Chris Pallas and George Klein didn’t start out in the business of horseracing. The two self-proclaimed “regular Joes”—a full-time hospital pharmacist and a retired semiconductor engineer, respectively,—had been lifelong race fans. As a kid who often visited the Belmont Stakes alongside his grandfather, Klein always used to wonder what it would be like to own one of the majestic creatures on the other side of the fence. Meanwhile, Chris fell in love with both the animal and the sport after frequenting Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach.
In 2005, following the success of Chris’ first thoroughbred racehorse, Mambo Meister—the pair decided to try their hand at breeding purebreds, drawing inspiration from heralded breeders including Ogden Phipps, Marcel Boussac, and Federico Tesio. George had spent countless years analyzing breeding patterns in hopes of eventually unlocking the key to designing a champion racehorse. Ultimately, he came up with the theory that the most successful thoroughbreds tend to nick through their female family line, with the stallions simply serving as a conduit.
So the partners said when they were gifted a young mare with royal lineage named Perilous Hope, they saw it as a valuable opportunity. As luck would have it, they found a stallion named Gone Astray—who shared the same royal bloodline started by the legendary taproot mare, Pure Profit—not too far away. Applying the Formula One Rasmussen breeding pattern on the well-matched dam and sire, they set out to create a champion.
“When it comes to breeding and pedigrees, you have to find an edge,” George says. “How you handle the pedigree analysis is an incredibly labor-intensive and detail-oriented process.”
The result? A marvelous mare named Shifty She. “We wanted to name our horse after the women who wear many hats: women who are mothers, daughters, business owners,” the owners explain. “Shifty She is a tribute to them.”
Born on Valentine’s Day in 2016, the prizewinning steed—currently trained by third-generation horseman Saffie Joseph Jr.—has traveled all over the United States to compete against the finest fillies and mares, having won seven of her 13 career starts. Over three years, she single-handedly brought in over $450,000 in prize money. And in 2021—after taking a break from racing for over a year following a career-threatening injury—she was voted Filly & Mare Turf Champion and Older Female Champion in Florida by the FTBOA. Most recently, she placed first in the Noble Damsel at Belmont Park last October.
“We are very blessed to have her in our lives,” says Chris, co-founder of Pedigree Partners, which aims to offer affordable thoroughbred racehorse partnerships. “She’s just a very smooth horse. When you watch her, she glides over the grass,” he told Paulick Report. “She’s very graceful and she loves what she’s doing. That’s really her mindset. She’s all about the business and she loves to run.”