Mr Percy digs in late to take Jonathan Sheppard
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SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. − The 2 3/8-mile, Grade 1 Jonathan Sheppard Memorial Stakes over the hurdles Wednesday at Saratoga ultimately came down to a quarter-mile sprint on the flat with Mr Percy rallying up the inside to out-game 2-1 favorite Siennois by a neck with the 20-1 Sweet Will finishing a similar margin further back in third.
The Sheppard was decided in rather unconventional fashion with Siennois taking control at the second jump before being allowed to set an absolutely snail-like pace over the seven remaining hurdles. Siennois cleared the final hurdle with a three-length advantage over Sweet Will, repulsed a try from that rival through midstretch, before succumbing grudgingly to Mr Percy in the final strides.
Mr Percy, purchased privately in Europe before joining trainer Neil Morris’s barn for the 2026 season, settled nicely near midpack during the early stages under jockey Graham Watters. Saving ground throughout, Mr Percy still faced a three-length deficit turning into the stretch before responding to vigorous urging to overtake the leader near the wire.
The race was marred when Little Trilby fell and lost his rider, Conor Tierney, over the final hurdle. The two-time Grade 1 winner was vanned off, while his rider was taken to first aid suffering from lacerations on his chest.
Mr Percy, an Irish-bred son of Sir Percy, had won his only previous start locally earlier this summer when rallying from far back to a popular victory in the Jonathan Kiser Memorial Novice Stakes. His final time over a “good” course in the Sheppard was a relatively slow 4:54.93 seconds. He returned $10.48.
“We bought him with the potential of being a very nice stakes horse, he came recommended highly by Joseph O’Brien,” said Morris. “I thought it was a pretty open race. Maybe four or five of those seven horses could win. But he proved today he’s not a one-dimensional, Irish horse. Obviously he can go on soft or firm ground and on the flat as well as over a hilly course.”
Morris said he wasn’t sure what to make of the dawdling early pace or who, if anyone, it might favor.
“They just walked the dog for the first mile and three-eighths, nobody wanted the pace, but he just has a nice kick at the end of two miles and three-eighths [miles],” Morris noted. “A lot of horses don’t have that.”
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