Also drawn is Ready for Shirl (More Than Ready), who is out of GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf victress Perfect Shirl (Perfect Soul {Ire}). Both were bred and raced by Charles Fipke, along with Perfect Shirl's half-sister MGSW Lady Shakespeare (Theatrical {Ire}), the dam of another Fipke homebred, Canadian three-time champion Lady Speightspeare (Speightstown). Once again, Roger Attfield serves as this owner's go-to conditioner. TJCIS PPS

4th-KEE, $100K, Msw, 3yo, 6 1/2f, 2:36 p.m. ET.
Fracture (Uncle Mo) debuts for Katie Rich Farms under trainer Daniel Leitch. A half-brother to GI Manhattan S. hero Instilled Regard (Arch), the homebred's second dam is champion 3-year-old filly Heavenly Prize (Seeking the Gold), who produced MGISW Good Reward (Storm Cat). TJCIS PPS

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“He is a worthy favorite,” said Appleby. “He broke his maiden on soft ground, and he's won a Group 2 on soft.”

Apply also brings Godolphin's Naval Power (GB) (Teofilo {Ire}), winner of six of seven lifetime, including his last two going a furlong further at Meydan. There were 13 months and a castration between those two wins, but his G2 Singspiel S. victory Feb. 23 earned him a ticket to the U.S. for a barn that has excelled in graded events in America.

“He has won on soft ground, and this will give him a chance to gain experience over here,” said Appleby.

The 2022 Maker's Mark Mile victor, Charles Fipke's 'TDN Rising Star' Shirl's Speight (Speightstown), has not found the winner's circle since that signature win. He's faced Master of the Seas in two of his last three, getting closest with a runner-up finish in the Woodbine Mile. He clearly has an affinity for Keeneland, with a second in the 2022 edition of the Breeders' Cup Mile to another Appleby trainee in Modern Games (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}).

“Hard to believe, but [Shirl's Speight] has been running in all of the big ones with a couple of seconds,” said trainer Roger Attfield. “He's been doing well since his last race, which was the [Jan. 27 GI] Pegasus [World Cup Turf Invitational].”

The Maker's Mark field is rounded out by uber-impressive two-back GII Hill Prince S. winner Integration (Quality Road); 'TDN Rising Star' and Mar. 2 GIII Canadian Turf S. winner Emmanuel (More Than Ready); and a Chad Brown-trained pair of recent Tampa allowance winners in Kubrick (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) and Equitize (GB) (Kingman {GB}).

Du Jour (Temple City), winner of the GI Frank E. Kilroe Mile S. Mar. 3, reportedly didn't make the trip from Santa Anita and will be scratched.

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“He's going,” Fernando said of the 2022 GI Maker's Mark Mile hero. “He's doing well with Roger Attfield down in Florida.”

The February S. is one of only two Group 1 races alongside the Champions Cup conducted on dirt by the Japanese Racing Association (JRA), but the competition is no less fierce, as illustrated by last year's Japanese Champion Dirt Horse, Café Pharoah (American Pharoah, who earned his year-end accolade partially by setting a new stakes record of 1:33.80 in the 2022 edition, his second consecutive victory in the event.

“It's a very complex thing to get to this race, because unlike other races that are usually international races that are invitational races, this is not an invitational,” he said. “We had to nominate, get accepted, etc. Then, Mr. Fipke's got to pay for everything to go there. It's a pretty expensive proposition too.”

The magnitude of the Fipke team's February S. attempt is not lost on Fernando, who said of Fipke's vision, “[It's] really two things–he's one of the few North American owners who are actually licensed to race in Japan. That's number one. Number two, he also breeds a few mares in Japan every year. He's got a good relationship with Northern Farm and Katsumi Yoshida. He's got a runner in Japan, as well, who last year won a couple of races–Kana Tape (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) and he's an adventurer. He's a guy that is very interested in the international game. He's raced in South Africa before and bred in South Africa. He's a guy that's got horses in Australia, won races last year in Australia, races in Dubai. His entire career was built on a bunch of adventuring and discovering diamond mines. This all fits his sensibilities.

“And, on top of all of that, he'd like to also try to win a Grade 1 race on dirt with Shirl's Speight. With his Japanese contacts and everything, it's showcasing that horse over there as a potential stallion prospect, not that he plans on selling the horse or anything. For Japanese breeders, it's exposure.”

A versatile campaigner, the son of GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare shocker Perfect Shirl (Perfect Soul {Ire}) has not graced the racetrack since running a good second to likely Eclipse Champion Turf Male Modern Games (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) in the GI Breeders' Cup Mile at Keeneland in November. Shirl's Speight is already a graded winner on two surfaces, having won the GIII Marine S. over the Woodbine all-weather as a juvenile. The GIII Tampa Bay S. on turf went his way at four to go with his Maker's Mark heroics, and, most encouragingly, the 5-year-old did run third in the GIII Salvator Mile S. over the Monmouth main track last June.

A major feather in the Fipke camp's cap is their rider selection for the 2023 February S. None other than legendary Brazilian jockey Joao “Magic Man” Moreira, a four-time champion rider in Hong Kong, has signed on to ride the 5-year-old. Moreira booted home 76 winners from 217 starters in 2018, the year he rode predominantly in Japan.

Added Fernando, “We've booked the Magic Man, Joao Moreira to ride. He's got a [job] to ride in Australia two weeks before he goes to Japan with [Australian Champion Trainer Chris] Waller.”

Shirl's Speight's international engagements will not end in Japan either, as Fernando revealed that the 1800-metre G1 Dubai Turf on grass at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai on Mar. 25 would be next on the entire's dance card.

“The bigger plan, is that he's going to go there, then he's going to fly to Dubai for the 1800-metre Group 1 race on turf in Dubai on Dubai World Cup day,” said Fernando.

“It's a very complex logistical thing with quarantine, flights, etc.,” said Fernando. “I have to give a shout out to [Fipke's] administrative assistant Fawn Seminoff, who has really done an incredible job organizing all of the moving parts.”

Targets Set For Budding Stars

Fipke also has multiple opportunities to enjoy international action in 2023, besides his stable star. He enjoyed a winner over the Dundalk synthetic as recently as Wednesday evening when homebred Stormy Entry (Point Of Entry), a son of Fipke's GI Natalma S. bridesmaid Stormy Perfection (Tale of the Cat), won the seven-furlong nightcap. In addition, Irish listed heroine Spirit Gal (Fr) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), who took Fipke to the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Keeneland, will be prepared for a run in the G1 French 1000 Guineas in May.

“He's got horses in Europe–he just won a race last night in fact, at Dundalk, a Point Of Entry colt,” said Fernando. “And he's got a stakes-winning filly by Invincible Spirit (Ire), Spirit Gal (Fr), that's with Andre Fabre and is being prepared for the G1 French 1000 Guineas.”

Back in 2017, Fipke homebred, eventual GI Metropolitan H. victor and sire Bee Jersey (Jersey Town) ran second to subsequent dual G1 Dubai World Cup winner Thunder Snow (Ire) (Helmet {Aus}) in the G3 UAE 2000 Guineas. Fast forward to Dec. 23, 2022 and Bee Jersey colt Shirl's Bee graduated at first asking at Meydan. Trained by American ex-pat Doug Watson, the chestnut is aiming to go one better for his sire on Feb. 10.

Said Fernando, “He's got Shirl's Bee who won his debut really impressively there and is going next in the [G3] UAE 2000 Guineas.

For Fipke, 2023 will be a year dedicated to exploring the next frontier in the Thoroughbred world beginning with an exclusive visit to Japan.

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“It's obviously a milestone,” he said. “I feel it's a big accomplishment considering how many horses I've actually run over the years. Honestly, I hadn't really thought about it too much until very recently. But all of these milestones are very satisfying, aren't they?”

Attfield's list of racing accomplishments would make any racing novice blush. The native of Newbury, England has accounted for 22 Canadian Classics, winning a record eight Queen's Plates, the Prince of Wales S. five times and the Breeders' S., the final jewel in Canada's Triple Crown, on nine occasions. Earning the Sovereign Award as the Outstanding Trainer eight times, the 82-year-old has also shown his might south of the border on racing's biggest days, including a victory at the Breeders' Cup in the 2011 Filly & Mare Turf with Perfect Shirl. He is also responsible for molding the careers of seven Canadian Horses of the Year and subsequent Hall of Fame inductees–Norcliffe, Play The King, With Approval, Izvestia, Peteski and Alywow. Included among Attfield's 51 Canadian champions is GI Shadwell Keeneland Turf Mile winner Perfect Soul, the leading grass horse in 2003. Among his most recent Grade I winners, Lady Speightspeare (Speightstown) took the 2020 renewal of the GI Natalma S. before adding last season's GII Bessarabian S. And already this season, he showed he still has fire power in the arsenal when Shirl's Speight (Speightstown) annexed the GIII Tampa Bay S. in February before giving his Hall of Fame trainer yet another win at the highest level in the Apr. 15 GI Maker's Mark Mile S. at Keeneland.

Scaling the Cliffs

Armed with a degree in agriculture, while specializing in farm management, Attfield was an accomplished international show jump rider in his native England, and also spent a time as an amateur steeplechase rider, before immigrating to Canada in 1970.

