SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Zarak the Brave’s European form made him the favorite for the Grade 1 Jonathan Sheppard Handicap in 2024. His backers didn’t get much of a thrill, as Zarak the Brave fell over the second fence.
A year later, Zarak the Brave is back in the $150,000 Sheppard on Wednesday at Saratoga, where, despite his status as the co-highweight at 158 pounds, he could be overlooked at the windows in the 2 3/8-mile steeplechase.
The Sheppard is being run this week after rain forced its cancellation last Wednesday.
Thomas Garner, who won this race four times as a jockey, is seeking his first win in it as a trainer. Garner believes Zarak the Brave may not have been accustomed to the style of American steeplechase racing when he ran in the Sheppard a year ago.
“They went very quick [early] and it was a bit of culture shock for him,” Garner said. “He’d been running around Cheltenham and they wouldn’t go that fast over there. He got run off his feet the first couple of furlongs. That’s why he [fell]. It was no one’s fault, it was just racing.”
Garner said Zarak the Brave pulled some muscles in his shoulder and was off for the remainder of 2024. In April, Zarak the Brave returned to the races, finishing fifth behind Snap Decision in the Temple Gwathmey in Middleburg, Va. Garner said the 6-year-old gelding was in need of a run.
“The main objective was to jump around and make sure we got around there safely, especially after what happened to him at Saratoga the previous year,” Garner said.
Following that race, Zarak the Brave fell again in the Grade 1 Iroquois at Percy Warner before finishing third in the Grade 1 A.P. Smithwick behind Historic Heart and Proven Innocent, neither of whom are back in the Sheppard.
“The first two are good horses, but we went wide to get plenty of daylight,” Garner said. “I think that was a tougher race than this week’s race. Fingers crossed we can keep going in the right direction.”
Garner said he shipped Zarak the Brave back to his farm in Maryland following the postponement and that “he was bucking and squealing in the round pen [Sunday]. I see we have another horse in the race, St James the Great, who ran well last time. But I’m equally as confident as I was last week.”
Zarak the Brave, who will be ridden by Evan Dwan, is the 158-pound co-highweight. Givemefive, who makes his North American debut in this spot, also totes 158, having been ranked that high based on his form in Great Britain.
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Givemefive had won two of his last three starts before being sent to trainer Cyril Murphy in America. Based on his experience, Murphy believes it’s difficult to run two good races at Saratoga, so he chose to wait for the Sheppard rather than run in the Smithwick.
“You pick your battle,” Murphy said. “We felt we’d sit back and let the others sort of knock heads the early part of the meet and see who survives and take our chances.”
The 2 3/8-mile distance is a question mark for Givemefive, who has not yet won beyond 2 1/8 miles.
“This will be an unknown test for us, but if you’re going to get that added distance, a flat track like Saratoga or Laurel or Colonial is where it’s going to happen if it’s going to happen for us,” Murphy said.
Murphy said he shipped the horse back from Saratoga to his farm in Maryland following last week’s cancellation.
“He never missed an oat, he got straight back into his routine. [We] let him blow out on Friday and jump six hurdles on Saturday,” Murphy said Monday. “Everything is as it was last week.”
Gerard Galligan rides Givemefive.
Jimmy P, trained by Keri Brion, won last year’s Sheppard by a whopping 34 1/2 lengths, but it is his only win over the last two years. Brion equipped Jimmy P with blinkers for his previous two starts this year, including a fifth-place finish in the Smithwick last out, but is taking them off for this start.
Brion also sends out The Insider, winner of a restricted handicap at Colonial Downs on July 24. With the one-week postponement, Brion entered a third horse, St James the Great, who finished second to Hidden Path – also in the Sheppard – in an allowance race on July 30.
Who’s Counting finished third in the Temple Gwathmey and fourth in the A.P. Smithwick. Hidden Path won an allowance race here on July 30 for Ricky Hendriks. Quick Master, trained by Jack Fisher, was third in the Smithwick. Sweet Will is 0 for 16 since his last win at Doncaster in 2023.
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