAMURAI (Giant’s Causeway) will stand at stud
at Claiborne Farm upon his retirement from racing. The historic Paris, Kentucky,
farm announced Thursday that it had purchased an interest in the three-year-old for
breeding purposes.

As a juvenile, First Samurai won his first four starts, including the Hopeful
S. (G1) and Champagne S. (G1), becoming the first horse to win both of those
prestigious races since 1993. He suffered his only defeat when finishing a
troubled third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) at Belmont Park. The chestnut
was the runner-up in the Eclipse Award voting for
champion two-year-old.

The grandson of Storm Cat began this season with a game second-place effort
in the sloppy Hutcheson S. (G2) before being awarded first place via
disqualification in the Fountain of Youth S. (G2). The Frank Brothers trainee is
being pointed toward the April 15 Blue Grass S. (G1) at Keeneland and then the May 6
Kentucky Derby (G1) at Churchill Downs. To date, First Samurai’s record reads
7-5-1-1, $892,575.

“First Samurai will be the first Storm Cat-line stallion to stand at the
farm,” Claiborne Farm President Seth Hancock said. “He was a brilliant
two-year-old and is an outstanding individual. He will be a good fit for a lot
of the mares at Claiborne.”

Owned by Bruce Lunsford and Lansdon Robbins III, First Samurai is the second
foal out of the
multiple stakes winning Dixieland Band mare Freddie Frisson, a half-sister to
1997 Thoroughbred Club of America S. (G3) heroine Sky Blue Pink (Strawberry Road
[Aus]).

“Lansdon and I realized how special this horse is and wanted him to have a
good home,” Lunsford said. “We also wanted to put this process behind us before
entering the fray of the classic season.”