Norcliffe and Attfield | Woodbine Photo

“I had anticipated carrying on with my show jumping career but I got sidetracked a little bit,” he recalled. “I started to help Frank Stronach out. He had a very small stable at that time, about 25-acre farm in Canada. I trained a few for him, so that got me started with the flat racehorses. I also had a few surgeries on my ear which affected my equilibrium, so I wasn't really able to carry on with showjumping anyway.”

In 1971, the Englishman began training for Roy Kennedy's Gateway Farms in Milton, Ontario and three years later, took over as head trainer of Lt. Col. Charles (Bud) Baker's Norcliffe Stable.

“Col. Baker bought a young horse named Norcliffe,” he explained. “At that particular point in time I galloped all my horses, and he approached me about training privately for him since he was concerned about how this young colt would be handled. In 1974, I went to Payson Park with him as a yearling turning two.”

Getting off to a fast start with that operation, Attfield nurtured Norcliffe to a juvenile championship in 1975 and the colt followed up the next season with a victory in the Queen's Plate, the trainer's very first attempt at the Canadian Triple Crown. The son of Buckpasser, who also won the Prince of Wales S., failed to handle the soft turf while finishing fifth in the final leg of the Triple Crown. He went on to earn 1976 Horse of the Year honors.

“In the early years, the Prince of Wales was actually held on the turf at Fort Erie,” explained Attfield. “Norcliffe won the Plate and then won at Fort Erie, where the turf was rock hard because it was the middle of the summer. But the [old turf course] at Woodbine could be very soft indeed. And some horses, like Norcliffe, just couldn't handle that soft going. He had low action, so that was really tricky. But he went on to be a tremendous horse. That really launched my career in Canada.”

While successful in his first decade of training, Attfield's career hit another gear after becoming the private conditioner for D.G. 'Bud' Willmot's Kinghaven Farms in 1985. It didn't take long for him to register his second Queen's Plate win in 1987 with Market Control before bagging lucrative $1-million bonuses when Kinghaven runners With Approval and Izvestia won consecutive Triple Crowns in 1989 and 1990. With the help of Attfield, Kinghaven rounded out the 1990 season as Canada's leading owner with over $5-million in earnings. The trainer also guided Alydeed, the 1992 winner of the Queen's Plate, to a second-place finish in that season's GI Preakness S. and added a victory in the following year's GI Carter H. In all, Kinghaven earned the Sovereign Award as Canada's leading owner on five occasions, four of those under the guidance of Attfield.

“We had a great relationship for a number of years,” he said.

Although Attfield largely made his mark handling high quality stock and many leading prospects in the north, he also proved his ability to develop less likely candidates into champions as well.

“A horse that has always been a favorite in my mind, but wasn't really the best horse was Play The King,” he said of the Canadian champion that went on to be inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2020. “He was a huge surprise that went on to become a very good horse. He was an absolutely useless 2-year-old. We left him in Canada when we went to Florida that year. In fact, the farm manager tried to find a good home for him as a riding horse. He was clumsy. He'd stumble over a pole on the ground and fall down, so he never went anywhere. I came back the following spring and I saw him turned out with a donkey and a retired pony. That pretty much says it all. So, we started to train him again to see if we couldn't find a way to find him a home. All of a sudden, he turned around to be a very good horse. Literally, the change came from out of the blue, which surprised all of us. I had never seen anything like it in my life before and I don't think I'll see anything like that again.”

Attfield and The Queen Mother in 1979 | Woodbine Photo

Unraced until his sophomore season, the Kinghaven homebred won four of six starts at three, before taking seven of 13 starts at four–six at the stakes level–including Aqueduct's GIII Toboggan H. in 1987. Injured prior to that season's Breeders' Cup, he underwent surgery to insert screws into the damaged leg and was given seven months off, but had done enough to earn the Sovereign awards as champion sprinter and older horse for the 1987 season. He returned at five better than ever, winning four of six starts, including a repeat in the GIII Nearctic H., and finishing a close-up second behind eventual Eclipse Award-winning sprinter Gulch in the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint at Churchill Downs.

“He was an amazingly good horse,” stated Attfield. “Just a really nice horse to be around. He always tried his best. And he was always a barn favorite because of his laid back character. He might not have been the best horse I trained, but he definitely was one of my favorites.”

