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ing,” he said. “That’s why I’m here today,” as one of America’s best-repected flat trainers working on the competitive New York racing circuit.
O’Brien is one of a legion of current leading flat trainers who had their beginnings in the jumping game. A perfunctory glance at the National Steeplechase Association’s history of the sport proves the point by the numbers: no less than five of today’s winningest flat trainers are found on the all-time leading riders’ list.
Others, such as 21-time leading steeplechase conditioner Jonathan Sheppard — trainer also of graded flat track winners Storm Cat, Annie Edge and Trevita — did not win enough races to be among the NSA top 20 yet still attribute their success on the flat to their start in steeplechasing.
“What’s given me a decided advantage over many of my competitors [training runners on the flat] is the well-rounded education I got working with steeplechase horses,” said Sheppard, 57, from his Unionville, Penn. stable
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