LEXINGTON, Ky. – Roger Attfield saw the morning line for Shirl’s Speight and couldn’t quite believe it. “When I saw the program this morning, at 50-1, I said, ‘I can’t be that far wrong,’ you know?” Attfield said after watching his latest stable star, Shirl’s Speight, rally for a nose victory Friday as a 9-1 shot in the Grade 1, $577,000 Maker’s Mark Mile on the Keeneland turf. Eased back by Luis Saez off the early pace set by Smooth Like Strait in the 34th Maker’s Mark, Shirl’s Speight came storming home with a searing outside run to nip Masen, the 9-5 favorite. It was just another neck back to Smooth Like Strait in a bang-bang finish. Perhaps Shirl’s Speight was such a long price on the program because of the remarkable depth of an original field of 11 that was reduced to eight when three horses – Ivar, Somelikeithotbrown, and Public Sector – were early scratches. But, c’mon. Shirl’s Speight had rounded back into form in recent months in winning back-to-back races on the Tampa Bay Downs turf, ending with the Grade 3 Tampa Bay in which the 5-year-old Charles Fipke homebred earned a respectable 98 Beyer Speed Figure. In the end, he paid a flat $20 as sixth choice when finishing in 1:35.93 over a turf course rated good. :: Take your handicapping to the next level and play like a pro with free Formulator, DRF's premium data product Saez, the leading jockey here last spring, said he discussed the Maker’s Mark beforehand with Attfield, who told Saez, “the best way is to come from behind. It was the best decision we made. In the end, he was coming. He really took off at the top of the stretch – those horses on the lead were running pretty hard, but he came right there at the right moment.” Attfield, an English native and eight-time Sovereign Award winner whose innumerable feats in racing have landed him in both the Canadian and U.S. racing halls of fame, now has the record (three) for most wins by a trainer in the Maker’s Mark. Shudanz (1992) and Perfect Soul (2004) were his earlier winners. The 82-year-old icon was elated to see Shirl’s Speight fulfill the considerable potential he flashed earlier in his career, when he easily won his first two starts and was briefly under consideration to make the 2020 Kentucky Derby before being withheld. “He sort of lost his way,” Attfield said. “He had some suspensory problems, and we put him away for quite a while,” referring to an 11-month gap between races from January 2021 to December 2021. “After his last race, when he shut off and came with one big run, I thought, ‘That’s probably the way this horse wants to run.’ There was a lot of speed in this race, and he got a great ride from Luis.” Speight’s Shirl, a Kentucky-bred horse by Speightstown out of Perfect Shirl, by Perfect Soul, now has won 5 of 9 starts and earned $566,665. Masen came up just shy. The Juddmonte Farms homebred was making his North American debut after six starts in Ireland, his latest nearly six months ago. Ridden by Flavien Prat, the 4-year-old gelding closely tracked Smooth Like Strait the whole way, through splits of 24.95 seconds, 49.63, and 1:13.38, before edging past at the furlong grounds, only to be nailed in the final jump by Shirl’s Speight. “I am disappointed,” said Chad Brown, who was saddling Masen for a race for the first time. “Such a tough way to lose by an inch. He ran great off the layoff. Hats off to the winner. It was a very slow pace for him to close from that far back. The winner ran quite a race.” After the top three, the order was Atone, Mira Mission, Count Again, Set Piece, and In Love. The $2 exacta (2-4) paid $63, the $1 trifecta (2-4-6) returned $127.10, and the 10-cent superfecta (2-4-6-3) was worth $70.91. The Maker’s Mark was the final leg in the Turf Pick 3, which returned $1,208.70 for each $3-minimum ticket on handle of $142,324. Ruthin ($18.20) wins Limestone After turning back a sustained bid from her Wesley Ward stablemate, the English-bred filly Ruthin held on by a diminishing neck for an 8-1 upset of the $155,100 Limestone. Ruthin and jockey John Velazquez sped to the front in the 5 1/2-furlong Limestone, which was run about an hour before the Maker’s Mark, and reached the wire just in time to keep a furious late rush by Derrynane from nailing her. Ward trains the winner, a bay daughter of Ribchester, for the Stonestreet Stables of Barbara Banke. Her World, the 11-10 favorite for Ward, had every chance to get past Ruthin down the stretch when racing closest to the inner rail but could do no better than third, three-quarters of a length behind Derrynane. The winning time was 1:30.33 over a good course. Both Ward fillies were coming off lengthy layoffs when facing six other 3-year-old fillies. Ruthin had raced twice last year, easily winning her debut on the Keeneland turf in April before finishing seventh in a field of 27 in a non-group stakes at Royal Ascot in June. Ward smiled when asked if Ruthin might return to England for Royal Ascot again this year. “I’m having dinner with Barbara tonight and I’m sure we’ll talk about it,” he said. Ward also won the race between the two stakes when Tiz Splendid News ($7.80) held on to win a filly and mare allowance worth $120,000, finishing seven furlongs in 1:24.58 over a fast main track. * Earlier Friday, Mystic Night ($5.60) swept to command in upper stretch in winning a $130,000 allowance by two lengths for jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. and Chad Brown. Mystic Night, a 5-year-old gelding by Into Mischief, finished 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.06 on the dirt. * Saturday brings the last of five Grade 1 races at the meet with the Jenny Wiley, the 10th of 11 races on a card also featuring the final points qualifier (20-8-4-2) for the May 7 Kentucky Derby, the Grade 3 Lexington (race 9). First post is 1 p.m. Eastern.