Esteemed Company

When Mark Casse's induction to the National Museum Hall of Fame was announced in 2020, it marked the latest commendation of the Canadian racing industry. However, it wasn't the first time that a horseman entered the great Hall on both sides of the border. It began with the 1977 induction of Quebec-bred Lucien Laurin (inducted a year later in Canada), who famously trained the mighty Secretariat, and the trend continued when Argentine-born Horatio Luro, overseeing the powerful Windfields Farm of E.P. Taylor, joined the U.S. elite in 1980 (he was inducted into Canada's HOF in 2014). However, Attfield remains the sole member of the illustrious bi-Hall of Fame club to win a Canadian Triple Crown. Inducted into the U.S. National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame in 2012, he was inducted to its Canadian counterpart in 1999, his first year of eligibility at 60 years old. Attfield further widened the chasm between himself and his illustrious predecessors, sweeping the Canadian Classic trio on three separate occasions with Kinghaven's With Approval in 1989, that operation's Izvestia in 1990 and Peteski, campaigned by Earle Mack, in 1993.

Triple Wow

Considering the Canadian Triple Crown has been landed only 12 times since 1932, the fact that a single trainer has accounted for three of those victories illustrates Attfield's dominance in the Canadian racing landscape. And all three of his Triple Crown heros provided Attfield with rollercoaster rides that are often associated with horse racing.

Attfield's first Triple Crown winner With Approval proved he could compete, and win, on either surface. And while talented, the grey was definitely not a lock.

“We definitely saw the talent in him early, but we also knew he was a turf horse. To win the Triple Crown with him, we had to win the first two phases of it first. We thought he was capable of doing it, but it was going to be a struggle because he really didn't like the dirt.”

“When he won the Plate, it was literally a head bob that could have gone either way. He later won the Prince of Wales, but not very convincingly. I longed to see him on the grass, so when the Breeders S. came around, I just knew he'd win it. After that, he never set foot on the dirt again.”

With Approval sweeping the 1989 Canadian Triple Crown | Michael Burns

In addition to the trio of Classics, the son of Caro also took the 1989 renewals of the Marine S. and Plate Trial S. en route to a 3-year-old championship and Horse of the Year honors. He also annexed the Bowling Green H. and Tidal H. at four. The grey was inducted into the Canadian Racing Hall of Fame in 1993.

Whereas With Approval had to earn his stripes, Izvestia was pegged a star early on. Flashing his brilliance at Keeneland when winning the Transylvania S. and Forerunner S., the grey later added wins in a pair of Woodbine stakes, including the Plate Trial S., before sweeping the triple in impressive fashion.

“I knew [Izvestia] had a great deal of ability, but after he won those two stakes so impressively at Keeneland, I began to think he could sweep the Triple Crown too,” recalled Attfield.

Later in the season, he added a win in the Molson Export Million. Named Canadian Horse of the Year, Champion Turf Horse and Champion 3-year-old in 1990, the son of Icecapade kicked off his 4-year-old season with a pair of stakes wins, including Gulfstream's Canadian Club H.

“Izvestia really took it to another level to be quite honest,” said Attfield of the colt who tragically broke down in the 1991 Rothmans International. “He was just an exceptionally good horse. He won the Triple Crown by over 31 lengths. I had a real soft spot for him.”

Flashy in both look and style, Peteski wowed Canadian racing fans by sweeping the Triple Crown by a combined 16 lengths. Setting a track record while taking the 1993 Prince of Wales, the son of U.S. Triple Crown winner Affirmed gave Attfield yet another win in the lucrative Molson Export Million, besting that season's Kentucky Derby winner Sea Hero and GI Belmont S. scorer Colonial Affair, in addition to Grade I winner Kissin Kris. Following a narrow loss in the GI Super Derby, the chestnut was forced to miss the Breeders' Cup Classic due to an ankle injury and was retired thereafter.

“He was an exceptionally good turf horse,” said Attfield. “He also went through the Triple Crown impressively.”

With 12 horses officially recognized as winning the Canadian Triple Crown, Attfield has won a quarter of them, more than any other trainer in Canadian history. The only other conditioner to win more than one is Pete McCann, who trained 1959 winner New Providence and Canebora, who swept the triple in 1963.

If there is a secret recipe to Triple Crown success, surely Attfield must know.

“There really isn't a secret,” he admitted. “First, you have to be lucky and that nothing happens to them between one race and the other. A little thing like a cough could knock them off course. So timing is a big factor. But the main thing is keeping the horse fit and happy. As far as the Triple Crown goes, you have to train them with the intention of bringing them into every one of those races at their peak. That can sometimes be difficult [because of the spacing on the calendar]. You sometimes have to just let them down a little bit so you can bring them back to peak. You just can't keep them up there for an extended period of time. And experience helps you in that regard.”

Five Decades and Counting

A regular on the Woodbine racing scene, Attfield has also raced at many racetracks throughout North America, including Arlington, Pimlico, Hialeah, Belmont, Saratoga, Delaware, Monmouth, Santa Anita, etc. Attfield, who has been based at Payson Park during the winter months since he took his first champion Norcliffe there in the early '70s, continues to compete at Gulfstream during the Championship meet when the opportunity arises. Having enjoyed vast amounts of success at Keeneland, he continues to target the Lexington oval's spring meet before returning to his Woodbine base for the summer and fall months.

