Perfect Shirl

Last updated
Perfect Shirl
SirePerfect Soul
Grandsire Sadler's Wells
DamLady Shirl
DamsireThat's A Nice
Sex Mare
Foaled2007
Country United States
Colour Bay
Breeder Charles E. Fipke
OwnerCharles E. Fipke
Trainer Roger L. Attfield
Record16 : 4-2-5
Earnings US$1,390,729 [1]
Major wins
Lake George Stakes (2010) Breeders' Cup wins:
Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (2011)

Perfect Shirl (foaled May 10, 2007 in Kentucky) is a Thoroughbred racemare who won the 2011 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf in a 27-1 upset. She was foaled in the United States but her connections were Canadian.

Contents

Background

Perfect Shirl was bred and raced by Canadian businessman Charles E. Fipke, who had also bred and raced her sire, Perfect Soul. Perfect Soul was a late-developing colt by leading sire Sadler's Wells who blossomed into a multiple graded stakes winner on the turf late in his career. Perfect Shirl's dam, Lady Shirl, was a grade I and was bought by Fipke at auction for $485,000 in 2005 as a broodmare prospect. Prior to foaling Perfect Shirl, Lady Shirl had produced Grade I winner Shakespeare and Grade II winner Lady Shakespeare. Although Lady Shirl's immediate family was unremarkable, her second dam descended from the "blue hen" mare La Troienne, one of the most distinguished female families of the 20th century. [2]

Perfect Shirl was trained by Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame inductee, Roger Attfield from his base at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario. [3]

Racing career

Perfect Shirl did not race at age two, then failed to win in her first three races in 2010 at age three. She finally won for the first time in a maiden special weight race on the turf at Woodbine on June 13. She then followed up with a win on the Woodbine's Polytrack artificial dirt surface in an allowance race on July 11. [1] On July 28, she was shipped to Saratoga racetrack for the Grade II Lake George Stakes on the turf, where she went off at odds of 9-1. Racing in the middle of the pack down the backstretch, Perfect Shirl started making up ground around the far turn and then moved to the lead as they neared the finish line. "When I asked her, she responded very well," said jockey John Velazquez. "The only thing the assistant told me was not to be on the lead; very simple instructions!" [4]

Perfect Shirl then finished third in the Del Mar Oaks on August 21 and eighth in the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes on October 16 at Keeneland. Atfield then gave the filly a long layoff, returning on April 16, 2011 in an allowance race at Woodbine. Perfect Shirl finished fourth and then lost her next five races as well. [1] However, her performance in the Canadian Stakes was promising: she circled the field and closed rapidly to lose by only half-a-length. [5]

Despite her lengthy losing streak, Attfield decided to enter the filly in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf, held that year at Churchill Downs on November 4. Ridden again by Velazquez, she was a 27-1 longshot in a quality field featuring Stacelita and several highly regarded horses from Europe. The course was wet, which concerned Attfield, but the going was rated as good. Perfect Shirl raced behind the leaders for the first mile, then moved to the center of the racetrack and accelerated past the leaders to win by three-quarters of a length. It was the first Breeders' Cup win for both Attfield and Fipke. [6] "I had my doubts about running her," said Attfield. "I was very concerned because she's never been able to handle a soft course. Once I saw how she was moving down the backside, I could see she was moving beautifully and I became very excited." [7]

Perfect Shirl made one last start on February 25, 2012 in The Very One Stakes at Gulfstream Park. She finished eighth and was retired. [1] Her first foal, More Perfect by More than Ready, was foaled in 2014. [8]

Pedigree

Pedigree of Perfect Shirl, bay mare, foaled 2007 [9]
Sire
Perfect Soul		 Sadler's Wells Northern Dancer Nearctic
Natalma
Fairy Bridge Bold Reason
Special
Ball Chairman Secretariat Bold Ruler
Somethingroyal
A Status Symbol Exclusive Native
Queen Louie
Dam
Lady Shirl		That's A NiceHey Good Lookin Noholme
Lady Vale
Our Bonnie SPalestinian
Chickdale
CanonizationNative Heritage Raise a Native
Tim's Princess
HeatherglowThe Axe II
Brilliantly (family 1-x) [10]

Related Research Articles

The Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf is a Weight for Age Thoroughbred horse race on turf for fillies and mares, three years old and up. It is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships.

