First Samurai Sires First Winner

First Samurai , a leading 2-year-old of 2005, sired his first winner when his son Hornblower posted a 1 1/4-length triumph at Hastings Racecourse June 19 for owner Swift Thoroughbreds. Hornblower ran the six furlongs in 1:12.83.

Denlea Park is the breeder of Kentucky-bred Hornblower, who is a half-brother to grade II winner Spice Island, whose son, Ice Box, won this year’s Florida Derby (gr. I) and ran second in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I). Hornblower’s dam, Crown of Sheba (by Alysheba), is a winning half-sister to 1985 Horse of the Year Spend a Buck.

Winner of the Champagne Stakes (gr. I) and Hopeful Stakes (gr. I) at 2, First Samurai (Giant's Causeway --Freddie Frisson, by Dixieland Band) stands for $30,000 at the Hancock family’s Claiborne Farm near Paris, Ky.