John Shirreffs

7th-DMR, $54K, Msw, 2yo, f, 5fT, 6:30 p.m. ET. MADAME SECRETARY (Constitution) makes her first start for MyRacehorse and Brook Smith after she was purchased at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Yearling Sale for $900,000 by Rocket Ship and Gandharvi. Sent to Richard Mandella, the filly is out of MSP Nina Fever (Borrego), who was taken home by Blandford Bloodstock for $500,000 while Madame Secretary was in-utero. This dam produced GI Frizette Stakes heroine and $3 million Fasig-Tipton Mixed Sale buy Nickname (Scat Daddy), who herself is responsible for Irish group stakes...

When bloodstock agent David Ingordo bought Zenyatta (Street Cry {Ire}) for just $60,000 out of the 2005 Keeneland September Sale he probably thought he had found that once-in-a-lifetime horse. Little did he know that the 2010 Horse of the Year, who was admitted to the Hall of Fame in 2016, might not be his very best purchase. Fourteen years after he discovered Zenyatta, he picked out Flightline (Tapit), paying $1 million for the future superstar. There was nothing coincidental about any of these selections. Over the years, Ingordo has solidified...

GSW Stay Hot (Summer Front) may have been the 6-5 choice in the GII Twilight Derby after finishing in front of Atitlan (c, 3, The Factor--Armanda {Ger}, by Acatenango {Ger}) in both a La Jolla Handicap win and a GII Del Mar Derby placing, but it was the latter who is an improving sort and inverted the results Saturday at Santa Anita to secure his first stakes win. Cathal (Ire) (No Nay Never) finished third in his first stakes try. With Curlin's Kaos (Clubhouse Ride) speeding to the front early...

Early Kentucky Derby favorite Muth faced several twists and turns earlier in the 2024 season. Despite winning the GII San Vincente Stakes in January and the GI Arkansas Derby in March, Muth was precluded from running on the First Saturday in May due to his trainer's forced exclusion from the Classic over the past three seasons. Shipped to Pimlico two weeks later for the GI Preakness, the colt spiked a temperature which forced him out of the second jewel of the Triple Crown, shuttling him to the sidelines. Given plenty...

The freakish vitality and durability of his trainer stands in poignant contrast to the posthumous legacies entwined by the success of Seize the Grey in the GI Preakness S. Most obviously, as colleague Jill Williams highlights in her Saturday Sires series, the industry has been given fresh cause to lament the premature loss of Arrogate. For the family and friends of Seize the Grey's breeder, however, Saturday was a more intensely personal cue to honor the memory of Audrey "Tolie" Otto, barely a year after her passing. Otto's stable, Jamm...

6th-SA, $54K, Msw, 3-5yo, 5 1/2f, 6:30 p.m. ET. PARENTING (Justify) debuts for Gandharvi LLC., who purchased the colt at last year's OBS April Two-Year-Olds In Training Sale for $750,000. The Bob Baffert trainee's dam is a half-sister to Canadian champion turf male El Tormenta (Stormy Atlantic) and GSW Zero Tolerence (Mizzen Mast). The other half of the Baffert uncoupled entry is first time starter Middleburg (Tapit). A $485,000 buy for SF Bloodstock, Starlight and Madaket at the 2022 Keeneland September Sale, the gray is out of MGSW Selcourt (Tiz...

After a long lifetime marked by notable wins on the racetrack and in the business world, prominent owner-breeder, entrepreneur and philanthropist Marty Wygod has passed away aged 84. "I have so many good memories of Marty Wygod. I was telling Emily [Bushnell, Wygod's daughter] this morning, one of my favorite things about Marty was he had a great sense of humor," said trainer John Shirreffs, who conditioned some of Wygod's heaviest hitters on the track. Wygod, said Shirreffs, was also something of a prankster. "The first time I met him...

The GII San Felipe S. last its headliner with the scratch of the Bob Baffert-trained Nysos (Nyquist), but Baffert still dominated the race with stablemates Imagination (Into Mischief) and Wine Me Up (Vino Rosso) running in tandem for much of the 1 1/16 miles and in lockstep down the stretch before Imagination just got his nose in front on the wire Sunday at Santa Anita. Of his one-two finish in the San Felipe, Baffert said, "We're trying to develop these horses, so it was good for both of them. Wine...

Triple Crown winner Justify (Scat Daddy) and 2017 Horse of the Year Gun Runner (Candy Ride {Arg})--both in their first year of eligibility--head a list of nine racehorses, six trainers and two jockeys who were named as finalists on this year's Hall of Fame ballot by the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame Nominating Committee Tuesday morning. Also on the ballot are: 2010 champion 3-year-old filly Blind Luck (Pollard's Vision), eight-time Grade I winner Game on Dude (Awesome Again), three-time Eclipse champion Gio Ponti (Tale of the Cat), 2011...

6th-SA, $65K, Msw, 4-5yo, 7f, 5:59 p.m. ET At $1.15 million as the ninth highest price taken during Keeneland's 2021 September Sale, Mayberry Farm signed the ticket on behalf of Lee and Susan Searing's CRK Stable to acquire THEISMANN (Quality Road). Sent to John Shirreffs, the colt initially began to drill late in his juvenile year, but was given time by the veteran conditioner when he had several minor setbacks as a 3-year-old. Ready to fire as an 8-1 shot on the morning-line, the bay was bred by Dixiana and...

Thousands upon thousands--likely hundreds of thousands--of words have been written about the legendary Zenyatta, who captured the heart and soul of racing during her time on the racetrack and remains just as beloved today, 13 years after her retirement. Winter Quarter Farm's Don Robinson, who foaled her, was kind enough to share his memories of her formative years with TDN. "Zenyatta was the ultimate," said Robinson. "I can't say enough superlatives about her. I could speak endlessly about her. "The real satisfaction is I delivered her mother, too. I had...

Celebrating 40 Years of the Breeders' Cup with Living Legends In the nearly 40-year history of the Breeders' Cup, only two sets of full-siblings have won Breeders' Cup races. It's difficult enough for a mare to produce one Breeders' Cup winner, but two individual Breeders' Cup winners? That's such a rarity only six mares have ever done it. And only two of those six have had lightning strike twice as they've produced two Breeders' Cup winners by the same sire. The first set, Juddmonte homebreds Banks Hill (GB) and Intercontinental...