“I've raced all over America,” the horseman affirmed. “I think I've won stakes at every track and in every state that I've run at. At one point in time, I was traveling a lot. I had three divisions and I had a motor home to facilitate moving from one track to another. We did a lot of moving around, which is difficult to do now, especially given how we did it in those days.”

Alydeed after winning the 1992 Queen's Plate | Woodbine Photo

With approximately 30 horses currently under his care, Attfield recalls having as many as 65 horses during the height of his career.

“The number of horses in my barn never really fluctuated too much,” he admitted. “In the last couple of years I decided to cut back, because getting good help is getting more and more difficult. And I can't stand doing things incorrectly, so I decided to downsize. I also didn't want to travel as much as I used to. So, I don't really want to top out at any more than 30 horses.”

Attfield continued, “I've pretty much run everywhere, but I never really ran all that many horses. I went about 20 straight years averaging 20% [winners]. Last year, I may have run 20 horses in total. So, I don't run many horses anymore. But I never really did, as compared to some of the trainers out there now. And I wouldn't even want to be trying that at this point right now honestly. I know when I had the three divisions, I was working very hard. I was at every track at least once a week. Having the motor home helped a lot. But that all gets old after a few years.”

In an era that has proven wildly lucrative, yet tempestuous in equal measure for the contemporary trainer, Attfield admits that the current racing landscape has its challenges.

“To be honest with you, I'd find it difficult to be starting off now, the industry has changed so much,” he admitted. “Training is really very time consuming. You have to be a good horse person but you also have to be a good people person. You have to be very good at communicating, which quite honestly, has never really been one of my strong points. I get so wrapped up in the horses that I would forget to bring anyone else into the picture. But despite everything that has changed, the one thing that really hasn't is you need to surround yourself with the best help you can find.”

And the other ingredient for training success that hasn't changed?

“I just love horses,” he said. “And I plan to keep training until I am just not capable of doing it anymore or I just fall off my perch.”

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Tribhuvan (Fr) (Toronado {Ire}), a front-running victor of the 1 3/8-mile GI United Nations S. at Monmouth Park last summer, cuts back in distance and makes his first start since tiring to 13th after setting the pace in the Nov. 6 GI Breeders' Cup Turf.

Adhamo (Ire) (Intello {Ger}), a group winner in France last spring, closed from well out of it in his stateside debut to miss by just a head when second behind the reopposing Cavalry Charge (Honor Code) in the Feb. 19 GIII Fair Grounds S. last time out.

Cavalry Charge returned with a third-place finish in the Mar. 26 GII Muniz Memorial Classic S. last time out.

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Away in good order, the Fipke homebred bided his time in second last, running off the fence, as GI Shoemaker Mile winner and last out GI Breeders' Cup Mile runner-up Smooth Like Strait (Midnight Lute) dictated terms, putting up early splits of :24.95 and :49.63. Inching up a bit on the backstretch run, Shirl's Speight still had plenty left to do at the top of the lane as Smooth Like Straight valiantly tried to fend off heavily favored Juddmonte import Masen (GB) (Kingman {GB}). Racing way out in the center of the course, Shirl's Speight unleashed a furious rally, gobbling up ground late to nail Masen (GB) on the line.

“He sort of lost his way there after winning his first two starts,” winning trainer Roger Attfield said. “He's a very quick horse and he won those races all on the lead, easily. He didn't really gain any experience out of it. And then he had suspensory problems and we put him away for a while–quite a while–and I appreciate Mr. Fipke giving him that amount of time. They need it when they have that kind of injury.”

He continued, “We brought him back and he's run very well for me. In his last race, he was shut off and came with one big run, and I realized that's probably the way this horse really wants to run. So when I saw he was 50-1 on the morning line, I said, 'I can't be that far wrong.' I won this race with his grandfather [broodmare sire Perfect Soul (Ire) in 2004], and this is a better miler than he was. There was a lot of speed in the race and [Luis] Saez gave him a great ride. He let him do that and he came down the stretch fast, didn't he? I didn't know whether he was going to make it.”

“I was watching the replays and Roger called me,” Saez said. “He said the best way is to come from behind, so I decided to take him back right when we broke. It looked like that was the best decision to make. In the end, he was coming. He ran pretty hard and got there in time.”

Following his 'TDN Rising Star'-worthy debut victory with a win in the 2020 GIII Marine S., Shirl's Speight was off the board in his two starts in 2021, first in a main track sprint at Gulfstream in January and then in a two-turn off-the-turf event there in December. Returning to winning ways when getting back on grass at Tampa Jan. 15 of this year, the homebred rallied to victory in the GIII Tampa Bay S. last out Feb. 5.

