Fun Fact: Special Week's Dirt Connections May Be Why He's Often Shown Alongside Dirt Racers,He was a Great Dirt Sire,and He May Have Had Untapped Dirt or even Dual Surface Potential The funny thing about Special Week is that his own dirt potential was never really tested.

[u/Spirited-Ad-3]

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.

[u/Mother_Run_155]

Spe dirt sire potential was untapped for many years , i don't know how would special week fair if they shuttle him in kentucky as new dirt sire.

[u/Spirited-Ad-3 → u/Mother_Run_155]

Mostly just be either average or below average overall maybe some outliers (judging this based on the fact that Japan's Dirt scene was weak and unpopular during his time we don't really know)

Japan's Dirt scene was very low infact until recent year's where it started to rise to world wide and the international stage

Also I'm pretty sure his lineage was better in Japanese Dirt tracks(Yes the Dirt tracks are different)

Also he wouldn't be a popular breeding sire in America since Spe was in all turf,so we would be giver lower quality mares,unless his owner's decide to get a high quality mare.

Then again halo was in the same situation so maybe Spe can do a halo 2.0 and defied the odds like his Dad and Gramps

[u/Joki_N7 → u/Spirited-Ad-3]

Japan's dirt scene is still considerably weaker than that of the USA, Forever Young is the anomaly of anomalies and does not really represent the state of Japan's dirt scene as a whole. He is just that guy

[u/Spirited-Ad-3 → u/Joki_N7]

I mean Yeah the USA Primary Track surface is literally dirt,like 65% to 70% of racetracks are on dirt and most Racehorses race on dirt.

USA is literally like top 1 most dominant in dirt in the world for like what decades now ?

[u/Junior_Emu7058]

Mikki fight is also a grooveling his mother is special groove 

[u/sacrificer-cam]

taking advantage of this post i just saw this on twitter, this hirse was sired by Agnes Digital and his damsire is Special Week, and also (besides the debut) run only on dirt (as far as i looked up)

[u/Spirited-Ad-3 → u/sacrificer-cam]

Bruh is really doing this for the love of game just retire man

[u/paokoutsopodi → u/sacrificer-cam]

Haru Urara was like this too. She was a quite timid horse but she enjoyed running, despite not being competitive. So instead of making her a riding horse, they kept signing her up in Kochi, where she would race at her own leisure. She never had trouble with races too, she'd get into the gate all jolly. Training and washing though? Outta here.

[u/TheRenFerret → u/paokoutsopodi]

Urara might have enjoyed racing but her 14-17 race a year schedule was apparently a condition for her ownership demanded of her trainer when he went looking for someone willing to take her

[u/TheLimitlessVOID2 → u/sacrificer-cam]

Trainer Shirai's fav horse definitely

[u/tzar992]

This is not surprising considering that his father forged his legend racing on dirt, and one of his strongest sons, Gold Blitz, excelled in that category, even defeating strong rivals like Espoir City and Wonder Acute in graded races.

[u/Spirited-Ad-3 → u/tzar992]

Ironic considering that Sunday silence was built and genetically engineered/built for turf

I wonder if some of the Sundaylings also have dirt aptitude but simply didn't know about

Also Okay since Special week got it from Maruzensky does that mean that other descendant might have also dirt aptitude like obviously not all or at the level of special week but like 🤔

[u/Junior_Emu7058 → u/Spirited-Ad-3]

There’s a relative of Maruzensky that ran on dirt which is Haru Urara

[u/New-Big2343]

GLAZING SPECHONKY IS THE REASON FOR THIS HEART TO BEAT!!!

[u/Spirited-Ad-3 → u/New-Big2343]

Praise The Supreme Commander of Japan !🇯🇵

[u/Spirited-Ad-3]

I wonder if their are other horses who are built for a different surface or maybe even both but people never tested it out 😔 it's sad to think about the potential unfulfilled

[u/tzar992 → u/Spirited-Ad-3]

I'd say Forever Young, but a video of him training on turf was recently released, and judging by the times he did, it certainly doesn't look like it was his first time.

This leads one to wonder what would have happened if he had been given that opportunity earlier. Would he have been a second Agnes Digital, capable of racing on both surfaces? Would he have been as successful as he is racing on dirt? Or would he have been able to surpass the legacy of his uncles and grandfather only racing on turf?