King Stephen: Shirreffs Colt Overcomes Slow Start to Deliver Eye-Catching Debut; Ready to Roll Next Time Out

Three year old colt for John Shirreffs made his debut on Saturday with some sparkling 5/8 drills but out of 12 of them, not a single one was from the gate. And you guessed it, he broke very slowly in his debut, was dead last in a field of 9, and quickly fell 12 lengths back of the leader in this six furlong maiden special weight for sophomores. Carmona got him rolling at the ¼ pole and he started passing horses on the outside, was six wide into the stretch, then finished with good energy to be third beaten about six at the wire. Even with a good start he probably would not have beaten the Baffert runner who won by four and a half, but he would have been second and much closer to the winner. This colt can run and was probably a bargain purchase for just $27K at the Keeneland yearling sale. Shirreffs always races his young horses into shape and will do so with this son of Instilled Regard. He looks like he can handle two turns as well.

Next Upcoming Race:  

 

King Stephen’s Race Information
Race Date:  February 22, 2025	Track:  Santa Anita		Race #:  8
Distance:  6 Furlongs	Conditions: maiden special weight		Surface: Dirt
Trainer:  John Shirreffs	Jockey:  Serafin Carmona		Track Condition:  FAST
Trouble Notes:  off slow, 3-2-4wide, mild rally			Track Variant:  +2
Finish Position: 3rd	Win Payout:  $ –	Place: Payout:  $ –	Show Payout:  $ 3.20

Race Replay

King Stephen – Santa Anita –  February 22, 2025

King Stephen Performance Figures Earned
Race Condition Pars	King Stephen Figures Earned
Race Class Level:  135	Running Style In Race:  Unknown
Final Time Rating Par: 150	Final Time Rating: 113
CPR Race Par:  126	CPR Earned In Race: 98
Fast Fig Race Par:  120	Fast Fig In Race:
Key Race Winners: 3	Running Style In Race:   Unknown
(click the links above to learn more avbout each figure and how to use them in your handicapping)

Generally horses that are on the Horses To Watch list ran into unexpected trouble, bad luck, and/or didn’t run the race we believe King Stephen was cabable of.  We expected that if King Stephen gets a good trip in their next start than we should see an improvement in King Stephen performance figures.  Use the performance figures earned in King Stephen last race (listed above) and compare them to the field and pars of King Stephen next start.  If King Stephen appears to have earned higher performance figures in the last race when running into trouble  as compared to the rest of the field’s expected perfomance in the upcoming race than there is a good chance that King Stephen will dominate the race.

Helpful Tip:  So that it’s easy for you to compare a horse’s past performance, Today’s Racing Digest’s Performance Figures for upcoming races are based on how we expect the horse to perform in that race regardless of any changes in race conditions.  Learn More: