SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — On his way to Hawaii to go surfing, John Shirreffs took a detour that led him to the Hall of Fame.Shirreffs's distinctive approach to training–which includes developing the incredibly popular Hall of Famer Zenyatta (Street Cry {Ire})–will be formally honored Friday when he is posthumously inducted into the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame. Shirreffs, the late trainer Christophe Clement and the champion sprinter Kona Gold (Java Gold) were elected in the Contemporary Category and are members of the class of 11 that will be saluted in the annual ceremony at 10:30 a.m. at the Fasig-Tipton sales pavilion.The Hall of Fame's Historic Review Committee elected the late trainer David Whiteley and the race horses Gulch (Mr. Prospector) and Mongo (Royal Charger {GB}). In the Pillars of the Turf Category, the committee's selections were the late Prince Khalid bin Abdullah, Dr. Robert Copelan, Seth W. Hancock, G. Watts Humphrey, Jr., and the late Joseph E. Widener.Shirreffs, who passed away unexpectedly in his sleep in February at the age of 80, will be represented by his widow, Dottie Ingordo-Shirreffs. She recalled him being very pensive when Zenyatta joined the Hall of Fame in 2016.Though Shirreffs was a quiet man, a devoted student of the sport who did not seek attention–he typically avoided being in winner's circle photos–Dottie said he would have been overjoyed by his election to the Hall of Fame.“I think the impact of it would have meant beyond the world to him, because now this history that he's cherished and respected and adored forever, he's part of it forever. And he felt like he was with Zenny, but now for it to be him….”After serving in the Marines, including a tour in Vietnam, Shirreffs decided to visit Hawaii to surf and unwind. His westward journey from the East Coast, where he grew up on Long Island, NY and New Hampshire, was sidetracked when his background with horses landed him jobs at California farms. The principal change in direction happened when he was hired by Henry Frietas, manager of Loma Rica Horse Ranch near Grass Valley in Northern California. Frietas watched Shirreffs free a horse that he had been riding from a mud pit, recognized his ability and offered him a job. Shirreffs, already skilled by riding and showing horses in his youth, was involved in all facets of work at the farm: foaling, breeding and breaking yearlings.Equibase records show that he began his training career in March 1976 when he saddled Loma Rica's homebred Pee Wee Painter (Wallet Lifter) at Golden Gate Fields. In interviews through the years, Shirreffs said that Frietas encouraged him to train and race some of the farm's horses at fair meets and the San Francisco area tracks during the quieter months of the year. Over the course of nine seaspms, he had 15 wins from 143 starters. By 1983 he was in Southern California. His jobs included roles as a vet assistant, an assistant for trainers Brian Mayberry and Bill Spawr and breaking horses at Lakeview Thoroughbred Farm in Buellton, owned by Ed Nahem, breeder and owner of Bertrando.During his time at Lakeview, Shirreffs made a suggestion to a farrier about how to solve a shoeing problem with a young horse. Shirreffs's idea worked, catching Nahem's attention. In 1994, the year he turned 49 and a decade beyond his last start, Shirreffs became a full-time conditioner for the first time as the private trainer for 505 Farms, in which Nahem was a partner. Years later, Shirreffs told Mike Penna of the Horse Racing Radio Network that he agreed to be the interim trainer until Nahem obtained his trainer's license. That did not happen, and Shirreffs stayed on until the stable was dispersed in July 2000 following the death of Marshall Naify, the 505 principal.During that first season, Shirreffs handled Bertrando during his final full year of competition. Bertrando provided Shirreffs with his first graded win in the GII Goodwood Stakes. Several other good horses, like multiple Grade I winner Manistique, followed during the 505 years.Shirreffs opened a public stable that attracted prominent owners Jerry and Ann Moss, George Krikorian and Marty and Pam Wygod. Dottie was the racing manager for the Mosses and said she first met Shirreffs when she and Jerry Moss were interviewing some new trainers to send horses to.“We went to meet John, and he said a couple key things in the interview that I always remembered,” she said. “One was, 'I may take a little time to get them ready,' he said, 'but I want them ready to have a career and not have it be start, stop, start, stop. I want them when they start to be able to go on a roll and have a career.' That philosophy, both Jerry Moss and I very much appreciated.”That visit with Shirreffs ended the trainer search.