Grade 1 Winner Shirl’s Speight to Stand at Darby Dan

Shirl's Speight, a grade 1 winner by Speightstown out of Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1T) winner Perfect Shirl, will stand the upcoming breeding season at Darby Dan Farm, it was announced Oct. 30. He will stand his first season at stud for $5,000 S&N. A homebred for Charles Fipke trained by Roger Attfield, the globetrotting Shirl's Speight scored the biggest win of his career in the 2022 Maker's Mark Mile Stakes (G1T) at Keeneland, and he was among the top milers that year when also second by three-quarters of a length to champion Modern Games (IRE) in the Breeders' Cup Mile (G1T), also at Keeneland. In addition to his grade 1 triumph and runner-up performance in the Breeders Cup Mile, Shirl's Speight also finished second in the 2023 Woodbine Mile Stakes (G1T) to multiple grade 1 winner Master of The Seas (IRE). He won on turf and all-weather surfaces and was graded-placed on dirt behind grade 1 winners Mind Control and Hot Rod Charlie when third in the 2022 Salvator Mile Stakes (G3) at Monmouth Park. Shirl's Speight exploded onto the racing scene as a 3-year-old, dominating his Woodbine career debut with an eight-length victory in a seven-furlong maiden special weight on the turf. Despite being geared down late, Shirl's Speight covered the distance in a head-turning 1:19.97, just missing the course record of 1:19.22 set by Silent Poet in 2019. In his very next start, Shirl's Speight demonstrated his versatility in stretching out to two turns over Woodbine's synthetic surface. In another impressive performance, Shirl's Speight left his rivals in the dust with a 2 3/4-length score in the Marine Stakes (G3) in just his second lifetime start. All told in an outstanding racing career that saw him compete in grade 1 races in Japan (on dirt), Dubai (fourth in the 2023 Dubai Turf, G1), Canada, and the United States, Shirl's Speight hit the board in 10 of 25 appearances competing against top-level horses and banked $1,497,245. He was noted for his high turn of foot at distances from seven furlongs to a mile, and he was tough and durable throughout his career. An outstanding physical specimen, Shirl's Speight retires to stud sound. Shirl's Speight is by the late Speightstown, a champion sprinter and one of the most prolific and versatile sires of the last decade. His sons at stud include the top-class proven horse Munnings ($75,000 in 2024), plus grade 1 winners Charlatan ($50,000 in 2025), Olympiad ($35,000 in 2024), and Prince of Monaco ($30,000 in 2025). Shirl's Speight is a member of a dynamic and high-achieving family cultivated by Fipke through the decades. One of only a handful of North American breeders who race homebreds exclusively, Fipke purchased Shirl's Speight's second dam, grade 1 winner Lady Shirl, for $485,000 at the 2005 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale. Fipke bred Lady Shirl to his homebred Sadler's Wells stallion Perfect Soul, winner of the 2003 Keeneland Turf Mile Stakes (G1T), to get Perfect Shirl, winner of the 2011 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1T). Perfect Shirl, also trained by Attfield, earned more than $1.3 million during her accomplished racing career. Perfect Shirl is also the dam of graded stakes-placed Speightstown Shirl, a full sibling to Shirl's Speight, and Ready for Shirl (by More Than Ready), who won a maiden special weight by 3 1/2 lengths on debut at Keeneland this year going 1 1/16 miles on the turf. Lady Shirl is also the dam of Shakespeare, winner of the 2007 Woodbine Mile and 2005 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational Stakes (G1T); Lady Shakespeare, a multiple graded stakes winner and the dam of the Speightstown grade 1 winner Lady Speightspeare, a multiple champion in Canada for Fipke and Attfield; and stakes winner and multiple graded stakes-placed Fantastic Shirl.