John Shirreffs, the soft-spoken giant who trained Zenyatta, perhaps the best mare of all-time, died in Southern California on Thursday. He was 80. No cause of death was announced.
Shirreffs was one of the top trainers in Southern California with 3,589 starts, 596 of them wins resulting in $58.5 million in purses.
He was a familiar face around local tracks, usually ponying his horses to the track during morning training and then avoiding the spotlight when his horse won by staying on the racing surface and not going to the Winner’s Circle, leaving the punditry to his wife, Dottie Ingordo.
Shirreffs first grabbed national attention when he won the Kentucky Derby with Giacomo at odds of 50-1 in 2005. The horse was partially owned by legendary record producer Jerry Moss, the M along with Herb Alpert in A&M records. Shirreffs remained Moss’ primary trainer until his death in 2023.
Then after Giacomo came Zenyatta, whose personality and skill won the hearts of Southern California race-goers in her 19-race winning streak that included an “un-believe-able” (according to race caller Trevor Denman) last-to-first win against the boys in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita in 2009.
Shirreffs, a Marine veteran, fell into horse racing by accident.
“When I got back from Vietnam, I had no place to go, but I had a friend who knew somebody, so they they said, ‘Come on out West,’” Shirreffs told The Times before last year’s Kentucky Derby.
“So here I’m in New York, I don’t know anything about [horses] except I’ve seen a lot of cowboy movies. So here comes Jim Matthews, pulls up in his trailer, he has his horse set and he it backs his horse out of a trailer.”
Shirreffs admits to not really knowing what he was doing.
“A week or so later, Jim’s just calls me and says, ‘Do you want to come to work for me?’ I said ‘Yeah, that’d be great,” Shirreffs said. “So, I went to work for him and didn’t get paid anything, just room and board. He soon said, ‘I’ll give you this horse and if you sell it, you can make some money.’
“So I’m riding this horse across this field and I get stuck in this mud box. I get the horse out of the mud and Henry Freitas [at Loma Rica Ranch in Central California] asked if I would like to work for him. I said, ‘Well, sure, I get paid here, right? This is great.
“I worked there about 11 years, and one day in he says, ‘John, you wanna take my horse to the fairs?’ I said, ‘Sure, I’d love to do that.’ And that’s how it all started. You know, I never planned it and the opportunity just presented itself each time and when I was fortunate enough, and had some experience with horses, and that’s how it started.”
Shirreffs was asked if Vietnam or training horses was more difficult.
“Well, we don’t want to talk about that,” Shirreffs said.
Santa Anita issued a statement regarding Shirreffs’ death.
“Every horse who races at Santa Anita must first past by the statue of John’s greatest trainee, the wonderful mare Zenyatta. While John’s victories were plentiful and prestigious, what he accomplished with Zenyatta in the 2009 Breeders’ Cup Classic was a masterpiece and deservedly was voted as the top moment in Santa Anita Park’s 90 years. Our deepest condolences are extended to John’s wife, Dottie, and his family, including those horsemen and women who worked closely with John for so many years. May his memory be a blessing.”
No funeral arrangements have been announced.
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