Jonathan Sheppard Stakes | Horse Racing Free Tips

Steeplechase Star Snap Decision Tackles Flat Horses in Colonial Stakes

Snap Decision (Hard Spun) may be the best jumper in the country, but his next assignment will be in a flat race, Wednesday's $150,000 Colonial Cup at Colonial Downs. As trainer Jack Fisher sees it, he's got nothing to lose. While he wants to win and doesn't think that is out of the question, Fisher said one of the reasons he went into the race is that it should set his horse up for the G1 Jonathan Sheppard S., an Aug. 17 steeplechase at Saratoga.

“If nothing else, this will be a good work for the Jonathan Sheppard S.,” he said. “I can get that much more into the horse by doing this. In this case, one race equals three works. Depending on where he finishes, we should also pick up a little bit of purse money.”

Take a closer look at Snap Decision's lifetime record and you'll see a horse that shouldn't be in over his head in a stakes race on the flat. A half-brother to Mr Speaker (Pulpit), the winner of the 2014 GI Belmont Derby Invitational, Snap Decision began his career for the Phipps Stable and trainer Shug McGaughey. He was 2-for-18 on the flat, but finished third in the GIII Palm Beach S. and third in the Better Talk Now S.

Fisher went to the connections and got them to agree to sell.

“For one, they wanted to know that he was going to go to a good home,” Fisher said. “Secondly, he wasn't winning those races. He was third, fourth, fifth. That's the type of horse I am very interested in buying. I have to give all the credit to [co-owner] Charlie Fenwick because he was all about the sire, Hard Spun. I told him it wasn't Hard Spun, it was the dam [Salute]. She is a very nice dam. But Charlie was right.”

Snap Decision, who is eight, debuted over the jumps in 2019 and ended that year with a pair of stakes wins. He won his first Grade 1 win over jumps in the 2021 Iroquois S. and this year has run second in the G2 Temple Gwathmey S. before winning another Iroquois, this time by 7 1/4 lengths. He has finished first or second in 15 consecutive jump races.

After the Iroquois, Fisher had the option of running Snap Decision over the jumps in the G1 A.P. Smithwick S. at Saratoga, but passed the race because of the amount of weight Snap Decision would have had to carry. Fisher said he was told his horse would have had to carry 158 pounds in the race. The winner, Down Royal (Alphabet Soup), carried 141 pounds.

“If I ran him in the Smithwick, I was going to get creamed with the weight,” he said.

Not wanting to go into the Sheppard off of a three-month layoff, Fisher found the Colonial Cup. (A race with the same name used to be one of the major stakes on the steeplechase circuit). Can he win? Fisher is trying to take a realistic approach to the race.

“I saw they had this 1 1/2-mile race there on the turf and I thought he is a good enough horse that he belonged,” Fisher said. “Rusty Arnold has a tough horse in there in Cellist (Big Blue Kitten). He won the [GIII] Louisville S. in his last start. I'm not sure he can beat him, but I'm not really scared of anyone else. I don't think the race is too short for him. I think it will be perfect.”

There aren't many examples of top steeplechase horses winning on the flat. In 1971, the Sheppard-trained Wustenchef won a flat stakes, the Sussex Turf H., and one over jumps, the Indian River Hurdle H., at the same Delaware Park meet. John's Call ran four times over jumps before being converted to a flat horse. In his second career, he became a two-time Grade I winner, winning the 2000 GI Turf Classic Invitational S. and the 2000 GI Sword Dance Invitational.

Fisher said that if Spun Decision turns in a big effort in the Colonial he might be tempted to run him again on the flat. But he said that the etiquette in his profession is that once a steeplechase trainer buys a horse from a flat racing stable, the horse should compete only in jump races. He said he will keep that in mind when making future decisions.

Forest Boyce has the riding assignment on Snap Decision and the gelding has been assigned 122 pounds, 36 less than he carried in the 2022 Iroquois at three miles. It's been three years and four months since he last raced over the flat, finishing third in a 1 1/8-mile dirt allowance race at Aqueduct. Since then, he's become one of the best jumpers in the sport. Does that mean he is good enough to be competitive in a $150,000 non-graded stakes race on the flat? The question will be answered Wednesday at Colonial Downs.

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Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: Steeplechasers Have Started Brion’s Career With A Bang, But She Has Eyes On The Flat Too

A week after her resounding success in the Grade 1 Jonathan Sheppard Handicap at Saratoga, trainer Keri Brion said the result still hadn't fully sunk in. Brion saddled four runners in the race, and trained all of the trifecta, led by The Mean Queen (IRE) and rounded out by Baltimore Bucko (GB) and French Light (FR).

“I didn't really allow myself to even start thinking about it,” said Brion. “A lot of people were saying it to me, but to be honest I just hoped one of them could get it done. I knew the pressure was on – on paper, mine were the ones to beat. It wasn't until the eighth pole I started yelling for French Light, 'Get up there!' to be third.”

