SHIRL’S SPEIGHT, tabbed a possible star when he won the first two starts of his career in the summer of 2020 for Canadian Charles Fipke, is realizing that potential now. The Roger Attfield trainee was given a sleek ride by Canadian champion Emma-Jayne Wilson and won the Grade 3 Tampa Bay Stakes, worth $175,000, on Feb. 5 to defeat hot favourite Get Smokin, trained by Mark Casse by 1 1/2 lengths. The time for 1 1/16 miles on the turf was 1:41.20.
The 5-year-old bay horse, who took the Grade 3 Marine Stakes on Tapeta at Woodbine in just his second career race, had an interrupted career following a January 2021 dirt sprint and only returned to racing in December 2021, landing seventh in a Tapeta allowance race at Gulfstream. Back on the grass, the surface on which he won his debut, the son of Speightstown – Perfect Shirl by Perfect Soul (Ire) won an allowance/optional claiming race at Tampa Bay on Jan. 15 before his stirring win on Saturday.
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 III victory. Floriform finished third and English Bee was fourth.
#4 Shirl's Speight, ridden by @ejwilson81, trained by Roger Attfield, wins the G3 Tampa Bay Stakes! Congrats to the connections!
Tune in to TVG now as Stakes action continues throughout the afternoon! pic.twitter.com/BbgmhHWsRB
— FanDuel Racing (Formerly TVG) (@FanDuel_Racing) February 5, 2022
“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.”
Indeed, Lady Speightspeare, the 2020 Champion 2-Year-Old Filly in Canada, just missed in the Grade 3 Endeavour Stakes earlier on the card. Closely related to Speight’s Shirl, Lady Speightspeare was caught late by the unbeaten BLEECKER STREET (Quality Road).
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