By Mary Eddy – NYRA Press Office
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The Grade 1, $150,000 Jonathan Sheppard was won on four occasions by jockey Thomas Garner, who now has a chance to train a winner of the 2 3/8-mile handicap for older horses as he sends out Zarak the Brave Wednesday at Saratoga Race Course.
Garner, who won the Sheppard from 2019-21 [Winston C, Rashaan, The Mean Queen] and last summer aboard Awakened for Hall of Fame trainer Jack Fisher, saddles his first starter in a Grade 1 after winning six North American events at that level as a jockey.
“I think I would actually rather be riding them,” said Garner, with a laugh. “I actually get more nervous watching my horses than I did riding them. I am never nervous riding, but it seems to be a different ball game when you look after them and see them every day. I’m really enjoying it, and fingers crossed that Zarak can put us in the limelight on Wednesday.”
Zarak the Brave was last seen finishing a narrow second in the Rathbarry & Glenview Studs Hurdle in April at Fairyhouse in Ireland when in the care of previous conditioner Willie Mullins. There, he carried 160 pounds and was defeated a half-length by Brewin’upastorm in the 2 1/2-mile tilt over soft footing.
The 5-year-old Zarak gelding made his seasonal bow in January with a win in the 15-furlong Limestone Lad Hurdle at Naas, winning over soft footing by 1 1/4 lengths ahead of a fourth over a heavy Cheltenham course in March’s Champion Hurdle Challenge Trophy.
“He’s in good form,” said Garner. “His form in England and Ireland speaks for itself. It’s an honor to have a horse like him in my barn. I would have liked to have given him a run before this race, but he’s the class of this race and I’m looking forward to it.”
The talented bay put together a productive campaign last year that saw him hit the board in 3-of-4 outings, his lone off-the-board effort coming when he was pulled up in an October stake at Tipperary. The season was lead by a determined head victory in the two-mile Galway Handicap in August at Galway.
Garner said he had considered running Zarak the Brave in the Grade 1 Beverly R. Steinman in June at Aqueduct Racetrack, but opted to try the gelding in the Jonathan Kiser Novice that was initially slated for July 31 at the Spa, where he was the even-money morning-line favorite. That race was moved to August 7, but was canceled again due to wet conditions.
“He’s a real cool horse to have around, and he’s a real sweet individual,” said Garner. “I could have run him at Aqueduct, but I just thought I would give him time since he had a hard campaign over the winter running in the English Champion Hurdle and then going to Fairyhouse. So, I let him freshen up. We tried to go to the novice, so this was my ‘Plan B.’”
Out of the Boris de Deauville mare Tempo Royale, Zarak the Brave is a half-brother to Right Tempo, who has won two hurdle stakes for trainer Leslie Young, including the Margaret Currey Henley in May at Percy Warner.
Zarak the Brave has been assigned a field-high 158 pounds and will receive the riding services of Graham Watters.
Leipers Fork Steeplechasers’ Pickanumber [Jamie Bargary, 152 pounds] finished a good second last out in the Grade 1 A.P. Smithwick Memorial on July 21 here, finishing 4 1/4 lengths back of the victorious Ziggle Pops after a brave pacesetting trip in his American debut.
One of three entrants Wednesday for trainer Leslie Young, the Shantou 6-year-old was a dominant 15-length winner of the Pertemps Network Swinton Handicap two starts back in May at Haydock Park in England, an effort that came on the heels of a tidy 1 3/4-length handicap score in April at Huntingdon.
Young will also send out Artistic Choice [Danny Mullins, 140 pounds] for Leipers Fork Steeplechasers, as well as Irvin Naylor’s Too Friendly [Gerard Galligan, 148 pounds].
Artistic Choice, a 5-year-old Caravaggio gray, has two seconds from three starts this year, his best finish coming in his seasonal debut in April when defeated a neck in a 2 1/8-mile handicap at Foxfield. The Irish-bred is a two-time winner in Great Britain and vies for his first stakes victory.
Too Friendly makes his first stateside outing off a stalking fourth in a flat two-mile handicap on June 29 over the all-weather surface at Newcastle. The 6-year-old gelded son of Camelot returns to jumping after making his last four outings on the flat, his last hurdle effort producing a soundly-beaten eighth-place finish in a two-mile handicap over good footing in March at Plumpton.
Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Daigneault Thoroughbreds’ Abaan [Bernard Dalton, 154 pounds] will look to avenge a last-out fifth in the Smithwick where he lost a four-race win streak.
Trained by Kate Dalton, the 7-year-old Will Take Charge gelding was favored in the Smithwick where he tracked two lengths off the pace in the first half of the 2 3/8-mile route and attempted to make a mild bid. He moved inside for the final run, but faltered and finished well behind the victorious Ziggle Pops.
Abaan, a Grade 3-winner on the flat when in the care of Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher, relished his career change last August when moving to the jumps. He finished second at first asking over hurdles ahead of the first of his four consecutive wins with a 7 1/4-length romp in a 2 1/4-mile maiden in September at Colonial Downs. The chestnut followed with three stakes scores, led by a three-length coup of the 2 1/2-mile Foxbrook Champion Hurdle in October at Far Hills.
Completing the competitive field are the Grade 1-placed pair of Jimmy P [Stephen Mulqueen, 144 pounds] and Going Country [Parker Hendriks, 140 pounds] for conditioner Keri Brion; and stakes-winner Kiyomori [Harrison Beswick, 142 pounds] for trainer Todd Wyatt.
The Jonathan Sheppard is slated as the first race on Wednesday’s nine-race program, which also features the $125,000 Suzie O’Cain in Race 5. First post is 1:10 p.m. Eastern.
