Sheppard sends out four in search of Lonesome Glory win
ELMONT, N.Y. – Jonathan Sheppard brought two horses to Belmont Park for the 2012 Lonesome Glory Stakes and finished fifth and sixth. Last year, he tried it with three horses and ran third, sixth, and seventh.
Thursday, Sheppard is upping his ante when he will saddle four of the eight horses entered in the Grade 1, $150,000 Lonesome Glory Steeplechase Handicap going 2 1/2 miles over National fences at Belmont Park. The Lonesome Glory is one of two steeplechase events on the 10-race program. The $75,000 William Entenmann Memorial Hurdle is the other.
Three of the Sheppard’s four horses – Divine Fortune, Barnstorming, and Bluegrass Summer – will be a coupled entry. Sheppard’s fourth entrant, Parker’s Project, is making his first start in 29 months. The Sheppard quartet will have to beat Demonstrative, winner of the New York Turf Writers Steeplechase last month at Saratoga.
Barnstorming comes off a half-length loss to Demonstrative in the Turf Writers. He was in receipt of 12 pounds from Demonstrative that day. Thursday, he gets in with 144 pounds, 14 fewer than Demonstrative, who has to tote 158.
“He’s getting weight from a top horse, he came out of it well, and he’s really training well,” Sheppard said of Barnstorming. “He ran a great race last time; he just couldn’t quite get there.”
Divine Fortune, an 11-year-old, is a five-time graded stakes winner over jumps but has not run particularly well in this race, finishing sixth in 2012 and seventh last year. He has not raced since leaving the course in the A.P. Smithwick after chasing the speedster Pleasant Woodman early.
“Going 2 1/16 miles they went a little fast for him early, and after chasing that horse for awhile he said that’s too much for me, I’m out of here,” Sheppard said. “There’s not the same type of horse in this race. He’s not acting his age at all. He likes to be on or close to the lead, and he has a high cruising speed and he can keep on running.”
Bluegrass Summer was third in the 2 3/8-mile Michael Walsh Novice Stakes in his last start but now goes 2 1/2 miles, the distance of his last win. Sheppard noted that Bluegrass Summer is no longer eligible for novice stakes.
Parker’s Project, sidelined by tendon issues since he last ran on May 12, 2012, could need this start, Sheppard said.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 2 Parker's Project, No. 1 Bluegrass Summer, No. 1A Divine Fortune, No. 1X Barnstorming. Trainer Jonathan Sheppard is 10 for 98 (10 percent) over the past five years in graded stakes turf routes of 2 miles and longer. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
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Demonstrative enters the Lonesome Glory off a victory in the New York Turf Writers, which followed a nose loss to Makari in the A.P. Smithwick four weeks earlier. After a couple of poor efforts last year, Demonstrative underwent tie-back surgery in December to deal with an airway issue.
Trainer Richard Valentine said Demonstrative was not fit enough when he finished sixth in his return race, the Iroquois at Percy Warner in May, and expressed concern about spotting most of the field 14 to 18 pounds.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 3 Demonstrative. Trainer Richard Valentine is 15 for 55 (27 percent) over the past five years in turf routes of 2 miles and longer following a winning effort. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
“The wind operation has really helped him this summer,” Valentine said. “He is a big horse, he can carry the weight, but 18 pounds is a lot of weight. The horse he beat a half-length in the Turf Writers goes up two pounds; we go up four. I hope there’s improvement in him. If he gets beat, I would think it would be the weight.”
Spy in the Sky, beaten a nose in the 2012 Lonesome Glory, and All Together, beaten a nose in last year’s Lonesome Glory, complete the field.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 6 For Non Stop. Trainer Cyril Murphy is 7 for 22 (32 percent) over the past five years in turf routes of 2 miles and longer in the second start off a layoff. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan