John le Carré revolutionized and defined the spy genre with literary masterworks like The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

He became a horse trainer almost by happenstance, but he guided perhaps the greatest mare of all-time to a Hall of Fame career and won the Kentucky Derby with a longshot.

Famed for a ‘horse-first’ approach, Shirreffs won a Kentucky Derby with longshot Giacomo and won a stakes race at Santa Anita two weeks ago.