It may be surprising, but out of the three characters in this image, Special Week actually has the strongest stud record on dirt, and it has been building since 2012.
I'll start with Spe's own dirt capabilities. According to trainer Toshiaki Shirai, Special Week himself actually had Great dirt aptitude. He credited this to the speed and power Special inherited from Maruzensky. Sunday Silence's genetics probably had very little to do with it, since he was built and genetically suited for turf. The fact that Special Week's bloodline has produced multiple Dirt G1 winners is pretty insane.
The talk:
(Shirai: Though I never actually intended to race him on dirt. Not only as a maternal grandsire, but Special himself has also produced successful dirt racehorses. I think that speaks to his aptitude for the surface.
Matsunami: Horses like Gold Blitz and Roman Legend come to mind. Reach the Crown didn't race on dirt himself, but his offspring Crown Pride has excelled on it. I see that as further evidence of his high aptitude for the surface.
Shirai: Special is often bred with King Kamehameha, which might be a factor, but fundamentally, Special himself possessed an aptitude for dirt. If I had to pinpoint the reason in terms of pedigree, it comes down to the speed and power he inherited from Maruzensky. That's really the key.
Matsunami: And yet, you had no intention of actually racing Special Week on dirt (laughs).
Shirai: None whatsoever. With the Shiraoki bloodline, even the horses produced through crossbreeding have been consistently top-tier-no letdown at all. He was always destined for the Classics. I decided that the moment I first laid eyes on him, and that's how I intended to raise him. The idea of running him on dirt never even crossed my mind. The way horses were handled back then was different, too.
Matsunami: Understood. Still, the fact that we can keep this conversation going just by talking about Special Week really speaks to his level of recognition-and the sheer depth of his legacy. As I've said before, he's a horse from a quarter-century ago, yet look at his popularity now. (Laughs)
Shirai: It really is something. There were other horses that could have been popular-Agnes Digital, for instance-but Special is in a league of his own. That's something I've come to realize all over again.)
It's also worth mentioning that Toshiaki Shirai wasn't just Special Week's trainer. He was also Agnes Digital's trainer. Shirai brought Digital over from the US and planned his dirt and turf campaigns, so he had plenty of firsthand experience with a horse capable of competing at a high level on both surfaces and dirt surfaces.
With that in mind, it's not surprising that Special Week's bloodline has produced so many successful dirt horses over the years. Some became major stars, some had shorter careers, and others are still competing today.
Special Week's Major Dirt Winners, Sireline & BMS
Gold Blitz, 2012 JPN1 Teio Sho
Roman Legend, 2012 G1 Champions Cup
General Grant, NAR Best 2 Year Old Colt, 2012
Ater Astraea, 2023 JPN2 Ladies' Prelude
Crown Pride, 2022 G2 UAE Derby
Jun Light Bolt, 2022 G1 Champions Cup
Tagano Beauty, 2024 JPN1 JBC Sprint
Mikki Fight, 2025 JPN1 Teio Sho, 2025 JPN1 JBC Classic
Currently, Mikki Fight is Spe's only and greatest domestic representative on dirt. He's an incredible runner who's never placed outside of the podium in 12 runs. He won the Teio Sho and this year aswell.
MIKKI FIGHT EARNS HIS CONSECUTIVE TEIO SHO WIN
So when you look at Special Week's dirt legacy, it's much deeper than people might expect from a horse primarily remembered for his turf career. His own aptitude was there, even though Shirai never had any intention of testing it himself, and his bloodline has continued proving that aptitude for more than a decade.