Shirley Heights

Shirley Heights
Shirley Heights, oil on canvas painted by Bob Demuyser (1920-2003)
Sire	Mill Reef
Grandsire	Never Bend
Dam	Hardiemma
Damsire	Hardicanute
Sex	Stallion
Foaled	1975
Country	Great Britain
Colour	Bay
Breeder	2nd Earl of Halifax and Lord Irwin
Owner	2nd Earl of Halifax
Trainer	John Dunlop
Record	11: 6-3-1
Earnings	$378,586
Major wins
Royal Lodge Stakes (1977) Heathorn Stakes (1978) Dante Stakes (1978) Epsom Derby (1978) Irish Derby (1978)
Awards
Timeform rating 130
Last updated on August 29, 2007

Shirley Heights (1 March 1975 – 1997) was a British-bred and British-trained Thoroughbred race horse, winner of the Epsom Derby in 1978. The colt had previously won the Royal Lodge Stakes and the Dante Stakes and went on to win the Irish Derby before his racing career was ended by injury. He went on to be a highly successful breeding stallion.

He is the last Epsom Derby winner to be both the son of a previous winner (Mill Reef, 1971), and the sire of a subsequent winner (Slip Anchor, 1985).

Shirley Heights was a bay horse bred by his owners, the father and son team of Charles Wood, 2nd Earl of Halifax and Lord Irwin. He was one of many successful racehorses sired by Mill Reef, an American-bred horse who won the Epsom Derby, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in 1971. The successes of Shirley Heights enabled Mill Reef to win the first of his two British sires' championships in 1978. His dam Hardiemma was a highly successful broodmare whose other descendants include Pentire and Divine Proportions.

The name Shirley Heights comes from a military lookout point in Antigua Mill Reef had been named after the Mill Reef Club on the same island. The colt was trained throughout his racing career by John Dunlop at Arundel in West Sussex.