Pedigree Notes:

Shirl's Speight is the 25th Grade I winner for his timeless sire Speightstown. He is also one 63 graded winners and 128 black-type scorers by that WinStar stalwart. The winner is just the second top-level scorer out of a daughter of Perfect Soul and one of three graded winners for that broodmare sire.

Charles Fipke purchased Shirl's Speight's Grade I-winning second dam Lady Shirl (That's a Nice) for $485,000 in foal to Theatrical (Ire) at the 2005 KEENOV sale. She had already produced MGISW Shakespeare (Theatrical {Ire}) and SW & MGSP Fantastic Shirl (Fantastic Light) prior to that auction and the foal she was carrying at the time turned out to be MGSW Lady Shakespeare. She produced one of Speightstown's other Grade I winners Lady Speightspeare, who was also a Canadian champion.

Shirl's Speight's dam Perfect Shirl captured the GI Breeders' Cup F/M Turf S. for Fipke and Attfield back in 2011. She has another black-type runner by Speightstown in GSP Speightstown Shirl. The 15-year-old mare did not have foals in 2019 or 2020, but had a More Than Ready filly in 2021 and a Speightstown filly Apr. 2 of this year.

MAKER'S MARK MILE S.-GI, $577,000, Keeneland, 4-15, 4yo/up, 1mT, 1:35.93, gd.
1–SHIRL'S SPEIGHT, 123, h, 5, by Speightstown
1st Dam: Perfect Shirl (GISW-USA, GSP-Can, $1,390,729), by Perfect Soul (Ire)
                2nd Dam: Lady Shirl, by That's a Nice
                3rd Dam: Canonization, by Native Heritage
   'TDN Rising Star' 1ST GRADE I WIN. O/B-Charles Fipke (KY);
T-Roger L. Attfield; J-Luis Saez. $358,050. Lifetime Record:
9-5-0-1, $566,665. *Full to Speightstown Shirl, GSP, $105,031.
 Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Werk Nick
   Rating: B.
2–Masen (GB), 123, g, 4, Kingman (GB)–Continental Drift, by
Smart Strike. 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. O/B-Juddmonte Farms Ltd.
(GB); T-Chad C. Brown. $96,250.
3–Smooth Like Strait, 123, h, 5, Midnight Lute–Smooth as
Usual, by Flower Alley. O/B-Cannon Thoroughbreds, LLC (KY);
T-Michael W. McCarthy. $57,750.
Margins: NO, NK, 3/4. Odds: 9.00, 1.80, 3.20.
Also Ran: Atone, Mira Mission, Count Again, Set Piece (GB), In Love (Brz). Scratched: Ivar (Brz), Public Sector (GB), Somelikeithotbrown. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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Two races later, in the Grade 3, $175,000 Tampa Bay Stakes for males on the turf, Wilson set Lady Speightspeare's stablemate Shirl's Speight loose in the stretch, and the 5-year-old horse responded by running down the race's defending champion, pace-setter Get Smokin, by a length-and-a-half.

“That's horse racing, in a nutshell,” Wilson said after 9-1 shot Shirl's Speight's victory for breeder-owner Charles Fipke and trainer Roger Attfield in 1:41.20 for the mile-and-a-sixteenth. “There are many ups and downs, and you've just got to ride the wave.

“When good horses come around, they'll show their stuff when the time is right.”

The two stakes races were the centerpiece of a spellbinding “Turf Champions Day” card under overcast skies that resulted in long-shots aplenty visiting the winner's circle (including Bleecker Street and Shirl's Speight, although their payoffs were minuscule in comparison to several others).

In the 23rd running of the Endeavour, the sixth race on the card, Wilson was sitting pretty on the lead on Lady Speightspeare at the eighth pole when unbeaten 4-year-old filly Bleecker Street – whose previous victory here on Jan. 8 came in a conditional allowance/optional claiming event – showed her stuff and then some, accelerating from mid-pack under jockey Hector Rafael Diaz, Jr., for a convincing length-and-a-half triumph.

The victory was the first graded-stakes triumph for the 32-year-old Diaz, who might feel like he's uncovered the key to buried treasure after trainer Chad Brown stuck with him following his three previous victories aboard Bleecker Street.

“She never gave me that turn of foot before,” Diaz said of today's performance by the Peter M. Brant-owned filly, now 4-for-4. “Not like that. Today was her best race, by far. The effort she put in was great. I have to thank God and Chad and his entire crew for this opportunity. They've done an amazing job with this filly. I knew she had to prove herself today against these kind of horses, but I was confident she could do it.

“I saw that green light in the stretch and she just took off, and the rest is history.”

