the filly was acquired by sheikh mohammed and trained by luca cumani at newmarket, suffolk. as the owner of fittocks stud, cumani was also responsible for breeding the filly. shamshir was ridden in all of her races by frankie dettori, who was nineteen years old when the filly began her racing career. as her sire kris was named after a malaysian dagger, shamshir was named after a type of persian sword