Lemons Forever is an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the Grade 1 132nd Kentucky Oaks horse race on May 5, 2006. Her win was the biggest upset in the history of the Oaks.

Kitten's Joy is a Thoroughbred racehorse who was a multiple graded stakes winner and the American Champion Turf Horse of 2004. Since retiring to stud, he has become one of the leading sires in North America.

Breeders Stakes

The Breeders' Stakes is a stakes race for Thoroughbred race horses foaled in Canada, first run in 1889. Since 1959, it has been the third race in the Canadian Triple Crown for three-year-olds. Held annually in August at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario, the Breeders' Stakes follows the June running of the Queen's Plate and the July running of the Prince of Wales Stakes. At a distance of one-and-a-half miles, the Breeders' Stakes is the longest of the three Triple Crown races and is the only jewel raced on turf.

Smart Strike was a Canadian Thoroughbred racehorse. The son of the Champion sire, Mr. Prospector, and out of the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame mare Classy 'n Smart, Smart Strike is a half-brother to 1991 Canadian Triple Crown champion Dance Smartly.

The Breeders' Cup Challenge is a series of Thoroughbred horse races in the United States, Canada, Europe, Japan, Australia, South Africa and South America, in which the winner earns an automatic spot in a specified Breeders' Cup race. The challenge races change somewhat each year.

Carotene is a Canadian Thoroughbred Hall of Fame racehorse who holds the filly or mare record for winning the most Sovereign Awards. Bred by David Willmot's Kinghaven Farms, she was a daughter of the British sire Great Nephew, who also sired Epsom Derby winners Grundy and Shergar. Carotene's dam was Carrot Top, a mare David Willmot purchased in foal from the Whitney family at the 1982 dispersal sale of their bloodstock in the United Kingdom.

Alywow was a Canadian Thoroughbred Champion racehorse and a member of the Canadian Racing Hall Of Fame.

Indian Blessing is an American Thoroughbred racehorse who was the American Champion Two-Year-Old Filly in 2007 and Champion Female Sprint Horse in 2008.

Classy 'n Smart was a Canadian Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred and raced by Sam-Son Farm, she won five of nine career starts, including two legs of what would later be known as the Canadian Triple Tiara. Although she was voted the 1984 Canadian Champion 3-Year-Old Filly, her primary legacy is as a champion broodmare.

Careless Jewel is a Canadian Thoroughbred racehorse.

Life Is Sweet is an American Thoroughbred racehorse who in early 2009 was thought to be a threat to her unbeaten stablemate, Zenyatta, after winning three straight stakes races. Though beaten by Zenyatta.

Ventura is a Thoroughbred racehorse who competed in the United Kingdom and the United States.

Mark E. Casse American racehorse trainer

Mark E. Casse is a Thoroughbred racehorse trainer whose most notable horses include 2015 American champion turf mare Tepin and Canadian Horses of the Year Sealy Hill (2007), Uncaptured (2012), Lexie Lou (2014), Catch A Glimpse (2015) and Wonder Gadot. He has won eleven Sovereign Awards for outstanding trainer in Canada and has been the leading trainer at Woodbine Racetrack 14 times. In 2019, he won his first American Classic with War of Will in the Preakness Stakes.

Dayatthespa is an American Thoroughbred racehorse. As a three-year-old in 2012 she won her first five races including the Herecomesthebride Stakes, Appalachian Stakes and Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup. After winning two races in an abbreviated 2013 season she reached her peak as a five-year-old in 2014, winning the Yaddo Stakes, the First Lady Stakes and the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf.

