Brass Hat is out of the mare Brassy and sired by Prized, winner of the 1989 Breeders' Cup Turf and a son of the highly successful sire Kris S. Bred and raced by Fred F. Bradley of Frankfort, Kentucky, and trained by his son William "Buff" Bradley.

He finished second to Electrocutionist in the March 25th Dubai World Cup but was disqualified after a post-race test revealed trace amounts of the banned drug methyl prednisolone acetate.

While owner Fred Bradley did not dispute the positive test, he asserted that the therapeutic medication given the horse 28 days prior to the World Cup was well within the guidelines put out by the Emirates Racing Association.

In mid summer, Brass Hat suffered a sesamoid fracture that kept him out of racing for several months.

Returning to the track in 2008, the then seven-year-old gelding brought in a strong performance in the grade 1 Donn Handicap, a race that he had won two years before, finishing fourth.