Perfect Shirl
| Perfect Shirl | |
|---|---|
| Sire | Perfect Soul |
| Grandsire | Sadler's Wells |
| Dam | Lady Shirl |
| Damsire | That's A Nice |
| Sex | Mare |
| Foaled | 2007 |
| Country | United States |
| Colour | Bay |
| Breeder | Charles E. Fipke |
| Owner | Charles E. Fipke |
| Trainer | Roger L. Attfield |
| Record | 16 : 4-2-5 |
| Earnings | US$1,390,729 |
| Major wins | |
|
Lake George Stakes (2010) Breeders' Cup wins:Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (2011) |
|
Lake George Stakes (2010)
Perfect Shirl (foaled May 10, 2007 in Kentucky) is a Thoroughbred racemare who won the 2011 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf in a 27-1 upset. She was foaled in the United States but her connections were Canadian.
Perfect Shirl was bred and raced by Canadian businessman Charles E. Fipke, who had also bred and raced her sire, Perfect Soul. Perfect Soul was a late-developing colt by leading sire Sadler's Wells who blossomed into a multiple graded stakes winner on the turf late in his career. Perfect Shirl's dam, Lady Shirl, was a grade I and was bought by Fipke at auction for $485,000 in 2005 as a broodmare prospect. Prior to foaling Perfect Shirl, Lady Shirl had produced Grade I winner Shakespeare and Grade II winner Lady Shakespeare. Although Lady Shirl's immediate family was unremarkable, her second dam descended from the "blue hen" mare La Troienne, one of the most distinguished female families of the 20th century.
Perfect Shirl was trained by Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame inductee, Roger Attfield from his base at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario.
Perfect Shirl did not race at age two, then failed to win in her first three races in 2010 at age three. She finally won for the first time in a maiden special weight race on the turf at Woodbine on June 13. She then followed up with a win on the Woodbine's Polytrack artificial dirt surface in an allowance race on July 11. On July 28, she was shipped to Saratoga racetrack for the Grade II Lake George Stakes on the turf, where she went off at odds of 9-1. Racing in the middle of the pack down the backstretch, Perfect Shirl started making up ground around the far turn and then moved to the lead as they neared the finish line. "When I asked her, she responded very well," said jockey John Velazquez. "The only thing the assistant told me was not to be on the lead; very simple instructions!"
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