In 2025, Sovereignty dominated North American horse racing, achieving a clean sweep of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve, the Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets, and the DraftKings Travers Stakes, accumulating a leading seasonal earning of $5,692,020. However, a different Thoroughbred, Sharp Warning, earned his own significant record away from major competitions. This persistent gelding secured the most victories in North America by competing across smaller racetracks in the Intermountain West region of the U.S.
He regularly competed, often successfully, at various locations ranging from the Desert Southwest up through the Rocky Mountains and into the Northern Plains. These venues included well-known tracks like Turf Paradise and Arapahoe Park, as well as less prominent sites such as Blackfoot and White Pine Racing. In these smaller communities, local enthusiasts actively back the sport, and brief fair racing events act as key communal gatherings.
According to Equibase, Sharp Warning recorded 10 wins from 16 races last year, accumulating $51,572, but this total has a notable caveat. He actually achieved an 11th first-place finish on October 4th in Fort Pierre, South Dakota, at an annual fair event that spans just one weekend. This particular racetrack is not officially included in Equibase’s charting system.
Even excluding that uncounted 11th win, Sharp Warning still surpassed five other horses who each secured nine victories in 2025: Silver Slugger, Busk, Motown Dynamic, Pacific Blue, and He’s in Charge.
As an 8-year-old last year, Sharp Warning frequently competed under the guidance of owner-trainer Kayla Warren. Warren designed his racing schedule with an emphasis on strategic placement rather than lofty aspirations. Instead of pursuing larger prize money, she concentrated on races whose conditions perfectly suited her sprinter, confident that judiciously chosen chances would lead to numerous wins. Her strategy proved successful.
Sharp Warning excelled consistently in starter allowance races, maintaining a packed schedule that, according to Warren, aligned well with his nature. Though he didn’t necessarily cover much distance in pre-race exercises, he certainly traveled extensively inside a trailer, moving from one racing event to another, mirroring the routine of other horses in Warren’s mobile stable.
Starting his year at Turf Paradise in Phoenix, Sharp Warning experienced defeats in his initial two races before achieving a decisive 6 ½-length win in a $4,000 claiming race on February 19. Subsequently, on March 31, he secured a narrow starter allowance victory by a nose, also at Turf Paradise.
Once the racing event concluded, Warren embarked on her journey in her RV. Sharp Warning and the rest of her equine team followed suit, being transported along highways in trailers pulled by multiple trucks.
Upon reaching Miles City, the site of Montana’s notable Eastern Montana Fair, Sharp Warning secured an additional starter allowance win. Following a pair of close losses in subsequent races at Miles City and Energy Downs in Wyoming, Sharp Warning then entered a period during the summer and early autumn where he proved invincible within his racing category.
Between July 12 and October 4, he achieved a remarkable series of eight consecutive wins, culminating with his success at Fort Pierre.
“Whenever we bring him out, I feel anxious, particularly during that sequence of eight consecutive wins. I kept thinking, ‘I know this run will eventually conclude,’” she shared. “Ultimately, he’s simply a magnificent animal. Something ignited within him this year that transformed him into a truly remarkable horse.”
A notable achievement included two starter allowance stakes victories at the Eastern Idaho State Fair in Blackfoot. Sharp Warning triumphed in both the Fun At The Fair Overnight Stakes and the Good Old Boys Stakes, neither of which were black-type races, in back-to-back weeks during the late summer.
According to Warren, Sharp Warning genuinely enjoys being active at the racecourse.
“Should he race on a Saturday, by Tuesday morning, he’s out with the pony and back in training,” explained Warren, who manages a stable containing both Thoroughbreds and Quarter-Horses. “This horse dislikes inactivity in his stall. He enjoys training, he enjoys running, and he possesses the physical soundness to handle it all.”
While each of the two starter stakes offered a relatively small purse of $4,500, Warren values every single win just as much.
“My very first victory came at a bush track on the Navajo Nation, and from that moment, I was completely captivated,” she recounted, reflecting on her training career which commenced in 2012.
She continues to have a fondness for racing at minor tracks and fair gatherings, and she highly values the sense of community. Although her primary residence is Farmington, N.M., she frequently finds her secondary home situated close to a racetrack in the western United States.
Illustrating the environment where she and her horses participate, she explained, “For instance, when we arrive in Miles City, Montana, they host what is known as the World Famous Miles City Bucking Horse Sale, featuring 50 of the most skilled cowboys. Amidst this event, they also hold horse races. The entire town, upon our arrival, absolutely adores it. They show great affection for the horsemen, treating everyone with immense hospitality. The spectator stands are packed, and the betting queues are lengthy. It’s truly a wonderful sight to behold.”
Sharp Warning’s swiftness and reliability transformed him into a prolific winner at venues like Great Falls, White Pine Racing, and Blackfoot. It was only late in the year, at Arapahoe, that Sharp Warning began to display indications of declining performance. In his concluding two races of 2025, he once more led into the final stretch, but was overtaken late on both occasions, though he still managed to finish second.
In total, Sharp Warning has a career record of 18 wins, 11 second-place finishes, and 10 third-place finishes from 69 starts at tracks acknowledged by Equibase, accumulating $141,157 in earnings. He has achieved success for various owners and trainers. Warren stated that she took over his training in the spring of 2024, acquiring him from Jim Crotts, an owner/trainer who is both a friend and a mentor to her.
Sharp Warning joined Warren’s stable roughly four years after his inaugural win at Golden Gate Fields. That debut victory was in a maiden $22,500 claiming race, achieved under the care of trainer Victor Trujillo and then-owner Madera Thoroughbreds Racing.
Originating in California, bred by Madera Thoroughbreds, Sharp Warning is the offspring of Swiss Please, a stakes-placed mare by Swiss Yodeler. Swiss Please has given birth to 10 foals, with six becoming starters and five achieving wins. Madera Thoroughbreds specifically bred her to the stallion Elusive Warning, who was based at their farm. Sharp Warning inherits his sire’s distinctive chestnut coloring.
Having concluded his 2025 season, Sharp Warning is currently on a deserved break before commencing his 2026 campaign as a 9-year-old. He is expected to return to his customary role as a frequent competitor in starter-allowance races and a regular traveler.
Warren intends to use swimming as a method to establish a baseline of fitness for him before gradually reintroducing him to traditional racetrack training.
“At present, he’s enjoying his turnout in Buckeye, Arizona, in a spacious paddock, where he’s rolling in the sand and simply relishing life,” Warren commented.
