I think it's probably an understatement to say Manistique wasn't a good shipper.
Shireffs was a great trainer in 1999 ... he won 40% of his races that year on a brutally tough year round circuit and had his 4th straight profitable ROI on the betting dollar year. He was doing things with first-time-starters that I know I'll never see again. I would think 505 put pressure on him to win early - because once 505 was gone ... Shirreffs started to radically change his style of training. He's no longer even a good debut trainer ... let alone possibly the greatest to ever live.
It would have been interesting to see if Manistique was developed more slowly like Zenyatta was - instead of cranked up to peak from the outset.
|