Queen's Plate: Attfield back in the running with Shakhimat

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Roger Attfield is finding it a little difficult to move around on Woodbine’s backstretch these days. The Hall of Fame trainer broke his left foot in Florida in early April, and has to use a combination of crutches and a golf cart to keep an eye on his horses during morning training.

“It’s coming along,” Attfield said. “It’s going to be a long process. They said keep off of it for three months, which is a long time for me.”

If anything can help with the pain of a broken foot, it might be that the last time Attfield broke his foot, in 2008, he won the Queen’s Plate with Not Bourbon. It was Attfield’s eighth Queen’s Plate victory, which tied him with Harry Giddings Jr. for the most all-time Queen’s Plate wins by a trainer. This year, Attfield has one of the leading contenders for the Queen’s Plate in Shakhimat. Bred in Ontario by Adena Springs, Shakhimat was a $60,000 purchase by bloodstock agent and co-owner Richard Hogan out of the Fasig-Tipton Florida 2-year olds in training sale in March 2015.

Shakhimat joined Attfield’s barn at Keeneland the following month, but it wasn’t until he began his training at Woodbine that Attfield knew he had another good horse on his hands.

“Once we started to work him on a regular basis, you could tell he had some talent,” Attfield said. “At that point in time, I probably thought of him as a middle-distance-type horse.”

Shakhimat debuted with a win in a maiden special weight over seven furlongs at Woodbine last September. From there, he moved to the grass in the Cup and Saucer Stakes, where he finished third over good turf behind Conquest Enforcer.

“I didn’t think he handled the going great,” Attfield said. “I wasn’t too concerned about it. I didn’t think he looked that comfortable on that going.”

Initially, Attfield had planned on giving Shakhimat the rest of the season off to help get over a few lingering issues, but after the Cup and Saucer, Attfield said Shakhimat was showing no signs of slowing down.

“He had a few little splint issues and stuff like that, so I was going to put him away,” he said. “I tried to back off on him in his training. He was just feeling so good that he wasn’t going to allow me to do that.”

Shakhimat went on to win the Coronation Futurity by 9 ¾ lengths, earning a career-best 91 Beyer Speed Figure. He spent the winter with Attfield at Payson Park Training Center in Florida, where he got tDecember off before starting up his training again in January.

“I turn all my horses out down there and let them be horses for a while,” Attfield said. “I train them every other day just to freshen them up and get them happy about life. He thoroughly enjoyed himself and mentally he matured a lot.”

Attfield had planned on sending Shakhimat to Turfway Park for the Grade 3 Spiral Stakes in April, but a quarantine at Payson Park forced Attfield to target the Grade 3 Transylvania Stakes at Keeneland instead. Shakhimat went on to win the Transylvania by 3 ¼ lengths in his 3-year old debut, solidifying himself as a top Queen’s Plate contender.

“My intention was to run him in March at Gulfstream and then run him in the Spiral at Turfway,” Attfield said. “That was the way I was going to go about it. We were under quarantine for most of March so it messed that program up. I thought the Transylvania was an easier spot than going into the Spiral.”

In his most recent start, the Grade 2 American Turf Stakes at Churchill Downs on May 7, Shakhimat faded down the lane after getting caught up in an early speed duel. While he’s been on or near the lead in each of his five starts, Attfield said he doesn’t think Shakhimat needs to be on the front end.

“I worked him from behind horses at Payson Park two or three times with good older horses,” he said. “I never thought of him as a one-dimensional horse. They’re saying that’s what he is, but until proven otherwise I’m not going to agree with it.”

Attfield said the $150,000 Plate Trial Stakes on June 12 would be the next logical spot for Shakhimat, but wasn’t opposed to waiting for the Queen’s Plate on July 3.

“I wouldn’t be averse to going from here to the Plate without a race, but I’d feel better in my own mind if I could see him one time after his race in Kentucky,” he said.