SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – As a jockey, Thomas Garner has won four of the last five runnings of the Grade 1 Jonathan Sheppard Steeplechase, renamed in 2021 from the New York Turf Writers Cup. Wednesday, Garner will try to win his first Jonathan Sheppard as a trainer, when he sends out the French-bred Zarak the Brave in what appears to be a wide-open renewal of the 2 3/8-mile race over National Fences at Saratoga. The Sheppard, renamed for the Hall of Fame trainer who won the New York Turf Writers Cup 15 times, goes as the first of 10 races on Wednesday’s card. Garner retired from full-time riding at the end of last year to go into training and bloodstock work. He said he’ll ride occasionally – he is 1 for 3 this year – when he or a fellow trainer can’t get the desired rider for a particular horse, but Garner prefers to keep his feet on the ground. :: Get Saratoga Clocker Reports straight from the morning workouts at the track. Available every race day. Zarak the Brave was eligible for the Jonathan Kiser Novice Stakes, which was rained out both times it was scheduled at this meet. Garner believes Zarak the Brave, who is the 158-pound highweight, has credentials to run in this Grade 1 event. At this time last year, Zarak the Brave, trained by Willie Mullins, won the highly rated Galway Hurdle in Ireland, where, in a field of 19, he made the lead in midstretch and held off a bevy of late challengers. “That is probably his career-best performance,” Garner said. “It’s a very competitive race at the Galway Festival, and he won that as a 4-year-old. They stepped him up and he showed his class in the English Champion hurdle in March, where he finished fourth. He went to Fairyhouse and on slow, tacky ground he finished second to a nice horse in Brewin’upastorm.” Zarak the Brave had a win and a second from three starts this year before Garner was able to finalize a deal for the 5-year-old gelding on behalf of owner Jill Johnston. His last run came in April. “I think we’ve taken our time with him, he’s in great form at home,” Garner said. “Fingers crossed, he can show that on Wednesday.” The one time in the last five years that Garner did not ride the winner of the Sheppard, Graham Watters did, doing so on Snap Decision in 2022. Watters will ride Zarak the Brave for Garner on Wednesday. In 2020, Garner rode Rashaan to victory in this race for trainer Leslie Young. Wednesday, Young sends out three runners in the Sheppard, topped by Pickanumber, who finished second in the A.P. Smithwick, his first race in the United States. “The track is a bit tighter than what he would have been used to in the U.K. I’m glad we got that experience,” Young said. “The bends are a little tighter. Now, he’ll come out of that with some experience and ride those turns a little tighter. He came out of the race in good form. He’s moving well, feeling well.” Young purchased Too Friendly at the Tattersalls July sale and is running the 6-year-old fairly quickly after bringing him to the United States. He has run well recently in flat races in Great Britain, and Young believes that could be an asset in the Sheppard, a race where the last half-mile is run without a jump. “He’s by Camelot and he had some flat speed, which I do think you need even in the longer races over jumps,” Young said. Young believes Artistic Choice, the 140-pound low weight in the field, has a puncher’s chance. Twice in three starts this year, Artistic Choice has finished second in lesser-rated races. “I think he should have won both races, he might be a sleeper in there,” Young said. “He gets weight off, and that always helps.” Abaan, trained by Kate Dalton, had a four-race win streak snapped when he finished fifth as the favorite in the Grade 1 A.P. Smithwick, a race in which he was not able to race on Lasix, an anti-bleeding medication that he was able to use in his four prior starts. Trainer Keri Brion, who teamed with Garner to win the Sheppard in 2021 with The Mean Queen, sends out 2023 Sheppard runner-up Jimmy P, who finished fourth in the Grade 1 Beverly Steinman at Aqueduct, and Going Country, who dead-heated for fifth in the Smithwick with Abaan. Kiyomori, trained by Todd Wyatt, finished third in the Daniel Van Clief Memorial Hurdle on April 27 in his lone start of the year. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.