Roger L. Attfield

Birthdate: November 28, 1939

Birthplace: Newbury, England

Residence: Nobleton, Ontario, Canada

Family: son, John

Roger Attfield was a show jumping rider and an amateur steeplechase jockey in his native England before emigrating to Canada in 1970. After working briefly as an assistant trainer, he opened a clothing boutique but returned to the racetrack after only one year and went on to train for prominent owners Charles Baker, Kinghaven Farms, and Frank Stronach.

Attfield is one of the most accomplished trainers in Canada, winning the Sovereign Award as outstanding trainer eight times and conditioning six Horses of the Year and three Canadian Triple Crown winners. He has won the Queen’s Plate, Canada’s most prestigious race, a record-tying eight times. In 2011, he won his first Breeders’ Cup with Perfect Shirl (Filly & Mare Turf). He was elected to the Canadian Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 1999, and in 2012 he was inducted into the U.S. Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, becoming only the second Canadian trainer behind Lucien Laurin to be included in both.