MICHAEL Mitchell said it best.
“We’re the lucky ones, we can still do our jobs.”
Last year’s champion jockey and this year’s runner-up counted his blessings – American steeplechasing’s blessings – somewhere along the line during a diluted season and distressing time.
In the category of first-world problems, the entire spring schedule was cancelled, replaced by two cobbled-together Virginia meets in June. Saratoga came through with nine races, including the only two Grade 1 stakes on the docket. The fall season survived, but just, with seven meets offering limited purses.
As for doing their jobs. Nobody did it better than Jonathan Sheppard and Gerard Galligan. A 79-year-old Hall of Famer winning his 25th champion trainer title and a 29-year-old bookmaker’s son winning his first champion jockey title.
The duo combined to win six of the final 10 races, including four of the five races at the final meet, in Charleston, Hollywood, South Carolina, sealing their unlikely championships. Galligan swept four wins in a row, on High Sierra, Pentitence, Bet The Pot, and Irish-bred Zoom Zoom Zoe
Sheppard produced 20 wins from 79 starts to oust perennial champion Jack Fisher with 12 wins. Sheppard has won at least one championship in six decades (try that Willie, Gordon…). Leslie Young placed third with Todd Wyatt, Neil Morris and Mark Beecher tied for fourth.
Galligan engineered 14 winners from 61 mounts to best Mitchell by three wins. Tom Garner and Sean McDermott tied for third. Darren Nagle and Graham Watters tied for fifth.
And the champions are far from finished. Sheppard’s right-hand assistant, Keri Brion, flew to Ireland Thursday night, six of their horses are scheduled to ship Tuesday and Galligan was booked to come home three weeks after that. All will converge at James and Mary Doyle’s Baltimore Stables in Co Wexford for a winter foray.
Horses
It’s an eclectic group of horses.
Winston C leads the squad and was ultimately the catalyst. The Irish-bred won two Grade 1 stakes to earn championship honors last year but hasn’t run over jumps since finishing fourth in the Lonesome Glory in September, 2019.
Owned by Ed Swyer’s Hudson River Farm, the six-year-old knocked off some rust in a training flat race at Pennsylvania Hunt Cup November 1st and will aim at Punchestown December 31st.
Jack Doyle will ride, replacing the injured Garner. Beyond Winston C, the brigade includes British-bred Baltimore Bucko (two-for-four this year), Irish-bred Fancy Pance (pulled up in his only start in 2019), French-bred French Light (two-for-five this year), French-bred Francois (unraced since fetching €210,000 at Arqana in 2018) and Irish-bred Clondaw Camp (one-for-one last year).
“Winston C had a minor setback this spring, he was about two works short for the Turf Writers and Ed was like, ‘What about taking him overseas?’ We thought about it some more, he’s run all right on heavy ground, he doesn’t need Lasix,” Brion said.
“Ed started it and our other owners didn’t want to get left out. We are taking different types, they’re not all stakes horses. We think a lot of Clondaw Camp and French Light is one of our best horses.”
Galligan won’t let them get too far away.
“Hopefully, we can put American steeplechasing on the map a little bit,” Galligan said.
Born and raised in Dublin, the 29-year-old rode his first horse when he was 16, wrote a letter to Arthur Moore and got a job riding and mucking, graduated from the jockey school, apprenticed under Dermot Weld, toiled in Ireland and England before running into bloodstock agent Matt Coleman at the Newmarket July meeting in 2013. Coleman suggested America.
“It’s the best weekend I ever took,” Galligan said. “It’s just luck how things happen.”
Galligan didn’t even know they had jump racing in America, arriving in the fall, borrowed some tack, won a race and broke his collarbone. He was back for good the next year, winning four races in 2014, five in 2015, nine in 2016, three in 2017, six in 2018 and another six in 2019.
“I was delighted, there was good racing here and I was riding a good quality of horse compared to England. I was happy to scrape away, get a few rides, have an odd couple of winners.”
Champion jockey wasn’t on the radar. Until this year when carving out a spot in Sheppard’s engine room.
“I was riding green maidens, horses who had run through wings, if he needed someone to get a horse around, but that got me on a better quality of horse, kept working hard and kept getting opportunities,” Galligan said.
“I had never been in contention for the jockey title before so this is huge for my career. It was great having my parents and family watching on Live Stream back in Ireland. I’m still soaking in the weekend, it was something else, I can’t believe it happened,” he added.
Irish breeding
IRISH-breds Rashaan, Galway Kid and A Silent Player cracked the top 10 in earnings. Champion owner Bruton Street-US accounted for the top three earners – Moscato, Snap Decision and Rashaan. The trio swept all five hurdle stakes during the year.
JACK Fisher turned out Footpad for the year after all spring and fall stakes were cancelled. The former Arkle winner could have tried Saratoga, but Fisher wisely decided it wasn’t the right venue. The former Willie Mullins runner should return for the spring.