Stephanies Kitten American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse

Stephanie's Kitten is an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning two Breeders' Cup races. As a two-year-old in 2011 she won the Grade I Alcibiades Stakes and the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. She won the Edgewood Stakes and the Lake Placid Stakes in 2012 and went on to win the Churchill Distaff Turf Mile Stakes and the Just A Game Stakes in 2013. As a five-year-old in 2014 she won the Flower Bowl Invitational Stakes and finished second in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf. In 2015 she won the Hillsborough Stakes and a second Flower Bowl Invitational Stakes before ending her career with victory in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf.

Tepin (horse) American Thoroughbred racehorse

Tepin is a retired Thoroughbred racehorse who was named the American Champion Female Turf Horse of 2015 and 2016. She showed very promising form as a two-year-old in 2013 when she won the Delta Princess Stakes on the dirt. After a disappointing three-year-old season when she failed to win in four starts, she emerged as a top-class turf performer in 2015. Her wins as a four-year-old included the Churchill Distaff Turf Mile Stakes, Just A Game Stakes and First Lady Stakes before recording her biggest success when defeating male opposition in the Breeders' Cup Mile. In 2016, she won her first four starts and was then sent to England, where she defeated a field of leading European milers to win the Queen Anne Stakes. On returning to North America, she extended her winning streak to eight in the Woodbine Mile. The streak included three Grade/Group 1 wins against male horses in three different countries. Although Tepin finished second in her next two starts including an effort to defend her title in the Breeders Cup Mile, she was still named the Champion Female Turf Horse for the second year in a row.

Lady Eli American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse

Lady Eli is a retired Thoroughbred racehorse who was named the American Champion Female Turf Horse of 2017. She first came to national attention when she won the 2014 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. She extended her record to a perfect six wins from six starts in the 2015 Belmont Oaks Invitational Stakes but then stepped on a nail on her way back to the barn, which led to a life-threatening case of laminitis. After a lengthy recovery, Lady Eli finished second in her August 2016 return to the racetrack, then won the Flower Bowl Stakes in October. With her 2017 wins in the Gamely Stakes and Diana Stakes, she won at least one Grade I race in each of her four racing seasons.

Lexie Lou Canadian Thoroughbred racehorse

Lexie Lou is a Canadian Thoroughbred racehorse. In 2014, she won the Queen's Plate and two legs of the Canadian Triple Tiara on her way to winning three Sovereign Awards. She has also won three graded stakes in the United States and Canada, and finished second to American Horse of the Year California Chrome in the 2014 Hollywood Derby. In 2019, Lexie Lou was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.

Wonder Gadot Canadian racehorse

Wonder Gadot is a Canadian Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the Queen's Plate and Prince of Wales Stakes, the first two legs of the Canadian Triple Crown, in 2018. As a two-year-old, she was named the Canadian Champion Two-Year-Old Filly after winning the Mazarine and Demoiselle Stakes. At age three, in addition to beating the colts twice in Canada, she was second in the Grade I Kentucky Oaks to Monomoy Girl. She was named the 2018 Canadian Horse of the Year and Champion Three-Year-Old Filly.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Perfect Shirl Profile". www.equibase.com. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  2. ↑ Hall, Tom. "Persistence Pays Off Perfectly". bloodhorse.com. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  3. ↑ Woodbine Entertainment Group
  4. ↑ Shandler, Jason. "Perfect Shirl Sweeps to Lake George Win". bloodhorse.com. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  5. ↑ Shinar, Jack. "Never Retreat Refuses to Quit in Canadian". bloodhorse.com. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  6. ↑ Hersh, Marcus. "Breeders' Cup: Perfect Shirl springs upset in Filly & Mare Turf". Daily Racing Form. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  7. ↑ Mitchell, Ron. "27-1 Perfect Shirl Stuns Filly & Mare Turf". bloodhorse.com. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  8. ↑ "Perfect Shirl Offspring". www.pedigreequery.com. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  9. ↑ "Perfect Shirl's pedigree". www.equineline.com. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  10. ↑ Perfect Shirl's pedigree
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.