Madaket Stables, Molly Willis, and Paul Willis' Jimmy P had blinkers taken off by trainer Keri Brion and successfully defended his title in Wednesday's Grade 1, $150,000 Jonathan Sheppard, a 2 3/8-mile hurdle handicap for older horses, at Saratoga Race Course.
"I would have been so upset today if this horse didn't run his race," Brion said. "The reason he won by so many last time is they went so fast and it fell apart in front of him. This time, he had to actually work for it. There's been questions of if he's still the same horse and does he still want to do it and everything—to be fair, he had to put his neck out today and fight for it. It's great to see it."
The 7-year-old Slumber gelding won last year's Sheppard by 34 1/2 lengths under Stephen Mulqueen after the favored Zarak the Brave fell at the second fence, but the talented bay got a full taste of that foe down the stretch on Wednesday after a clean trip for both resulted in a thrilling stretch duel that went to Jimmy P by three-quarter-lengths as both horses refused to yield.
"He's won it twice now. I don't care how far he wins by, he has done it," Mulqueen said.
With Mulqueen back aboard, Jimmy P settled well off the early pace following a second start due to the refusal of Quick Master in the initial going. Quick Master refused again in the do-over, but the rest of the field commenced the race as the Brion-trained The Insider showed speed and kicked clear down the stretch for the first time and was accompanied by Who's Counting shortly thereafter.
Evan Dwan coaxed Zarak the Brave closer through the second turn, and applied mild pressure in second as The Insider maintained his lead through the second lap with positions mostly unchanged. The race was on down the backstretch for the final time, with Mulqueen readying his charge for a bid widest of all and Zarak the Brave putting away The Insider passing the final fence.
Zarak the Brave had a head lead at the two-mile call, but Jimmy P was in hot pursuit to his outside and went head-to-head with his game rival over the firm footing. The two slugged it out through the lane with Zarak the Brave coming back one more time in the final 100 yards, but Jimmy P willed himself in front at the wire to score in a final time of 4:36.83.
Hidden Path rallied from last to land show honors another four lengths back with the Brion-trained St James the Great completing the superfecta. Who's Counting, The Insider and Givemefive completed the order of finish, while Quick Master was walked off after his refusal.
Mulqueen said Jimmy P felt like a winner at the last fence.
"When we landed over the back of the last, I knew I'd pick up the horse that was in front," Mulqueen said. "To be fair, he kept going more than I thought he would. I didn't want to get there too soon, because he has been running in blinkers, so with blinkers off, I wanted to time it with one run. When he hit the front, he pricked his ears and started galloping out, he's pretty clever that way."
Dwan praised the effort from Zarak the Brave, who is still in search of his first American victory after two Grade 1 placings from his five starts for trainer Thomas Garner.
"He ran very well. He jumped well. He galloped all the way to the line," Dwan said. "I probably should have sent him on a bit sooner. He was coming back in the lane, but it is a steppingstone in the right direction, so we are happy."
Brion said she took the blinkers off Jimmy P to help keep his interest throughout the race.
"He'll outwork anything in the morning and then you put him in the race and he's just kind of nonchalant about it," Brion said. "So, I put them on and then I thought let's just change it back up again, take them off, just keep messing with him a little bit—he did nothing wrong last year in this race, let's just do exactly the same thing."
The win was the third in this event for Brion, who worked as an assistant to the late Hall of Famer Sheppard for several years before going out on her own in 2021, a year that saw her win the Sheppard with subsequent Eclipse Award-winner The Mean Queen.
"Obviously, this race means a lot to me, it always has, and it always will," Brion said. "This is a typical Jonathan Sheppard kind of horse— a flat horse that broke its maiden and that was it and this has taken him to another level. Jonathan was so good with those types."
Brion added she is inclined to skip both the Grade 1, $150,000 Lonesome Glory on September 18 at Belmont at the Big A and the Grade 1 Grand National on October 18 at Far Hills for Jimmy P to instead point for the Grade 2 William H. Allison at the International Gold Cup on October 25 with an eye to the Colonial Cup on November 23 at Camden.
"We always run him at Far Hills and he never runs any good every time we go there," Brion explained. "I might switch it up and go to the Gold Cup and then finish it off with a Grade 1 in the Colonial Cup in the fall. I think the Colonial Cup—a flatter track—I think he actually prefers the racetrack."
Bred in Kentucky by Head of Plains Partners and Madaket Stables, Jimmy P won one race on the flat and moved to jumps in July 2022. He improved from a last-out fifth in the Grade 1 A.P. Smithwick Memorial on July 23 here, and notched his first win since last year's Sheppard. He banked $90,000 in victory and improved his record to 27-6-2-2 while returning $8.70 on a $2 win ticket.
Video
