SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - It wasn’t the blowout victory like a year ago, but it was a victory nonetheless for Jimmy P in Wednesday’s Grade 1, $150,000 Jonathan Sheppard Handicap at Saratoga.  Jimmy P, who raced in mid-pack while jumping well under Stephen Mulqueen, moved into third after the ninth and final jump, and then outfinished a stubborn Zarak the Brave in the stretch to win the Sheppard by three-quarters of a length. Last year, Jimmy P won this race by 34 1/2 lengths, but was winless in five starts since.  “It’s okay, doesn’t matter how he wants to do it, as long as he did it,” trainer Keri Brion said. ”I would have been so upset today if this horse didn’t run his race. The reason he won by so many last year is because they went so fast and it fell apart in front of him. This time, he actually had to work for it.  “There’s been questions, oh, is he still the same horse, does he still want to do it and everything, and to be fair he had to put his neck out today and fight for it.”  The Sheppard was originally scheduled for Aug. 20, but was pushed back a week due to rain. Unlike many of her brethren, who shipped their horses back to their Mid-Atlantic bases, Brion kept Jimmy P - along with The Insider - in Saratoga for the week. St James the Great, her third starter in the race, wasn’t among the original entrants in this race so she shipped him up later.  “He’s thrived all week up here,” Brion said. “I don’t normally like to keep my jumpers up there, but he loves Saratoga.”  :: Bet Smarter at Saratoga. Unlock DRF data and expert analysis all meet long. Save with a Saratoga Handicapping Package from DRF.  Three starts back, Brion added blinkers to Jimmy P’s equipment. Wednesday, she took them off.  “I put the blinkers on because I felt like he wasn’t really traveling in his races,” Brion said “He’ a cute horse, he’ll outwork anything in the morning, then you put him in a race and he’s nonchalant about it.   “I put them on and felt like let’s change it back up again and take them off, keep messing with him a little bit.”  Brion, a former assistant to Sheppard, has now won this race in four of the six years since it was renamed for the Hall of Fame trainer after it was previously run as the New York Turf Writers Cup. It was also Brion’s third steeplechase stakes win and fifth win overall at this meet - a personal best for her at Saratoga.  Mulqueen rode Jimmy P to victory for the second straight year. Mulqueen said that after clearing the ninth and final fence he was confident he was going to get Zarak the Brave.  “To be fair, [Zarak the Brave] kept going more than I thought he would,” Mulqueen said. “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.”  Jimmy P, a 7-year-old gelding by Slumber owned by Sol Kumin’s Madaket Stable, and Molly and Paul Willis, covered the 2 3/8 miles in 4:36.83 and returned $8.70 as the second choice.  Zarak the Brave, who fell over the second fence when he ran in this race as the favorite last year, stalked the pace the whole way, made the lead over the last fence and fought on before grudgingly giving way.  “He jumped well and galloped all the way to the line,” jockey Evan Dwan said. “I probably should have sent him on a bit sooner. But it’s a stepping-stone in the right direction anyway.”  Zarak the Brave finished four lengths clear of Hidden Path. St James the Great was fourth, followed by Who’s Counting, The Insider, and 5-2 favorite Givemefive.   Quick Master refused at the start. After a stewards’ inquiry, it was determined that Quick Master made his own trouble and thus was considered a starter.  :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.