Horse Racing Loses Two Legends

The world of horse racing is in mourning. Earlier this week, trainer John Shirreffs died in his sleep. He was 80.

If it wasn’t for Bob Baffert, Shirreffs might be considered the best trainer in horse racing’s West Coast circuit. A United States Marine who served in Vietnam, he began his horse racing career in 1978 and accumulated 596 wins and more than $58 million in purse money.

Shirreffs was still at the top of his game. Baeza finished third in last year’s Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, and earned a spot in the Breeders’ Cup Classic with a Pennsylvania Derby victory.

His greatest horse wasn’t a colt, but a filly. Zenyatta dazzled the horse racing world with her late-closing style. She won the first 19 races of her career and made history as the first filly to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic in 2009. She returned to the Classic a year later for the final race of her Hall of Fame career. The enormous Churchill Downs crowd transformed into a stunned silence when her late comeback bid came up short by a nose at the wire.

Shirreffs was not in the Winner’s Circle on that Saturday at Churchill Downs, but he had another historic appearance a few years earlier. He saddled Giacomo in the 2005 Kentucky Derby. With Mike Smith aboard, Giacomo hit the wire first in a three-horse finish. At 50-1, Giacomo was the longest shot to win the Kentucky Derby since Donerail in 1913.

The horse that finished second behind Giacomo, Afleet Alex, died earlier this week at Gainesway Farm. Despite the Kentucky Derby loss, he became a horse racing icon in the final two legs of the 2005 Triple Crown.

There was nearly a catastrophe at Pimlico. “Scrappy T blew the turn!” The horse went wide as the field entered the homestretch and nearly took out Afleet Alex. By some miracle, he was able to not only stay on his feet but rally for a Preakness win. Three weeks later, he won the rubber match against Giacomo, blowing by the field with an outstanding move in the homestretch to win by seven lengths.

Shirreff’s passing is the latest somber news in the sport. Christophe Clement died in May at only 59 from a rare eye cancer. A month later, Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas passed away at 89. It’s been a rough year for horse racing.

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