The accomplishment was fitting, since Brion served as assistant trainer to Sheppard for 11 years and was part of his team for several of his 15 victories in the race, formerly known as the New York Turf Writers Cup.

For Brion, the past eight months since going out on her own have been a whirlwind. Brion had taken a string of Sheppard's horses over to Ireland in November 2020 and was still there when she got word in January that Sheppard was retiring. Brion had long hoped to open her own racing stable and had developed good relationships with many of Sheppard's owners, so she had expected at some point she may take the mantle from him but said it happened rather suddenly.

“I always planned to go out on my own, but maybe not in this way,” she said. “But everything happens for a reason, and everything's going pretty good now.”

Now, she is the leading trainer in the National Steeplechase Association standings by earnings and is tied with recent Hall of Fame inductee Jack Fisher for NSA wins. She got her first Grade 1 win in late July when Baltimore Bucko took the G1 A.P. Smithwick Memorial. Her jaunt to Ireland also helped her make history, as she became the first American trainer to win a hurdle race in the country (courtesy of The Mean Queen) and the first to win a National Hunt race in Ireland with Scorpion's Revenge. Brion said the level of competition in Ireland and England for steeplechase horses is considerably higher than in the United States, where there are comparatively few steeplechase horses.

The months spent in Ireland exposed Brion to new training styles to build better fitness and stamina, but also gave her the chance to develop an angle she hopes will bring new owners into the steeplechase scene in the States. Prize money has become a major problem in English and Irish racing, and Brion has found that a mid-level runner there can be tremendously successful in America, where steeplechase purses are much better.

“Obviously, over there jump racing is more prestigious, so they've got that going for them but the guys who are putting a lot of money into the sport don't even break even,” she said. “You can at least break even, maybe make some money here when you do it the right way. I have quite a few people intrigued by it.”

American jump racing is a great outlet for a runner who prefers firm ground, which they don't reliably get in Ireland.

Brion leads The Mean Queen back to the barn after a workout with Tom Garner up

Although steeplechase is most popular in East Coast areas known for all types of equestrian sport, like fox hunting and eventing, Brion said she wish more people understood that it really has more in common with flat racing than cross country.

“I wish the sport did a better job of advocating and teaching people about it because there are quite a few misconceptions about the sport, but it's only because you would have no way to know,” she said. “I think people look at us as a different entity. Flat racing, you look at them as athletes doing a sport. Steeplechase racing, I think people look at it like we're almost show horses which we're not. We're just as competitive as the flat, and there's money to be made in it. It could be supported just as well.”

Brion first came to horses not as a reformed show rider, but as a Thoroughbred fan from the age of 10. She started off working at Sylmar Farm in Christiana, Penn., and learned to gallop at the age of 13. Although she's known for her steeplechase success, Brion said she hopes to build a name for herself in the realm of flat racing also, the way Sheppard did with top runners Informed Decision and Forever Together.

Perhaps contrary to popular belief among flat racing fans, Brion said the training process for a steeplechaser really isn't much different from a flat horse. Hurdlers also don't actually travel much slower than flat horses and need just as strong a closing kick, they just settle over a greater distance first.

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Brion also sees potential in a certain type of flat horse to make a transition over hurdles, and is hopeful she can help more owners see the potential in that type of second career.

“You look for horses – whether they're turf or dirt – that are running long, they're coming late, and just missing,” she said. “Horses that look like they want more ground. I don't mind dirt or turf, either way. You want to see horses that are finishing third or fourth and are galloping out strongly. Every horse jumps, it's just a matter of how good. You can teach them to jump. Even a $10,000 claimer who just runs out of room or is just very one-paced and has a high cruising speed, those are the horses that do well [steeplechasing]. And it's always good to remind owners, horses get their maiden conditions back over jumps.”

Brion aboard Grade 1 winner All The Way Jose

The summer season has been a busy one for Brion, who bases out of Fair Hill. The Fair Hill base is perfect for her program, which allows horses regular turnout and the chance to gallop over rolling hills, but it still means a lot of time on the road. Brion is sending horses to Virginia, New York, and Pennsylvania at regular intervals, so her days are long ones. Brion spent some time as a jockey (she was champion apprentice jump jockey in 2017), and still gallops as many of her own string of 30 as she can. This fall will bring more commuting, as there are steeplechase meets every weekend through mid-November. Race days like the G1 Jonathan Sheppard make the long days worth it.

“I have quite a few nice 2-year-olds in my barn, so I'm hoping they will fire and I can get my name out there,” she said. “I've got a bunch of new owners from overseas and I'm looking forward to getting new horses in. My success in Saratoga has really helped me, and I have some exciting new clients.”

The post Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: Steeplechasers Have Started Brion’s Career With A Bang, But She Has Eyes On The Flat Too appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Brion Saddles Four Starters For Race Named For Mentor Sheppard

Trainer Keri Brion will hold a strong hand in a prestigious stakes that bears the name of her long-time mentor, saddling half of the eight-horse field in Wednesday's $150,000 Grade 1 Jonathan Sheppard in a 2 3/8-mile steeplechase contest at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

The 80th edition of the race formerly known as the New York Turf Writers Cup will be run for the first time under its new name, which honors the Hall of Fame trainer who won this race 15 times and trained at least one winner at Saratoga every consecutive year from 1969-2015. It will be the opener of Wednesday's 10-race card with a 1:05 p.m. Eastern post time.