The victory was the fourth in the Endeavour's 23-year history for Brown, more than any other conditioner. Bleecker Street posted a time of 1:41.91 on the firm turf course.

“She has won all four times coming off the pace, and being able to work out a trip like that every time is very difficult to do,” Brown said via telephone. “He (Diaz) has ridden her all four times, and I'm very proud of him.

“She had a good post (No. 2), the trip worked out real well and she showed a super turn of foot through the stretch. This filly took time to come around, and my whole staff has done an unbelievable job with her. And Mr. Brant is so patient. We scratched In Italian from the race this morning because we thought bringing her back inside a month was a little soon for her, and we didn't want to run them against each other.

“She (Bleecker Street) stepped up and it turned out to be the right call,” added Brown, who later won the Grade III Withers for 3-year-olds at Aqueduct with Early Voting.

Wilson was disappointed to get beat, but offered no excuses. “Chad's horses have a tendency of doing that to you,” Wilson said. ”I wouldn't give (Lady Speightspeare) any excuses. She had everything go as well as it could. We had a good run at it – we were just second-best.”

Stunning Princess finished third and Jezebel's Kitten was fourth. Bleecker Street paid $16 to win.

The way Get Smokin was sailing along under jockey Antonio Gallardo in the Tampa Bay Stakes, it appeared everyone was running for second at the top of the lane. The 5-year-old gelding hadn't been asked much approaching the stretch in his first start since June 20, but Wilson sensed she was sitting on a powder keg.

“I was interested to see how the pace was going to set up,” Wilson said of Shirl's Speight's performance. “Last time (a Jan. 15 victory here under Gallardo in an allowance/optional claiming race), he was a little keen, but today he settled off the pace nice and the way they kind of ran away from him early, I just wanted to make sure he relaxed and got into position where he was comfortable.”

Reserved near mid-pack, Shirl's Speight was asked for his best when Wilson tipped him out wide and kept to his task to record his second lifetime Grade 3 victory. Floriform finished third and English Bee was fourth.

“I had to thread the needle a little down the lane, but good horses will overcome adversity and he shot through there like he was shot out of a cannon,” Wilson said. “Roger is a Hall of Famer, and he knows how to have them primed and ready.”

Attfield, in fact, is a member of both the U.S. and Canadian Horse Racing Halls of Fame, a status shared by Get Smokin's trainer, Mark Casse.

“We've lost a lot to Roger. He's a wonderful guy and a class act, and good for him,” Casse said.

Attfield had both of his horses ready for top efforts and was thrilled to come away with a victory and a second.

“It (the Tampa Bay Stakes) was a beautiful race, no question,” he said. “I liked the way he did it today – I don't really want him to be speed all the time, but he's got a lot of speed. (Wilson) rode him very well. I definitely thought (Get Smokin) was the horse to beat.

“And our filly (Lady Speightspeare) ran very well for everything she has been through, so it's been a good day.”

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The method of timing races at some tracks has changed in recent years from traditional beam systems that are tripped when the first horse passes designated poles to a GPS system based on transponders placed on a horse's saddle towel. The transition has not been seamless, and some tracks are now using a hybrid of both systems to compile accurate race times and running positions. Even that system can produce inaccurate times, as evidenced by several races on the two-day Breeders' Cup world championships at Del Mar on Nov. 5-6.

In this week's edition of the Friday Show, Equibase president Sal Sinatra joins publisher Ray Paulick and news editor Chelsea Hackbarth to talk about the race-timing challenges he inherited when he joined the company earlier this year and how he hopes timing problems will be resolved. Sinatra, a longtime racing executive who worked in the statistical department of Daily Racing Form when he was just getting started in the business, understands the importance of accurate data, including times, in a horse's past performances.

Paulick and Hackbarth review undefeated Woodbine Star of the Week Lady Speightspeare's victory in the G2 Bessarabian Stakes under Emma-Jayne WIlson. Owned and bred by Charles Fipke (who also owned and bred Lady Speightspeare's multiple graded stakes-winning dam), the 3-year-old Speightstown filly is trained by Hall of Famer Roger Attfield.

Watch this week's Friday Show, presented by Woodbine, below:

The post Friday Show Presented By Woodbine: In Racing, Time Is Of The Essence appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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In a field of nine, Lady Speightspeare was away in second, with Our Secret Agent taking the lead in the race's early strides. With jockey Emma-Jayne Wilson in the saddle, Lady Speightspeare transitioned from the rail to the outside of Our Secret Agent as they approached the far turn, pulling even with the leader as they entered the stretch.

In the Woodbine straight, Lady Speightspeare showed an impressive turn-of-foot on the Tapeta, pulling clear by a length at the top of the stretch and then pulling away to win with ease. Our Secret Agent hung on for second and La Libertee was third.

