Trainer Jonathan Sheppard was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and
Hall of Fame at Saratoga two decades ago, but believes this Saturday may be only
the second time he has traveled to New Orleans to run a horse at Fair Grounds.
“I think I came here about 15 years ago to run one or two horses during one
of your tent meetings,” said Sheppard, referring to the years immediately after
the catastrophic fire of December 1993, when temporary structures were used as a
new Grandstand was rebuilt.
The trainer recalled the visit Friday morning during training hours on the
backstretch of the Crescent City’s historic oval.
“I really don’t remember much about it,” he admitted. “It was a fairly quick
trip.”
However, with his three-year-old filly Kitty Love (Kitten’s Joy), owned by
Augustin Stable, as one of the prominent contenders in Saturday’s 25th
anniversary edition of the $60,000 Pago Hop S., Sheppard has been combining
business with pleasure this week, bringing his wife, Cathy, to enjoy New Orleans
for a couple of days before heading back north after the race.
“My wife and I got to tour the city a little bit yesterday (Thursday),” said
the horseman, who also celebrated his 70th birthday on Thursday. “We drove
around the Garden District, enjoyed a light lunch, walked down Bourbon Street
for a little bit and then had a very nice dinner at Commander’s Palace.”
Born in Great Britain near Newmarket, Sheppard came to the United States as a
young man, working for Steeplechase trainer Burley Cocks as an assistant and a
jockey. One of his first clients — and still his primary owner — was George
Strawbridge Jr., owner of Augustin Stable.
Following his masterful handling of Flatterer, America’s top Steeplechaser
from 1983-1986, Sheppard enjoyed continued success after branching out to
Thoroughbreds — most recently with 2008 Eclipse winner Forever Together as the
top female turf horse and 2009 Eclipse winner Informed Decision as the top
female sprinter.
Steeplechase racing’s all-time leading money-winning trainer now has Kitty
Love, who may hopefully help to replace those two now-retired champions.
“She is going to have some big shoes to fill,” Sheppard said of his latest
potential star, “but I think she may turn out to be a nice filly for us.”
Kitty Love broke her maiden at first asking on September 6 on the grass at
Delaware Park and won again in her second start at Keeneland October 22 over the
Lexington lawn. The bay lass finished third in her most recent race at
Churchill on November 10 when beaten two lengths after racing five-wide.
Did the lost ground over the Louisville lawn make the difference between
victory and defeat?
“Probably not,” the always candid Sheppard answered. “I think maybe she just
didn’t accelerate quite quick enough.”
Rosie Napravnik, who is hanging her tack at Fair Grounds for the first time
this winter, has ridden Kitty Love in all three of her starts and she will be
aboard again this Saturday.
“I’ve known her off and on since she was 13-years old and came to work for me
on my farm,” Sheppard said of Napravnik. “We’ve had some success in the past and
she rode very well for me this summer at Delaware Park. We seem to be back on
track together lately,”
Napravnik is back at Fair Grounds after a scintillating season at Delaware
Park, where the 22-year-old native of Morristown, New Jersey, won the leading
rider title at the mid-Atlantic meeting.
“I had a very good summer there,” Napravnik said Friday, “and I decided to
try a bigger meeting this winter. That’s why I made the decision to try Fair
Grounds. This is a very tough riding colony down here and I wanted to test
myself against the jockeys here and see how well I fit in. So far, that aspect
of the decision to come here has been good. I’ve won four races already and had
two winners (Thursday),”
After beginning her riding career in 2005 and winning with her first mount on
a horse named Ringofdiamonds, Napravnik kept her momentum going by earning
leading rider honors at all the Maryland meetings of 2006 and was also runner-up
in the Eclipse Awards for leading apprentice honors at the end of that year.
“I learned a lot from Jonathan when I first went to work for him on his
farm,” said Napravnik, speaking of those summers when she was a young teenager.
“He gave me a great education to start me off in my own career, and I rode a lot
of horses for him last summer at Delaware and we had a lot of success together.
I’m very grateful to him for all the help he has given me over the years.”