SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — Thomas Garner has enjoyed plenty of success at Saratoga Race Course in recent years. The recently retired steeplechase jockey won six Grade 1 races at the Spa — four editions of the Jonathan Sheppard Handicap and two runnings of the A. P. Smithwick Memorial — before transitioning to training jumpers earlier this year.
In his brief time as a conditioner, Garner has compiled a record of 2-2-2 from 19 starts with earnings of $63,400. He will take his first swing at the big time today when he saddles Zarak the Brave for owner Jillian Johnston in the $150,000 Jonathan Sheppard, a 2 3/8-mile handicap for older horses.
Bred in France, Zarak the Brave will make his North American debut in the Sheppard. The 5-year-old son of Zarak out of the Boris de Deauville mare Tempo Royale has posted a record of 4-4-4 from 14 starts with earnings of $341,735 while racing in France, Ireland, and England. Favored at 9-5 on the morning line in today’s contest, Zarak the Brave will carry a field-high 158 pounds, including rider Graham Watters.
Garner said he expects to have jitters today.
“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 ballgame 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.”
Lastly out, Zarak the Brave finished a 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 contest over soft footing. The 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 three times in four outings; his lone off-the-board effort occurred when he was pulled up in an Oct. stake at Tipperary. The season was led by a determined head victory in the two-mile Galway Handicap in August at Galway.
Leipers Fork Steeplechasers’ Pickanumber (Jamie Bargary, 152 pounds, 5-2) 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 pacesetting trip in his American debut. One of three entrants in the Sheppard 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 following a 1 3/4-length handicap score in April at Huntingdon.
Young will also send out Artistic Choice (Danny Mullins, 140 pounds, 15-1) for Leipers Fork Steeplechasers, and Irvin Naylor’s Too Friendly (Gerard Galligan, 148 pounds, 6-1).
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 starts 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, 4-1) 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 win in 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, 10-1) and Going Country [Parker Hendriks, 140 pounds] for conditioner Keri Brion; and stakes-winner Kiyomori (Harrison Beswick, 142 pounds, 20-1) for trainer Todd Wyatt.
Originally Published: August 13, 2024 at 11:59 p.m.
Source link : https://www.saratogian.com/2024/08/13/horse-racing-a-new-perspective-for-garner-in-the-jonathan-sheppard/
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Publish date : 2024-08-14 04:37:18
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