BELMONT PARK
Saturday June 07, 2008 - Race 11
Estimated Local Post Time: 6:25 PM
Name: Belmont S. Grade: 1
Purse: $1,000,000
Distance/Restrictions: 1 1/2 Miles, Dirt, 3 Year Olds, STAKES

Tale Of Ekati
Tale Of The Cat x Silence Beauty (JPN) (Sunday Silence)

Tale of Ekati is a beautifully bred specimen, boasting a pedigree laced with high-quality speed as well as classic stamina. The speed is supplied by his sire, Tale of the Cat. A son of the mighty Storm Cat, Tale of the Cat scored his biggest career victory in the seven-furlong King's Bishop S. (G2) at Saratoga, where he set a pressured pace through taxing fractions before kicking clear by 5 1/2 lengths. The royally bred dark bay won at up to 1 1/16 miles but found 1 1/8 miles to be a shade too far.

Tale of Ekati in spoiler role

Jay Privman, Daily Racing Form 5/20/2008

The roles have reversed this year for trainer Barclay Tagg and his assistant, Robin Smullen, going from the hunted to the hunters. In 2003, they tried to sweep the Triple Crown with Funny Cide, but were denied in the Belmont Stakes by Empire Maker, who had finished third to Funny Cide in the Kentucky Derby, skipped the Preakness, and came into the Belmont fresh, fit, and dangerous.

This year, in the 140th Belmont Stakes on June 7 at Belmont Park, Tagg and Smullen will be trying to stop the Triple Crown bid of Big Brown, the Derby and Preakness winner, with Tale of Ekati, who finished fourth in the Derby and then skipped the Preakness to point for the Belmont.

Tale of Ekati showed how fresh he is on Tuesday at Belmont Park, when he zipped a half-mile in 46.84 seconds in his first workout since the Derby. Kristin Troxell, his regular exercise rider, was aboard.

"He went a little faster than we wanted, but he did it easy, and he could not have blown out a match afterwards," Smullen said from New York. "Kristin's really light. She weighs about 100 pounds. She sat very still. He's a pretty cool customer.

"We usually work about 10 days after a race, but we thought he needed a little extra time considering the ship to New York after the Derby, and we weren't pointing for the Preakness, so that might have left him a little sharp. When I picked him up with the pony, he was squealing and bucking. He was happy to do something."

Tale of Ekati has won both his starts at Belmont Park, both in sprints. He defeated maidens in his debut on July 7, then won the Belmont Futurity on Sept. 15. His lone win since then was in the 1 1/8-mile Wood Memorial at Aqueduct on April 5. He was sixth in the Louisiana Derby in his first start this year, but was compromised by a poor start.

In the Kentucky Derby, Tale of Ekati finished 11 lengths behind Big Brown. Smullen said Tale of Ekati also has been nominated to the Grade 2, $300,000 Ohio Derby at Thistledown on May 31, but that the Belmont was the intended target.

"Barclay's inclined to run in the Belmont," Smullen said. "We realize that Big Brown is a very salty customer, but Tale of Ekati is doing awfully well."

Tale of Ekati was bred and is owned by Charles Fipke, a Canadian diamond miner. Tale of Ekati is by Tale of the Cat, a son of Storm Cat, and is out of the mare Silence Beauty, a daughter of Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Sunday Silence, who was second in the 1989 Belmont Stakes.

Bet You Didn’t Know: His owner, Charles Fipke, is a noted diamond explorer, and Ekati is the name of Fipke’s mines in the Northwest Territories. This was the first 2-year-old saddled by Barclay in the Breeders’ Cup.

Tale of Ekati with Robin after early am jog on main track.
6-3-08

Tale of Ekati leaving the track after morning workout.
6-01-08..am at Belmont.