Grade 1 winner SHIRL’S SPEIGHT, owned and bred by Canadian Charles Fipke and trained by Hall of Fame trainer Roger Attfield, was hand-walked on the shedrow at Tokyo racecourse on Friday, February 10, two days after arriving in Japan for the Feb. 19 February Stakes (G1). Shirl’s Speight, a stakes winner at Woodbine and recently a close second in the Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1) to Modern Games, is the first international horse to compete in the $2 million February Stakes. This one mile dirt race is a Win and You’re In race for the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1).
Accompanied by Allyson Hartfield, Shirl’s Speight went from the Florida sunshine to the snow in a matter of a few days. The son of Speightstown – Perfect Shirl by Perfect Soul (Ire) had a number of strong workouts at Payson Park in Stuart, Florida with Attfield up to Feb. 4 before he began his journey to Japan.
“He was in great spirits today,” said Hartfield. “We hand-walked him for a good 45 minutes and he was very happy in the snow. He’s eating well and I think he’s in good shape—he doesn’t look like he’s lost weight.
“We’re going to give him a couple of days to recover from the trip. Later today I will be going through the training schedule with our trainer and will decide when he will breeze.
“Tomorrow morning, we’ll take him out for a little jog in the small track so he can stretch his legs.”
Among the 19 nominees for the February Stakes is the exciting LEMON POP, a son of Lemon Drop Kid – Unreachable by Giant’s Causeway, who is 7 for 10 for Godolphin with $1.3 million in earnings.
Lemon Pop won the local prep for the February Stakes, the Negishi Stakes (G3) in his most recent start at about 7 furlongs.
There will be quite a bit of Ontario interest in Lemon Pop on Feb. 19 as his dam UNREACHABLE is owned by Jay and Christine Hayden’s Saintsbury Farm in Lucan, ON. The beautifully-bred mare is out of graded stakes winning mare Harpia, a full sister to champion and top sire Danehill.
The Haydens purchased Unreachable after the 2020 January Horses of All Ages Sale at Keeneland for $70,000 in foal to Good Magic. They sold that yearling for a whopping $325,000 at the 2021 Saratoga yearling sale. The colt is named Equivoque and he is trained by Todd Pletcher and working in Florida for his debut. Unreachable has a yearling for 2023 by Macleans Music.
Past performances of the 19 nominees (a maximum 16 can start) for the February Stakes (G1) can be found here.
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