Sugai started his jockey career in March 1985 after graduating the 's jockey curriculum. He was one of the first members to graduate the school alongside
Yoshitomi Shibata. He ran his first race on March 2 at a maiden race held at
Hanshin Racecourse with Shin Kokin, in which he and the horse finished 6th. He won his first race the following day at Hanshin when he rode Hagino Goody in her debut race. Sugai won his first graded race in 1990 when he rode
Haku Taisei and won the
Kisaragi Sho. His first race as a trainer was . He won his first race as a trainer on March 14 at an allowance race held at Hanshin with Hokko One Man. Sugai won his first graded race as a trainer with
Gold Ship when he won the
Kyodo Tsushin Hai in 2012, and won his first GI race with the same horse when the horse won the
Satsuki Shō that same year. Sugai won his 500th win as a trainer on April 2, 2023 when T O Solennel won the Akashi Stakes. In addition to Gold Ship, Sugai has also trained several horses of note. Among those are
Just A Way, who was named the best horse of the year in the
2014 World's Best Racehorse Rankings following his record breaking performance at the
Dubai Duty Free, as well as
Sodashi, who was the first
pure white horse to win a JRA GI race. == Personal life ==