KELOWNA OWNER/BREEDER CHUCK FIPKE HAS ‘TALE OF EKATI’ IN KENTUCKY DERBY
Posted: April 30, 2008
Vancouver, B.C. (Apr. 30) – Kelowna geologist Charles (Chuck) Fipke is one of Canada’s most famous prospectors. His diamond mine northeast of Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories ignited one of the largest mineral-staking rushes in North American history.
With a net worth estimated at more than $500 million according to Canadian Business magazine, Mr. Fipke has uncovered another gem in his prized three-year-old colt Tale of Ekati who ‘runs for the roses’ Saturday at the 134th Kentucky Derby.
Tale of Ekati finished the Derby prep season with $738,000 US in the graded stakes earnings that determine the Kentucky Derby field. His final prep race was a victory in the Wood Memorial Stakes on April 5 at New York’s Aqueduct Racetrack. Tale of Ekati, with veteran jockey Edgar Prado up, passed favourite War Pass in the stretch to win by a half-length. That victory alone was worth $450,000.
After a quarter-century of owning and breeding thoroughbreds, it is the first time Mr. Fipke has had a horse worthy of starting a Triple Crown race. Close friends say the immensity of being in Louisville with a Derby contender won’t hit him until he is sitting in an owner’s box beneath the famous twin spires of Churchill Downs.
“I try not to get too pepped up because you can get cut right down with horses,” Mr. Fipke, an Edmonton native, says. “If it happens, it happens.”
Fellow Kelowna breeder R.J. Bennett, a long-time supporter of Hastings Racecourse, has flown to Louisville to be with his friend.
“Chuck is a unique owner,” Mr. Bennett says. “If you compare him to other horse people, they’re not as close to their horses on a personal basis. He’ll put his arm around his horses because he genuinely likes them.”
Fans at Hastings Racecourse on Saturday can wager on the Kentucky Derby and watch it live via simulcast. It will start at 3:04 p.m. local time.
For further racing inquiries: Raj Mutti: 604.251.0445
For media & entertainment inquiries: Howard Blank: 604.303.1000