The final time for the seven furlongs was 1:21.03. Find this race's chart here.

Lady Speightspeare paid $12.90, $5.70, and $3.90. Our Secret Agent paid $2.90 and $2.50. La Libertee paid $6.20.

Bred in Kentucky by owner Charles Fipke, Lady Speightspeare is by Speightstown out of the Theatrical (IRE) mare Lady Shakespeare. She is trained by Roger Attfield. With her win in the G2 Bessarabian, the 3-year-old filly has two wins in two starts in 2021 for a perfect lifetime record of four wins in four starts and career earnings of $264,779.

The post Lady Speightspeare Goes From Turf To Main Track To Take Bessarabian At Woodbine appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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The Fipke homebred, whose prior victories include the GI Natalma S. over the local turf course last season, wired a Sept. 6 turf allowance over 8 1/2 furlongs, but was scratched after becoming fractious in the gate ahead of the GI Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Oct. 16 at Keeneland and was a trainer scratch prior to that track's Oct. 29 GIII Rubicon Valley View S. With plenty of gate schooling in the interim, she was rerouted for her first try against elders here.

A handy second arguing the early pace underneath favored GIII Hendrie S. heroine Our Secret Agent (Secret Circle) through the opening exchanges, Lady Speightspeare was content to chase under a light hold from the two path into the turn once Our Secret Agent got clear. The chestnut, niggled along at the quarter pole, gathered in the pacesetter with consummate ease once heads were turned for home and skipped away powerfully to take it by in slick time. Our Secret Agent held for second ahead of the rallying La Libertee (Constitution) in third.

“I'm pretty relieved to be honest with you,” offered trainer Roger Attfield. “She's very special. When we went to Keeneland, and what happened there in the Queen Elizabeth, was so upsetting because she was so good and I really, really, liked doing that race. It was an important race, a Grade I race. I got her back here and we had lots of options of different places to go.

He continued, “[Jockey] Emma [-Jayne Wilson]'s been great and it all came together. But the race itself, I wasn't really sure how well she'd handle the synthetic. We always thought that she was quite a bit better on the turf, I still think she is. But the main thing was to get this gate thing sorted out and it seemed like we did today.”

Pedigree Notes:

Via the late Jack Werk, Charles Fipke acquired Grade I winner Lady Shirl in foal to Theatrical (Ire) for $485,000 carrying the filly that would become Lady Shakespeare at the 2005 Keeneland November Sale. Winner of the GII New York S. and GIII Bewitch S., Lady Shakespeare is a full-sister to GISW Shakespeare; and a half to SW/MGSP Fantastic Shirl (Fantastic Light) and Perfect Shirl (Perfect Soul {Ire}), upset winner of the 2011 GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf and herself the dam of GSW 'TDN Rising Star' Shirl's Speight (Speightstown) and GSP Speightstown Shirl (Speightstown).

Lady Shakespeare is the dam of the 2-year-old filly Ready Lady (More Than Ready), a debut winner at Woodbine Aug. 28, but down the field in the GI Natalma S. Sept. 19; a yearling full-brother to Ready Lady and a weanling filly by Bee Jersey. She was most recently bred to Fipke's GI Clark H. hero Seeking the Soul (Perfect Soul {Ire}).

Saturday, Woodbine
BESSARABIAN S.-GII, C$175,350, Woodbine, 11-13, 3yo/up, f/m, 7f (AWT), 1:21.03, ft.
1–LADY SPEIGHTSPEARE, 119, f, 3, by Speightstown
               1st Dam: Lady Shakespeare (MGSW-USA, SW-Can, $495,608), by Theatrical (Ire)
               2nd Dam: Lady Shirl, by That's a Nice
               3rd Dam: Canonization, by Native Heritage
O/B-Charles E. Fipke (KY); T-Roger L. Attfield; J-Emma-Jayne
Wilson. C$105,000. 'TDN Rising Star' Lifetime Record: Ch.
2yo filly-Can, GISW-Can, 4-4-0-0, $264,779. Werk Nick
Rating: A+++. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross
pedigree.
2–Our Secret Agent, 123, f, 4, Secret Circle–Avalos, by Holy
Bull. ($47,000 RNA Ylg '18 FTKOCT). O-Gary Barber; B-Paul
Tackett Revocable Trust (KY); T-Mark E. Casse. C$35,000.
3–La Libertee, 119, f, 3, Constitution–La Rambla, by City Zip.
O/B-Tracy Farmer (KY); T-Mark E. Casse. C$17,500.
Margins: 4, 1, NK. Odds: 5.45, 1.55, 18.80.
Also Ran: Aug Lutes, Gidgetta, Emmeline, Tuned (GB), Juxtapose. Scratched: Spun Glass.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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