This column showcases the performances of maidens with no more than five starts who either had siblings who are graded/group winners or whose dams have been graded/group winners, or who sold for more than $500,000 at public auction. According to BloodHorse data, maiden winners that fit these specific requirements have a higher chance of becoming graded stakes winners.
On April 13, in her Keeneland debut, Ready for Shirl, the granddaughter of grade 1-winning Illinois-bred mare Lady Shirl, waltzed home a 3 1/2-length winner, continuing the family's winning streak.
At the 2005 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, Lady Shirl, a hard-knocking grade 1 winner of $951,523, was purchased by Canadian geologist and businessman Charles Fipke for $485,000 via his bloodstock agent Jack Werk. Considering that the mare's 4-year-old son Shakespeare had won the Belmont Breeders' Cup Handicap (G2T) and Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational Stakes (G1T) that year, the ultimate price seemed like a great deal. Shakespeare would add another grade 1 to his resume two years later when he defeated Breeders' Cup Mile (G1T) hero Kip Deville in the 2006 Woodbine Mile (G1T) with a thrilling, late-running score.
After Shakespeare's victory four years earlier, Lady Shirl's Perfect Soul filly Fipke received a Breeders' Cup trophy from Perfect Shirl, which was almost as valuable as the gems Fipke had from Ekati. Perfect Shirl's victory in the 2011 Filly & Mare Turf (G1T) was 27-1, and she would retire to Fipke's broodmare band after only one start. Since then, the $1.3 million earner has produced four winners out of six foals to reach the race, with Shirl's Speight (Speightstown), the grade 1 winner, being the finest.
Under the guidance of trainer Roger Attfield, Shirl's Speight, who is still racing at the age of seven for Fipke's silks, won the 2022 Maker's Mark Mile (G1T) at Keeneland. His most recent performance was on April 12 in this year's Maker's Mark Mile, where he came in fourth place behind the European superstar Master of the Seas. The next afternoon at the Lexington oval, Lady Shirl's blood was very much in the spotlight thanks to Ready for Shirl, the younger half-sister of Shirl Speight.
Appropriately named in memory of her deceased sire, More Than Ready, Ready for Shirl had one horse ahead of her as she entered the first turn of the 1 1/16-mile turf maiden special weight for 3-year-old fillies on Saturday. Unfazed, Ready for Shirl increased her pace gradually as the furlong markers whizzed by, and with a strong maneuver around the last bend, she reeled in her opponents one by one.
In a pace of 1:43.39, the blaze-faced filly sprinted down the lane into the daylight and easily struck the wire in ahead. Ready for Shirl ($17.86), trained by Attfield and ridden by Florent Geroux, debuted with a 98 Equibase Speed Figure.