
Jonathan E. Sheppard
Jonathan E. Sheppard is a Hall of Fame trainer in American Thoroughbred horse racing.
Sheppard came to the United States in 1961 and in 1966 won his first race with Haffaday in a steeplechase event at My Lady’s Manor, Maryland. In 1973 he won his first earnings championship in steeplechase racing. He went on to win the earnings title another twenty-three times. He has trained the winner of four Breeders’ Cup Grand National Steeplechase and holds the record for most wins in the Colonial Cup Steeplechase with eleven. Sheppard is the only trainer to win the American steeplechase Triple Crown, doing it with Flatterer, the only horse to win the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Steeplechase horse four years in a row.
In addition to steeplechase racing, Jonathan Sheppard has met with considerable success in flat racing. In both venues, he has had a long working relationship with stable owner, George W. Strawbridge, Jr. and in 2008 he conditioned Strawbridge’s filly Forever Together to victory in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf.
In 1990, he was inducted in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.
In 2004, Jonathan Sheppard was elected president of the National Steeplechase Association.
In 2008, Sheppard joined fellow Hall of Famee inductee Sidney Watters, Jr. as the only men in American racing to have trained a champion over both jumps and on the flat. In all, Sheppard’s horses have won thirteen Eclipse Awards.

Christophe Clement
Racing is in Christophe’s blood. His grandfather owned racehorses, his father was a successful French trainer, and he grew up in Chantilly, France, at his father’s training yard. His older brother, Nicolas, has also followed the family tradition at the yard in Chantilly, from which he trained the winner of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in only his second year of training (Saumarez, 1990).
After the death of Christophe’s father, Miguel Clement, in 1978, Ghislaine and Alec Head took Christophe under their wings and allowed him to accompany them to the races, at morning gallops, and at their farm, Haras du Quesnay. Francois Boutin also fostered Christophe’s passion for horse racing, and Crickette Head-Maarek rounded out a group who helped and advised Christophe as he began his career in his father’s footsteps.
Christophe first came to the United States in 1986, working initially for Taylor Made Farm and then with Hall of Fame trainer, Claude “Shug” McGaughey. When he returned to Europe in 1988, Christophe served as an assistant to Luca Cumani for four years in Newmarket, England. During the years Christophe was with Luca Cumani, he was fortunate to be a part of Kahyasi’s great victory at the Derby at Epsom.
In 1991, Christophe went out on his own as a trainer in the United States. He won with the first horse he saddled, Spectaculaire, and just a few months later, he had two Grade II victories, with Passagere du Soir, owned by Mr. Paul de Moussac, and Sardaniya, owned by His Highness the Aga Khan.
In the years that followed, Christophe has had the privilege of training for many different American and international owners of both large and small stables. Christophe has trained over 1000 winners and his horse Gio Pionti won two Eclipse awards in 2009 5 Grade 1 races including the Arlington Million.
Christophe studied economics at the University of Assas, Paris. He is married to Valerie, whom he met at the University and who helps manage the operations of the Florida stables. They have two children, Miguel and Charlotte.
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