Shirl's Speight back on turf and shortens up for Connaught Cup but is stranded in post 14

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Grade 1 winner Shirl’s Speight will revert to the grass and cut back to seven furlongs in Saturday’s $175,000 Connaught Cup at Woodbine. It’s appropriate that racing is being staged in lane 1 on the roomy main course here this week because the Grade 2 event attracted a whopping 14 entries.

A stretch-running 5-year-old trained by Roger Attfield, Shirl’s Speight posted a 9-1 upset in the Grade 1 Maker’s Mark Mile at Keeneland in April. He subsequently ran fourth in the Grade 1 Turf Classic at Churchill Downs over 1 1/8 miles, a distance seemingly beyond his best.

Shirl’s Speight experimented on the dirt most recently in the Grade 3 Salvator Mile at Monmouth Park, finishing third behind favorites Mind Control and Hot Rod Charlie.

Shirl’s Speight worked twice here on the turf training course this month. Emma-Jayne Wilson will break him from post 14.

Attfield also entered the venerable 8-year-old White Flag, who rallied from far back for third last time out in the Grade 2 Highlander.

“I thought it was very good,” said Attfield regarding the Highlander performance. “I was very proud of him. If he had a little bit better trip down the lane, he might have been right there. He’s always been a horse that shows up, loves his job, and is a real gentleman.”

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Avie’s Flatter won last year’s Connaught Cup over Olympic Runner, and they will meet again Saturday.

Avie’s Flatter was favored after a late announcement regarding a bar shoe on his left front foot in his July 3 season opener in a conditioned allowance. He made a wide bid into contention in that seven-furlong Tapeta sprint before fading to finish 13 lengths back in ninth.

Olympic Runner is winless since taking the Grade 2 King Edward last August. He was a wide eighth in his seasonal bow in the six-furlong Highlander.

Trainer Mark Casse sends out Olympic Runner, March to the Arch, Tap It to Win, and Filo Di Arianna, who is coming off a powerful front-running score in a conditioned allowance on the Tapeta in his first start with Lasix.

The race also lured Saratoga shippers Chewing Gum and Turn of Events, along with the Presque Isle-based Surly Furious.

Chewing Gum is adding Lasix off a layoff, which began after his victory in the Grade 2 Joe Hernandez at Santa Anita on Jan. 1. His trainer, Bill Mott, has a 25 percent strike rate with six-month-plus comebackers, and the Hall of Famer has been successful in Woodbine stakes in the past.

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Surly Furious is making his first grass start after breaking the six-furlong Tapeta record while romping in the July 5 Karl Boyes Stakes at Presque Isle Downs.

Silent Poet, who won the 2020 Connaught Cup, had minor knee surgery after winning the Highlander last August when it was a Grade 1. He was a prominent fourth in his third start off the sidelines in the July 2 Highlander.

Artie’s Storm is arguably the leading older runner on the Tapeta at Woodbine. His 2021 turf form wasn’t bad.

Completing the quality field are Vanbrugh and Wedgewood.