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.” :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match and FREE Formulator PPs! Join DRF Bets. 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. :: Get Daily Racing Form Past Performances – the exclusive home of Beyer Speed Figures 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.