“When we were walking away, Jerry said, 'Well, I kind of like him. Let's hire him and cancel the other interviews,'” she said. “So we did. That's how that happened.”In December 2003, Ingordo and Shirreffs were married.Dottie Ingordo-Shirreffs | Keeneland photoShirreffs trained for the rest of his life, winning 596 races, with 113 of them in graded stakes, and earned $58.5 million in purse money. His win rate in graded stakes was an exceptional 18.95%.A career high point came in the 2005 Kentucky Derby, which he won with the Mosses' Giacomo (Holy Bull) at odds of 50-1. That September at Keeneland, the Mosses paid $60,000 for a yearling filly they later named Zenyatta.“When we came with Zenyatta, he had her for a short period of time and because of his horse background, he sensed that this might be something very unique and very special,” Dottie said. “He knew that sharing her would mean a great deal to the sport.”Shirreffs followed form and did not rush what would become his greatest horse.“When she was first there, going back to what he had said to Jerry and me in the interview: 'I want to tweak a few things, get it right.'”Tweak he did and let the big filly grow into herself. Shirreffs did not start her until late in her 3-year-old season, on Thanksgiving Day. She was ready and delivered what came to be her standard last-to-first move and easily won by three lengths (becoming a 'TDN Rising Star' presented by Hagyard in the process).“He knew she was special,” Dottie said. “Then we come to race number two and she wins the allowance race. Then we get ready for race number three, which was a stake race at Santa Anita, and when she won that–and John is never this bold–he looked at me and he said, “I can't imagine who's going to beat her.'”No one did for nearly three years in her next 16 races and Zenyatta's burgeoning reputation made her a national star. Shirreffs, a voracious reader and collector of racing history, especially items connected Man o' War, understood her importance to the sport. He took every opportunity to share her with fans. Her exercise rider, Steve Willard, had two roles at the barn.Zenyatta | Horsephotos“He only got on her, and then the rest of the time, his job was to help with the people, and people were lined up to get their picture taken with her, and she posed like a little doll,” Dottie said.“It was constant. Constant. Every day. People were flying in from all over the country to see her. Literally, they would send a letter, ask if they could, or they'd contact John through Hollywood Park. It was hundreds and hundreds of people, and he never said no.”During her streak, Zenyatta won the 2008 GI Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic. At the 2009 Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita, she produced a seemingly impossible rally to edge Clement's Gio Ponti in the GI Classic. She took a 19-0 record into her career finale, the 2010 Classic, turned in a big charge but fell short, finishing second by a head to Blame. She won 13 Grade I races and earned $7.3 million in purses.Shirreffs always called Frietas his mentor, who taught him to be careful while getting to know and understand each horse as an individual and not rushing. He maintained that approach throughout his career.“It was his choice not to have a big barn,” Dottie said. “Anybody else can do whatever they want, but he wanted to every day be able to look at every horse, touch every horse, and he used to say to me all the time, 'I want to go to bed at night, knowing I've done the best I can by every horse in my care, and therefore every owner that has entrusted me with their prized possessions, their horse.' It was very important to him.”Since he preferred a smaller operation, Shirreffs had a more modest number of starters each year than other top-level trainers. His career-high for starts in a season was 182 in 2004 and his best year for wins was 34 in 2005. What Shirreffs lacked in quantity, he more than made up for in quality, but those smaller numbers may have slowed his Hall of Fame selection.“It depends upon what your goals are,” Dottie said. “I think that's the whole bottom line of all of this. What is your goal, and how do you want to achieve it? And he chose his path. My only sadness of this whole thing is that he didn't get to hear one time, 'and trained by Hall of Fame trainer John Shirreffs,' himself here.“I know esoterically he's hearing it in heaven and all of that, but I think it just would have meant the world and back to him. It just would have.”The post ‘It Would Have Meant The World And Back To Him’: Shirreffs Set To Hang Ten In Hall of Fame appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.