John Shirreffs

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...

5th-SA, $61K, Msw, 2yo, f, 6fT, 6:00 p.m. Running on the Monday holiday, Santa Anita cards a maiden grass race which includes JUST FOR FUN (Justify). A $485,000 Keeneland September Yearling purchase by Mayberry Farm on behalf of Lee and Susan Searing's CRK Stable, the juvenile sets sail for trainer John Shirreffs. The bay filly is out fo SP Appeal to the Win (Successful Appeal), who is a half-sib to MSW Cool Cowboy (Kodiak Kowboy) and the dams of GII Bourbon S. hero Mutasaabeq (Into Mischief) and GI Whitney H....

Under the toughest of spotlights, the industry's collective eyes often turn to the stuff under foot. At least, that's what trainer Mark Casse did in a widely-shared TDN Q&A. "I think we really, seriously, need to look at more synthetic tracks," Casse said, triggering yet another cavalcade of commentary on the conceived benefits and blights of synthetic surfaces. "I believe in them. I believe they've got plenty of data to back that up." Former TDN writer Lucas Marquardt followed it up with an analysis of race-day fatality data through The...

3rd-DMR, $82K, Msw, 2yo, 6f, 5:30 p.m. As the summer winds down, there is still more than enough time for juvenile first timers to make their debut. At Del Mar, $1.25-million Fasig-Tipton Yearling Sale buy MC VAY (Constitution) is set for his inaugural trip. Out of Dothraki Sea (Union Rags), who counts both GISW Dixie Chatter (Dixie Union) and GSW Rumor (Indian Charlie) as half-siblings, the dark bay colt is trained by John Shirreffs and will be ridden by Mike Smith. Also entered is $250,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale grad...

The list of potential runners for Del Mar's 33rd running of the G1 FanDuel Racing Pacific Classic Sept. 2 has grown to 10, so far. Senor Buscador (Mineshaft) won last month's GII San Diego H., the local prep for the Pacific Classic. Todd Fincher is not afraid to put the 5-year-old homebred owned by Joey Peacock in after he rewarded the New Mexico-based trainer with the second Grade II stakes win of his career. Senor Buscador worked five furlongs in 1:00.40 (6/38) at Del Mar Thursday morning. "It's a Grade...

C R K Stable's Skinner (Curlin) will be scratched from Sunday's $100,000 Affirmed S. at Santa Anita, trainer John Shirreffs told the Santa Anita notes team Saturday. The decision was made following a Saturday morning gallop over the Santa Anita main track. "I just wasn't happy with the way he jogged," the conditioner said. Skinner, a $40,000 Keeneland September yearling turned $510,000 OBS April juvenile, broke his maiden in his 3-year-old debut in February and finished third to Practical Move (Practical Joke) in both the GII San Felipe S. and...

C R K Racing's Skinner (Curlin) is out of the GI Kentucky Derby because of an elevated temperature, Churchill Downs said in a release early Friday morning. The horse was scratched by trainer John Shirreffs, according to Kentucky Horse Racing Commission stewards. Skinner had galloped a mile Friday morning during the special 7:45 to 8 a.m. Derby/Oaks training period and all looked well. But then, back at Barn 41, several temperature checks did not come back right, forcing his conditioner to alert track officials that it would not be right...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - One of the more buzzed about workouts leading up to the first Saturday in May has been Confidence Game (Candy Ride {Arg})'s eye-catching, five-furlong bullet in :59 for trainer Keith Desormeaux at Churchill Downs last weekend. The steam behind the last-out Feb. 25 GII Rebel S. winner continued to build on a very lively backstretch as he led out the GI Kentucky Derby and Oaks horses with authority at 7:30 a.m. on another chilly and breezy Wednesday morning. 'TDN Rising Star' Tapit Trice (Tapit) is certainly another...

'TDN Rising Star' Justique (Justify), the morning-line favorite in Sunday's GIII Santa Ynez S., will not run after spiking a fever this week. "I'm going to scratch," trainer John Shirreffs said Saturday morning. "She had a little temperature." Justique will now await the GIII Las Virgenes S. going a mile Jan. 28, Shirreffs added. The expected scratch of Justique leaves a five-horse field in the Santa Ynez. "She only had a temperature for a day (on Thursday) and she seems pretty good, but I don't know how she'll run under...

Richard Mandella's Ice Dancing (Frosted), the only filly in a scratched-down field of five with a graded-stakes placing already to her name, will seek her first win since breaking her maiden in Sunday's rescheduled Santa Ynez S. at 'The Great Race Place.' The Grade III event, which was originally scheduled for last Sunday's New Year's Eve program, carries Kentucky Oaks points to the tune of 20-8-6-4-2, which will go to the top five finishers that are not associated with Bob Baffert. A homebred for Bass Stables LLC, the newly minted...

In this continuing series, TDN's Senior Editor Steve Sherack catches up with the connections of promising maidens to keep on your radar. A week before unveiling Justique (Justify) to a jaw-dropping 'TDN Rising Star' performance at Del Mar--more on her in a bit--Lee Searing's C R K Stable and John Shirreffs debuted another 2-year-old with plenty of upside at the seaside track. Skinner (c, 2, Curlin--Winding Way, by Malibu Moon), a $40,000 Keeneland September yearling turned $510,000 OBS April breezer (:10 1/5), came rolling home to finish an encouraging fifth...