John Shirreffs
John Shirreffs
John A. Shirreffsis an American Thoroughbred racehorse trainer...
change distance horse speed
Every horse has a speed that they're comfortable going at, so it's important that if they can do it and go a distance at that pace, that clip, then why change it.
add front games horses mess noticed seem send
I don't want to add blinkers because I think he's a pretty competitive horse, and is focused, when there are horses in front of him. The one thing I've noticed about him is that he does seem to be a free-running horse. I don't think you want to mess around and play games with him. You don't want to take him back, or send him. Just let him do his thing.
compare duplicate gate horse horses next race racing saturday whenever win
I don't know that you can compare it to anything else a person in racing could have. I think whenever you have a horse like this you always want to win the next race, but I don't know that you can duplicate the first Saturday in May getting in the gate with 19 other horses and winning. There is no other race in that category.
horse horses reinforce trains wants
With a Giant's Causeway, it makes you feel good. We don't want to reinforce the speed. He trains like a horse that wants to go farther. There are a lot of opportunities for horses when they develop.
anxious best everybody goes horse run work
It's a lot of work that goes into getting a horse ready, and we're really anxious to see Giacomo run again. I think everybody is. I feel the best is yet to come from this horse.
aggressive catch classy front gets horse mind sees trick wants
He's a very classy horse. It's just when he sees a horse in front of him, he gets that horse on his mind and wants to go catch him. So the trick is to not let him get too aggressive about that.
along helped helps horses mature race racing sort tried ways
I just tried to find different ways to get along with him. Racing usually helps horses and they sort of mature through their races, so probably each race helped him along the way.
everybody good home horse needed run santa time
I'll go home very happy. If we wanted to run in the Santa Anita Handicap, we needed to run sometime. It was time to do it and a good time for the horse and everybody involved. This was a good day to come back.
dirt gotten horse versatile
I probably would want a horse that's a little versatile and one that's gotten a lot of dirt in their face.
beat horse road win
You want your horse to win if possible, but you don't want to beat him up. You've got to think down the road a little bit.
good knows mike obviously riding track
We feel very good about Mike riding the Belmont for us. He obviously knows the track very well.
handicap hollywood needed race regroup santa tough
The Santa Anita Handicap was a tough race on him. He needed to regroup a little. We'll probably look for a race here at Hollywood Park.
brother watched
The times I've watched Brother Derek run, he's done everything perfectly.
admire adversity deal type
You just have to admire someone who can deal with that type of adversity.