John Shirreffs
John Shirreffs
John A. Shirreffsis an American Thoroughbred racehorse trainer...
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.
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.
care exciting race tom took
Tom Meeker really took care of us. Being in this race was exciting and we really appreciated everything he did for us.
eighth forward mile moved race time training
Going a mile and an eighth first time out was pretty tough, but that race moved him a lot more forward than I could have just training him.
brought chance exciting knew race run training watched
He had been training very well for the race, and all indications were that he was going to run well. I had never watched him run but, from what I had read about him, it was exciting to get a chance to train him. I knew that if he brought his A game, he would be very competitive.
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.
picture pressure race
I don't put a lot of pressure on a race. It's the big picture that counts.
good knows mike obviously riding track
We feel very good about Mike riding the Belmont for us. He obviously knows the track very well.
brother watched
The times I've watched Brother Derek run, he's done everything perfectly.
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.
admire adversity deal type
You just have to admire someone who can deal with that type of adversity.
coming looking park quiet
We were looking for a quiet place and this is it. What's better than coming to Belmont Park and stabling in the Phipps' barn?
needed run
We needed to refocus and he just needed to be comfortable again. We didn't want to feel like we had to run in the Belmont but, obviously, we wanted to.
fourth running
Giacomo was running third, second, fourth and hadn't won.