Jimmy P will target Jonathan Sheppard three-peat

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Nearly 50 years has passed since Happy Intellectual won three consecutive runnings of the New York Turf Writers Steeplechase at Saratoga.

The race has a different name now, honoring the late trainer Jonathan Sheppard. A modern top-class runner may soon join Happy Intellectual on the race’s honor roll.

Jimmy P, who has won the last two runnings of the Sheppard, won the Grade 1 Beverly Steinman Hurdle at Saratoga on June 3 for his first win of the year. Trainer Keri Brion was quick to state that the Sheppard on Sept. 2 is the next objective with the 8-year-old Jimmy P.

“I want to win the Jonathan Sheppard,” she said. “That will be his next start. We’ll get him ready and fit.”

Jimmy P was fifth in the Grade 1 Commonwealth Cup in Virginia on May 2 in his first start of the year, a race chosen over the Grade 1 Iroquois Stakes in Nashville on May 9. In 2025, Jimmy P was fourth of eight in the Iroquois.

“He didn’t enjoy the ship and he didn’t enjoy the track,” Brion said.

The Steinman Hurdle was Jimmy P’s third win in five starts in hurdle races at Saratoga.

“He loves Saratoga, doesn’t he,” Brion said.

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