Barn Tour: Joe Sharp is on a roll. Meet his top runners

Joe Sharp's stable might not be home to the most elite horses, but that didn’t stop him from winning the Churchill Downs spring training title. And the Fair Grounds title for the meet that ended in March. And the 2024 Kentucky Downs title.

He also is coming off his best year for earnings, topping the $6 million for the first time with his fifth consecutive year of earnings gains.

“It seems like from last year into this year, our business (has) really gotten increasingly better,” Sharp told Horse Racing Nation this week as he was driving to Saratoga. “We're just always trying to improve quality and improve percentage and just keep inching our way along, trying to build up our stable and build up our clientele and our team.”

Sharp’s numbers took a hit in 2020, as racing was disrupted by Covid and life for the trainer and his family was disrupted when he was found to have a benign brain tumor that required two surgeries.

“We got down to 50 (horses), so we came back pretty good from that,” said Sharp, who now has about 100 horses in training. “Those were a tough couple of years. It's been nice to get a surge of horses again and get rolling. I never felt like it was dire straits or anything, but it was definitely something that we had to rebound from.”

Sharp’s home base is in Kentucky, but he’s sending a string of 30 to Saratoga.

Although he’s won only two graded stakes since 2021, he’s content with the quality in his barn.

“Somebody asked me the other day, what's your best horse? And I was like, we don't have any standout horses right now, but we have a barn full of some really solid horses. We're getting some 2-year-olds that are promising and things like that.”

Sharp updated on his solid runners for the latest in HRN’s Barn Tour series.

Lambeth. This 4-year-old Arrogate colt finished fourth in his last two starts after winning the two before that. “He's a horse that's been fun once we discovered he was able to go the marathon distances,” Sharp said. “We found that he's run best when we've given him a good amount of time in between races. We're going to point for the Birdstone at Saratoga (at) a mile and three quarters, and it's in early August. He's shown the ability to do turf or dirt, but I do think dirt is his best preferred surface. So we'll probably run in the Birdstone and then Kentucky Downs after that.”

Money Supply. The 6-year-old son of Practical Joke lost his last two starts at Churchill Downs after wins at Oaklawn and Keeneland. “He's a horse that's kind of had some tough racing luck his last two starts.” He's pointed to the listed Jonathan B. Schuster Memorial Stakes at Horseshoe Indianapolis, a race he won last year.

Vehemente. The 3-year-old Vekoma filly has won three in a row, including an optional-claiming allowance at Saratoga last out, and has finished in the money in all but one of her nine career starts. Her next start could come in the New York Oaks at Finger Lakes or an allowance at Saratoga.

Furio. The 3-year-old McKinzie colt came off an optional-claiming allowance win at Churchill when finishing ninth Sunday in the Maxfield Stakes. “We were a little disappointed in (Sunday’s) performance, so we might back up and punt a little bit, maybe freshen him a little bit, and point for a fall campaign.”

Fantastical. The 4-year-old daughter of Air Force Blue stepped up to black-type stakes for her last two starts and finished fourth in both. She was in the money in each of her previous 10 starts. “She was kind of unlucky, rained off the grass in Lone Star last time.” She’ll start next in the Indiana General Assembly Distaff on Saturday.

Vive Veuve. The 4-year-old Collected filly got her first win in four starts this year in an optional-claiming allowance at Churchill Downs last out. “She's headed to Saratoga as well. Not really a race earmarked for her. Obviously Kentucky Downs is our main goal with her, trying to get some black type at Kentucky Downs. But in the immediate future she's going to go spend the summer in Saratoga. Just a really neat filly that's been fun to develop.”

Strikingly Spun. The 5-year-old Hard Spun mare is in an eight-race losing streak that began last summer. Still, “she's been a filly that's been good to us,” Sharp said, with four third-place finishes in that stretch. She’s pointed to the Indiana General Assembly Distaff as well.