Joe Sharp Reaches 1,000 North American Wins

Trainer Joe Sharp notched his 1,000th North American victory in sixth race at Ellis Park on Friday when Master Game (Mastery) took a seven-furlong claimer under Tyler Gaffalione.

At Saratoga that same day where he won his 999th in the third race, the trainer–who went out on his own in 2014–said it was satisfying to reach the milestone with his Ellis-based team, which is headed by longtime assistant Marvin Alvarez.

“It's great, and I was happy to have it happen down there at Ellis because Marvin has been there with me since the beginning,” said Sharp, who watched the race on his iPad with his family from the playground at Saratoga. “He was my first groom, and now he's my assistant. I think it meant as much to him as it did to me because he's been there since win number one. We built this together.”