Mr Percy doubles up on Saratoga wins in G1 Jonathan Sheppard Memorial
Shannon Hill Farm’s Mr Percy was a half-length winner of Saratoga Race Course’s Jonathan Kiser Memorial Novice on July 16, and prevailed narrowly once again to land his first Grade 1 victory in Wednesday’s $150,000 Jonathan Sheppard Memorial, a 2 3/8-mile steeplechase handicap for older horses.
Trained by Neil Morris, the 6-year-old Sir Percy gelding has hit the board in 4-of-5 starts since moving stateside for this year’s campaign, and was previously trained by Joseph O’Brien through 12 of his 14 starts in Europe that included a stakes win in the Paddy Kehoe last April at Fairyhouse.
"We bought him with the potential of being a very nice stakes horse,” Morris said. “He was recommended highly by Joseph O'Brien for this country and Anthony Bromley brokered the deal. He found the horse and put us together.
"He settled - whatever you want to do. We call him 'Perfect Percy' he's just a good boy. He's got a clean driving license and good grades at school. He's that guy,” Morris added, with a laugh.
Graham Watters has been in the saddle for each of Mr Percy’s American outings, and engineered a winning trip from mid-pack in the seven-horse Sheppard field. Sweet Will started off sharpest of all, but was overtaken by a headstrong Siennois, who opened his lead over Sweet Will through the first lap with the pair of Smart Uncle and Mr Percy just behind.
Sweet Will crept closer passing the wire for the second time, with Siennois still skipping along up front over the good footing as the others patiently waited for their cue. Mr Percy drew away from Smart Uncle approaching the final fence, where Little Trilby has commenced his bid, but fell and unseated jockey Conor Tierney. Mr Percy moved up to the inside of Sweet Will, and took aim at a game Siennois, who was still strong at the helm exiting the fifth and final turn.
My Percy appeared ready to rush through an opening between the top two rivals in upper stretch, but angled down to the inside of the Stephen Mulqueen-piloted Siennois for one last rush, and despite carrying 152 pounds at a respective eight and 12 pounds more than Siennois and Sweet Will, put his neck in front of the stubborn pacesetter to win in a final time of 4:54.93 with Sweet Will another neck back in third.
Coutach, L’Imperator and Smart Uncle completed the order of finish. Little Trilby was collared by the outrider, was reported to have bled and provided a ride back to the barn area in the equine ambulance. Tierney walked into on-site first aid under his own power.
Watters, who earned his second win in this event, said the inside trip worked out perfectly for him.
“I just rode him handy and then Stephen on Siennois went to the front and kind of increased the pace," Watters said. "I was just in the pocket down the rail in a nice position. I actually had too much horse going around the turn because I kind of went for him to pick up and he picked up too much and I ran into the back of Stephen at the three-eighths and I had to take him back.
“Then again down the lane, I went between the two horses for the gap and the gap tightened and I had to sit up and switch, but he’s a nice horse and I think he keeps a little bit to himself,” Watters added. “Same when he won here five weeks ago, he did the bare minimum to win by a half-length. So, I think today was in the same sort of style.”
Morris said Mr Percy’s adaptability served him well today.
"It was a pretty open race today - maybe 4-of-5 of those seven horses [could] win,” said Morris, who scored his first Sheppard victory. “He's not a one-dimensional horse. He can go on firm ground or soft ground. They walked the dog for the first mile and three-eighths, and I wasn't sure that would help us or anybody...nobody wanted the pace. He just has a nice kick at the end of 2 3/8 [miles] and a lot of horses don't have that.”
Mulqueen said the Keri Brion-trained Siennois performed admirably on the front end for the first time in his fourth hurdle effort.
“I didn’t have a choice, I was in front on soft ground and I couldn’t go any slower,” Mulqueen said. “We would’ve wanted more pace and to stalk the pace, but he was in front doing the opposite of what we wanted. He’s had a great run, only his fourth run over jumps. So, positive.”
Bred in Ireland by Westminster Race Horses GmbH, Mr Percy improved his lifetime record to 19-6-5-1 and his earnings to $262,336 after banking $90,000 with his Sheppard victory. He returned $10.48 on a $2 win ticket.
Live racing resumes Thursday at Saratoga with a 10-race card, featuring the Listed Bernard Baruch presented by Snap-On in Race 9. First post is 1:10 p.m. Eastern.
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