A trainer built equal parts brilliant and idiosyncratic, John Shirreffs passed away quietly in his sleep overnight Wednesday into Thursday morning. He was 80 years old.
He leaves behind the kind of record unmatched by all but a select few.
At the summit of Shirreffs's mammoth achievements was of course Zenyatta–elegant and imperious, who between 2007 and 2010 achieved the near impossible: 19 straight wins and 13 Grade I victories including back-to-back Breeders' Cup crowns, one of them a Classic.
Zenyatta was just denied an exquisite send-off in the Breeders' Cup Classic of 2010, her customary late charge customarily irresistible–irresistible to all but Blame, who derailed history by a head. The deflated echoes from the tens of thousands at Churchill Downs that day could have filled an airship.
But Zenyatta was just one of so many superlative runners who performed under the Shirreffs banner down through the decades, each of them nurtured along by a trainer who did things his way. And his was a potent brew of patience, individual care and a horseman's eye that was more of an X-ray into the souls of the horses that walked past him at his barn each day.
A Marine Corps veteran of Vietnam, Shirreffs cut his teeth as a horseman in the jutting mountain cathedrals of Northern California's Grass Valley at the sprawling Loma Rica Horse Ranch, where the transatlantic phenom Noor would later be interred.
He started out on his own in 1976, beginning a career that would see him train nearly 600 winners and earn some $58 million. There were plenty of good ones.
Shirreffs trained an upset winner of the Kentucky Derby, Giacomo, in 2005. In 2009, he conditioned a companion Breeders' Cup winner to Zenyatta, Life Is Sweet in the Breeders' Cup Ladies Classic.
He could train the precocious sorts who came to the boil early. But he was especially adept with the late-bloomers and the quirky sorts who had a way of navigating the world as differently as their trainer.
He could do it because he could read a horse the way an accountant reads the ledgers.
“The industry has lost one of the most amazing trainers ever,” said jockey Mike Smith, who enjoyed so many great days with Shirreffs. He rode Zenyatta in 17 of her 20 races.
“Not only was he great horseman; he was a great man. Boy, he was, whew… it's hard. He meant everything to me, man, not just in my career but in my personal life. We were very, very close,” said Smith.
“He was big John, man,” Smith added, of the six-foot plus trainer. “I'm just thinking about his whole crew. I just can't imagine his barn and what they're going through right now. He meant so much to them as well, you know,” he said.
For Shirreffs, “the horse came first,” said Smith. “He'd get inside their heads, you know. He just knew things that a lot of other people didn't. He'd try different things, work with them until it worked, give them all the time that they need for it to work. He was just really great at that.”
In 2021, Shirreffs gave a glimpse into this thinking for a series of articles in the TDN.
He talked about his one-eyed Grade I winner Hard Not to Love, a nervous filly. He put a mirror in her stall to help with her field of vision. “It made all the world of difference,” he said at the time.
John Shirreffs with his Derby winner Giacomo in 2005 | Horsephotos
He talked about Morning Line, a top-class runner on the East Coast who had lost his way completely. After the horse arrived at the Shirreffs barn in California, it was back to basics.
First, the driving reins. Then a rider with the driving reins–a performance that necessitated a relay race, where the more athletic members of the Shirreffs's team would be situated around the track, ready to be handed the driving reins from their rubber-legged counterparts.
“Pretty soon, it got to the point where we just started him with the driving reins, and then the rider would let go of them and carry on like usual,” said Shirreffs.
On his first start for Shirreffs, Morning Line won the GII Mervyn LeRoy Handicap at Hollywood Park, and two starts later, finished third in the GI Triple Bend Handicap.
Shirreffs approached his craft by burying into the horse's psyche, encapsulated so perfectly when he discussed what he termed the “bio-rhythm” of a horse. This is the idea that a racehorse can be brought to peak performance only when they're mentally, physically and emotionally in balance.
“You have to figure out how to get things flowing together,” Shirreffs explained at the time. “So, when they're physically at their peak they might not be mentally at their peak because you've trained them really hard, but mentally they're tired or emotionally they're off–you know, upset about being pushed so hard.
He continued, “So, you're going to have to lose a little bit of conditioning maybe to bring them up mentally and emotionally, right? It's always: How close you can get everything?
“That's the one great thing about campaigning a horse, because when they're campaigning, they're conditioning–they're physically staying at a pretty high level. And as they campaign, and as they get used to the rigors of racing and training, mentally they're getting stronger, too. And then, if there's some sort of pleasure involved–some sort of reward for the horse–then they're emotionally getting better,” he explained.
“John was better than anyone when it came to preparing a horse for the race day. John was a tremendous horseman. A tremendous and true horseman that had so much knowledge, so much care, so much experience. Just a hell of a man,” said Lee Searing, of CRK Stables, one of Shirreffs's most loyal patrons in the latter stages of his career.
Together, they campaigned the likes of Express Train, Baeza and more recently Westwood, the latter proving Shirreffs's very last graded stakes winner, taking last month's GII San Pasqual Stakes at Santa Anita.
“It's funny because John wasn't the guy that shows up in the winner's circle, you know, all 'rah-rah-rah.' John was the guy that hid behind the camera. He wanted people to remember his work,” said Searing.
Searing had just taken a trip to Florida with Shirreffs to view the yearlings and the 2-year-olds. He describes a man with an insatiable intellectual curiosity and the heart of a raconteur.
“He dearly loved putting his chairs outside his barn of an afternoon, holding court,” said Searing. “I mean, that man never missed a three o'clock, when he'd come back to the barn for feeding. He'd sit in his chairs and so many people wanted to go over and talk to him because of his stories. He had so many stories.”
Shirreffs with his most famous charge, Zenyatta | Sarah Andrew
In a statement, Santa Anita wrote that it “joins the racing community in mourning the sudden passing of trainer John Shirreffs. He was a fixture at Santa Anita Park throughout his career and his legacy as a caring horsemen will remain embedded in the fabric of our history.
“Every horse who races at Santa Anita must first pass by the statue of John's greatest trainee, the wonderful mare Zenyatta. While John's victories were plentiful and prestigious, what he accomplished with Zenyatta in the 2009 Breeders' Cup Classic was a masterpiece and deservedly was voted as the top moment in Santa Anita Park's 90 years.
“Our deepest condolences are extended to John's wife, Dottie, and his family, including those horsemen and women who worked closely with John for so many years. May his memory be a blessing.”
Breeders' Cup also released a statement Thursday evening mourning the loss: “We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of John Shirreffs, whose grace, humility, and skillful horsemanship left an indelible mark on our great sport.
“Beyond his three victories at the Breeders' Cup World Championships–with Life Is Sweet in the 2009 Breeders' Cup Distaff and with Zenyatta in both the 2008 Breeders' Cup Distaff and her historic 2009 Breeders' Cup Classic–John was widely respected for his integrity, patience, and steadfast commitment to the care and development of his horses.
“Campaigning Zenyatta to a Hall of Fame career, he never failed to make the great racemare accessible to her fans, promoting the sport to thousands across the nation and around the world. He understood the responsibility that comes with greatness and embraced the opportunity to share it, helping broaden racing's audience and inspire a new generation of fans.
“Our heartfelt condolences are with his family, team, and friends.”
Shirreffs is survived by his wife, Dottie Ingordo-Shirreffs, sister Anita Shirreffs, stepson David Ingordo (Cherie DeVaux), and step-granddaughter Reagan Ingordo.
“John and Dottie were a team,” said Searing. “She'll always be remembered for being a big part of his success.”
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