Thoroughbred

Bred and owned by Conn Smythe (CHRHF Class of 1977),  and trained by D. P. (Donnie) Walker, 2021 Thoroughbred Veteran Inductee Not Too Shy won just two races in her initial year of racing (1968) but, in the next three years, she would establish herself as one of the top stakes-winning fillies of her era.   A 1966 daughter of Nearctic out of Twice Shy, she withstood a hard campaign in her sophomore year, going to the post 19 times.

Included in her accomplishments were victories in the Fury, Wonder Where, Maple Leaf, and Duchess Stakes, a race in which she defeated Kentucky Oaks winner, Hail to Patsy. Not Too Shy would lose the 1969 Canadian Oaks by a head to Kinghaven Farm’s Cool Mood (inducted in 2014) after a long stretch duel. However, these two fillies would battle three more times with Not Too Shy prevailing in each of those meetings to avenge her Oaks’ setback. Later that year, she took on the boys in the Breeders’ Stakes, finishing in third place.

Often racing against older males, and equally adept on both dirt and turf, Not Too Shy’s 4-yr-old season included 15 starts with wins in the Seaway, Canadian, Belle Mahone, Maple Leaf (again), and Tattling Handicap. Not Too Shy, described as a big, strapping bay filly, was named Canada’s Champion Older Filly of 1970 for her efforts at age four.

At age five, she continued to race at a high level, earning 6 wins in 14 starts with victories in the Whimsical, repeating in the Seaway Stakes, and a 4th-place finish against top fillies and mares in the Susquehanna Hcp at Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. Not Too Shy retired with 11 stakes victories among her 23 wins. Her breeding career produced multiple stakes winner and 1978 Queen’s Plate contender, Lucky Colonel S.