Shirreffs Back in BC with Precocious Gormley

Enter beautiful Santa Anita Park from the gates near the saddling paddock and there, smack in front of you, is a dazzling life-size statue of the great Zenyatta, a foreleg risen in the air to celebrate both her spectacular race career and her proclivity for dancing in the saddling area on her way out to do battle.

Over at the rail about 300 yards from the sculpture, trainer John Shirreffs stands inconspicuously holding the tools of his trade—binoculars in one hand, a stopwatch in the other, watching his Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (gr. I) hopeful Gormley gallop a few days before the race. Shirreffs could not offer a more complete contrast to the bold attention-grabber of that statue of his trainee. He is soft-spoken and business-like, although the laugh is quick to come when celebrating irony.

Shirreffs is talking about the accomplishments of his 2-year-old colts, who have come out running early for him. One is named Conscripted, who won first time out.

When it’s pointed out that ‘conscripted’ is a fancy word for ‘drafted,’ the Vietnam veteran laughs. “That’s right,” he says. “You remember when that was  part of the vernacular.”

Early runners are somewhat out of the ordinary for Shirreffs, who takes time in finding races for his troops. But Gormley fooled the public when he won first out at Del Mar this September at nearly 7-1, drawing off by 4 1/4 lengths. The son of Malibu Moon   backed that effort up at 10-1 in the FrontRunner Stakes (gr. I), cruising on the lead to a three-length victory over Klimt.

“My philosophy is to have them answer the question in the afternoon rather than ask them in the morning. Let them step it up in the afternoon. Gormley is a horse that has gears, so I don’t think he’ll necessarily go to the front in the Juvenile. He’s an aggressive horse, so it could happen, but it doesn’t have to happen.”

Shirreffs trains Gormley for Jerry and Ann Moss, the connections of the newly minted Hall of Famer Zenyatta. The team has shared Kentucky Derby (gr. I) glory with Giacomo   in 2005 and won the Santa Anita Derby (gr. I) two years later with Giacomo’s half brother Tiago. Shirreffs has enjoyed big thrills in the Breeders’ Cup, winning the Ladies’ Classic (now Distaff, gr. I) with Life Is Sweet in 2009, the same year Zenyatta gave the trainer a big-time double by becoming the only female to win the Classic (gr. I). No other trainer has won those two events in the same year. And of course Zenyatta won the Ladies' Classic in 2008 at Santa Anita as well.

“The anticipation and the excitement of big races are always fun,” Shirreffs said.

The trainer has remained largely out of the limelight since the halcyon days of Zenyatta, and the emergence of Gormley is welcome by fans and horsemen who appreciate the work of the Kansas native who spent some childhood time in New York. In fact, Shirreffs took his stable back east recently for three years running, fulfilling something he always wanted to try. He called it a great learning experience, but it is not easy to crack through the large, established stables running in New York.

Shirreffs also had to transition from his longtime base at Hollywood Park, which has been razed to make room for a new NFL football stadium for the Los Angeles Rams.

“Hollywood was near the beach, and it was more laid back than the hustle bustle around here,” said Shirreffs. “The training track was one way, and the main track the other. So when a horse turned left it knew it was a fun day at the training track. If they turned right they knew they were going to do some work. It was a different mindset for them. There was a nice trail running around the track, and you had a lot of options what to do with the horses.”

 Life is full of changes, of course, so perhaps we should  be prepared that the laid-back, give-them-time-approach of Shirreffs is interrupted now by precocious 2-year-olds, including a grade I winner in his second race brilliant enough to try the Juvenile.

Shirreffs threw his hat into the grandstand when Zenyatta won the Classic. There will be plenty of fans happy to tip their caps to the trainer should he get Gormley to the winner’s circle.