Sheppard's Spa Streak Likely to End

With the meet winding down and with designs on running only a handful of horses prior to closing day, Jonathan Sheppard is preparing himself to head home without a winner at Saratoga. For the Hall of Fame trainer, that's something that hasn't happened since 1968.

Sheppard has won a race at Saratoga for a record 47 years, but goes into the final week of racing without a winner and says his chances of hitting the winner's circle before closing day are “slim and none.”

With a diminished stable that, for the first time in nearly 50 years, did not include any runners from the stable of George Strawbridge Jr., Sheppard was not optimistic about his chances of winning a Saratoga race this year. So far, he is 0 for 11 at the meet with two seconds and two thirds.

“As far as the streak goes, I didn't feel very confident coming into this meet,” the Hall of Fame trainer said. “You never know in horse racing , but I didn't see any real strong prospects coming up here. I don't have as strong a stable as I used to have. I'm proud of the 47 years, but 47 versus 48, is that really that big of a deal? Obviously, I'd like to win, but I'm not going to slash my wrists if I don't do it. We've had two seconds and two thirds. Our horses have run well. We're doing the best we can.”

Sheppard's best chance to win a race at the meet will come Thursday when he saddles Castle Hill (Munnings) in the first race, a $65,000 steeplechase race. The horse is 4-1 on the morning line and finished fourth at the same level in an Aug. 24 jumper.

“He was a close fourth in what will be a race eight days prior to this race,” Sheppard said. “We're wheeling him back fairly quickly and I don't like running back in eight days. He got a little bit tired at the end of his last race. He actually took the lead entering the stretch and I thought he was on his way. He had missed some training because beforehand he had a bruised foot or had an abscess and I think that caught up with him a little bit that last eighth of a mile. Whether he's had time to recharge his battery in just eight days remains to be seen. He seems fine, and he is up here. It's our last shot at a big purse, so let's give it a whirl. He should be competitive, if he's still got some gas left in the tank.”

Sheppard said Castle Hill represents his best chance of getting a Saratoga winner, but he does have a few other horses that may make a start before closing day.

He hopes to run a filly named War Baby (Lemon Drop Kid) in a maiden race on closing day but is not yet sure the horse will be allowed to run. War Baby crossed the wire first in a June 26 allowance race at Parx but was later disqualified due to a drug positive. Sheppard said the official Equibase records do not yet reflect that the horse is still a maiden but believes the situation will be cleared up before entries are taken for the race.

“She's actually a winner but came up with a positive at Parx and was disqualified with some bizarre drug that I've never heard of and never had in our possession,” he said. “I have no idea how it got in the horse's system.”

Sheppard is also mulling starting a horse named King's Obsession (More Than Ready) before the meet is over but says even if the 3-year-old colt does race at Saratoga he will be hard pressed to win.

Sheppard's best chance of winning a Saratoga race came and went last Friday when he had Catch Your Dreams (Arouse) entered in a New York-bred maiden race on the grass. The filly was the morning-line favorite after finishing second in her debut, but when the race came off the grass Sheppard decided to scratch.

“I've been around racing long enough to know you have to put the horse first and there was a main-track-only horse in there that looked pretty much unbeatable that did win the race by 10 1/2 lengths,” he said. “Our filly is a young filly who is a little fragile. When they take the mile-and-a-sixteenth races off grass, they go to a mile-and-an eighth on the dirt and it would be a mile-and-an-eighth in the mud. I discussed it with the owners and we all thought it was better to play it safe.”

Sheppard says the streak has been “a lot of fun,” but he's fully prepared to head back to his Pennsylvania training center without a 2016 Saratoga win. If so, he'll gear up for next year. It's never too late to start a new streak.