Brion, a longtime assistant to Sheppard, took over the training responsibilities for many of his horses upon his retirement and has started to carve out her own reputation, saddling the top-two finishers of the Grade 1 A.P. Smithwick on July 22 at Saratoga when Baltimore Bucko and French Light ran 1-2 going 2 1/16 miles in the first Grade 1 hurdle race of the meet. In addition to that stellar pair, Brion will also send out The Mean Queen and A Silent Prayer.

“It's incredible that it shaped up the way it has with having half the field,” Brion said with a laugh. “When I heard the race was renamed, I was actually still in Ireland and I said to myself I was just hoping I would have a horse for that race. Now, I'm sitting here really hoping I win the race. It would mean a lot for me but I would love to win it for owners who were so supportive of Jonathan for so many years. Everything I know about steeplechase racing came from Jonathan, so it would obviously mean a lot to me to do it.”

Buttonwood Farm's Baltimore Bucko topped his stablemate by 5 3/4 lengths last out, building on his runner-up effort going 2 1/4 miles in the Green Pastures at the Nashville-based Percy Warner in June.

“It's amazing how fast he's come through the ranks,” Brion said. “I had both of these horses [French Light] in Ireland with me over the winter and they ran over there, so they have that added experience, which I think helped bring them along a lot quicker than maybe some others.”

Baltimore Bucko, a 5-year-old gelding, will now carry the high weight of 156 pounds with Richard Condon set to ride from post 3.

Irvin Naylor's French Light, carrying 152 pounds, will be looking to build on his stellar effort in his graded stakes debut, drawing post 4 with Jamie Bargary on the call.

“They went from being bottom weight end to being top weight and second top weight, so that changes things a little,” Brion said. “But the way they were first and second, you'd like to believe the weight shouldn't bother them too much.”

French Light raced five times for Brion in Ireland to start his 6-year-old campaign before making a statement in his return to North America. Brion said that race last month has only expediated his progress.

“His first race back in the states was the Smithwick, so I think he has a lot of improvement in him, just having that run in him,” Brion said.

The Mean Queen, also owned by Buttonwood Farm, appeared on her way to beating the boys before unseating rider Thomas Garner in deep stretch in the Jonathan Kiser Novice on July 28 at Saratoga.

The 5-year-old Doyen mare has already helped Brion accomplish something unprecedented when she captured the Slaney River Hurdle in April in Ireland, making her conditioner the first U.S. trainer to win a hurdle race in the country. She will re-team with Garner again, carrying 147 pounds from post 6.

“She made history for me,” Brion said. “She wasn't the winner of the novice stake, but she was by far the best in that race. There wasn't really anywhere else for her to run until September. She's doing really well. Her name fits her very well; she isn't easy to train, so it's easier just to run her. But she gets some weight off the boys and she's in a good spot. I think she's in with a shot as well.”

A Silent Player, also owned by Naylor, was fifth in the Jonathan Kiser last out in his stakes bow and will carry the co-field-low weight of 142 pounds with Barry Foley set to ride from post 5.

“He suffered an injury to his hind leg in his win in November, so his run back last time was his first time since his injury,” Brion said. “It's a lot harder to have a horse ready to go in Saratoga off an injury. He had to rehab off it, so I think he will be much improved this time around. He's pretty similar to Baltimore Bucko, to be honest. He's the bottom weight at 142, and I think that will really help. I think he'll run a lot better than he did in his last start.”

Hall of Famer Jack Fisher will send out two contenders in City Dreamer and Gibralfaro from posts 1 and 2, respectively.

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Riverdee Stable's City Dreamer ran second to Bodes Well in the Jonathan Kiser Novice and will step up to graded stakes company for the first time, carrying 146 pounds with Parker Hendriks in the irons.

His stablemate, the Riverdee-owned Gibralfaro was third last out in the A.P. Smithwick and will be competing in the Jonathan Sheppard for the third consecutive time, running fourth last year following a runner-up effort to Winston C in the 2019 edition. Gibralfaro will carry 148 pounds and have the services of rider Graham Watters.

Sharon Sheppard's Redicean, second in this stakes last year, two lengths back to winner Rashaan, returned off an 11-month layoff to run fourth in the A.P. Smithwick for trainer Leslie Young. After knocking off the rust, the 7-year-old British bred will break from post 8 carrying 150 pounds with Gerard Galligan aboard.

Half Married Syndicate's Recent Revelations made his first 23 starts in Europe and will look to make his mark in his North American debut, carrying 142 pounds in drawing post 7 with Harrison Beswick up.

Saratoga Live will present daily television coverage of the 40-day summer meet on FOX Sports. For the complete Saratoga Live broadcast schedule, and additional programming information, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule.

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