| Tale of Ekati |
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Trainer: Barclay Tagg
Jockey: Eibar
Coa
Owner: Charles E. Fipke
Age/Sex 3-year-old
Colt
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| 2008
Stats: |
| Starts |
| 3 |
| 1st-2nd-3rd |
| 1 |
| Earnings (Rank) |
| $556,000 (6) |
| Win % (In-The-Money %) |
| 50% (50%) |
|
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| Racing Career: |
| Date |
Purse |
Race Name |
Track |
Grade |
Finish |
| 05/03/08 |
$2,200K |
Kentucky Derby |
Churchill Downs |
1 |
4 |
04/05/08
|
$750K |
Wood Memorial S. |
Aqueduct |
1 |
1 |
| 03/08/08 |
$600K |
Louisiana Derby |
Fair Grounds |
2 |
6 |
| 10/27/07 |
$2MK |
Bessemer Trust Breeders' Cup Juvenile |
Monmouth Park |
1 |
4 |
| 09/15/07 |
$250K |
Futurity S. |
Belmont Park |
2 |
1 |
| 07/26/07 |
$150K |
Sanford S. |
Saratoga |
2 |
2 |
| 07/07/07 |
$52K |
Maiden Special Weight |
Belmont Park |
|
1 |
|
|
Works
for Tale of Ekati.
Ron Mitchell, The Blood-Horse 4/29/2008
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - With four days to go to the Kentucky Derby
Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I), only two classic contenders worked at
Churchill Downs on the morning of Tuesday, April 29.
Charles Fipke’s homebred Tale of Ekati was out early,
working a half-mile in :49 2/5 as the morning dawned on a cool overcast
day.
Tale of Ekati (Photo by: Coglianese Photography)
Trainer Barclay Tagg, who saddled Funny Cide to win the 2003 Derby, said he
did not want to do anything special with the son of Tale of the Cat considering
how close it was to Derby Day.
“I just him to go a nice half-mile, nothing dramatic,” said
the quiet Tagg. “He went fine.”
Tagg said he plans to stick to routine regimens for Tale
of Ekati and Derby-bound stablemate Big Truck for the restd of the week. “You
don’t change anything; you do the same old routine. There is nothing
fancy about. It’s a horse race. You bring them up to it the best
you can.”
Winner of the Futurity Stakes (gr. II) at Belmont Park as
a 2-year-old, Tale of Ekati won the grade I Wood Memorial in his third
start of 2008. He has won half of his lifetime starts for earnings of $667,200.
Tale of Ekat breezes in 1:00 1/5i
Lenny Shulman, The Blood-Horse 4/23/2008
Charles Fipke’s Tale of Ekati took advantage of a perfect Central Kentucky
spring morning at Keeneland on Wednesday to breeze five furlongs in 1:00 1/5,
the only work by a potential Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I)
starter on the day in Lexington.
Trainer Barclay Tagg said he was pleased with the move, and planned to ship
the Wood Memorial (gr. I) winner to Churchill Downs Saturday. His final breeze
before the Derby is slated for Tuesday. Tale of Ekati also won the Futurity
Stakes (gr. II) at Belmont Park last year.
Tale of Ekati takes
Wood from War Pass
Claire Novak, The Blood-Horse 4/5/2008
Charles Fipke’s homebred Tale of Ekati may have turned
in a sub-par effort in the Louisiana Derby (gr. II), but he sparkled at
Aqueduct when he ran down War Pass in the final strides of the $750,000
Wood Memorial (gr. I) on Saturday.
The Barclay Tagg trainee came off a questionable performance after running
sixth behind Pyro at Fair Grounds March 8, but Tagg blamed the result on
a poor start and had confidence in his starter, even if the betting public
did not.
“He actually broke a little slow in all of his races, but in the
Louisiana Derby he got tangled up in the gate and it cost him the race,” Tagg
said. “He’s a better horse than that.”
Sent off at odds of 8-1 in the Wood, the Tale of the Cat colt got a solid
stalking trip behind the pacesetting 4-5 favorite War Pass, who was pressed
through a blistering early quarter in :22.46 by the Bill Mott-trained Inner
Light. Giant Moon ran third and Tale of Ekati stalked along in fourth.
They went the half in :46.07 with Tale of Ekati moving up to third, tracked
by Texas Wildcatter.
After three quarters in 1:11.50, jockey Edgar Prado moved Tale of Ekati
up to second, chased by Giant Moon again. They ran a mile in 1:38.42 and
War Pass hung on gamely in the final strides, but did not have enough to
hold off an inside run from Tale of Ekati, who finished up with a solid
run in the 1 1/8-mile event – proof that he should relish the longer
distance of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I). The final
time was 1:52.35. Giant Moon, Anak Nakal, Spurrier, Roman Emperor, Texas
Wildcatter, and Inner Light completed the order of finish.
“He’s a gem, that’s for sure,” Tagg said. “We’re
ready to go on to Kentucky.”
Tale of Ekati paid $19, $6.30, and $3.60, while War Pass returned $3.70
and $2.60 under Cornelio Velasquez, and Court Vision brought $2.40 with
Garrett Gomez.
Bred in Kentucky out of the Sunday Silence mare Silence Beauty, Tale of
Ekati has won three races and owns a second from six starts. The Wood purse
boosted his earnings to $769,200.
photo's: nancy rokos
Tale of Ekati winning the Wood
Memorial with Edgar Prado up.
Jay Privman, Daily Racing Form 9/19/2007
 To run, or not to run? That is the question trainers and owners of many of the nation's best 2-year-olds are pondering as they consider whether it is prudent to have another prep race before the Grade 1, $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Monmouth Park on Oct. 27.
For division leader Majestic Warrior, trainer Bill Mott is eyeing the Grade 1 Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park on Oct. 6. Ready's Image, who finished second to Majestic Warrior in the Hopeful Stakes, also could run in the Champagne, but might end up at Keeneland that day in the Grade 1 Breeders' Futurity, according to trainer Todd Pletcher.
Barclay Tagg and Steve Asmussen are heading straight to the Juvenile with, respectively, Tale of Ekati and Kodiak Kowboy, who finished one-two in last week's Belmont Futurity.
Jason Shandler, The Blood-Horse 9/15/2007
Tale of Ekati had a couple of excuses if he did not score in the $250,000 Futurity Stakes (gr. II). The son of Tale of the Cat-Silence Beauty missed the start and later in the seven-furlong event, was bottled up with seemingly no place to advance.
But thanks to a brilliant ride from jockey Eibar Coa and a thunderous move in the final sixteenth, the 2-year-old colt didn’t need either excuse, winning the important juvenile prep by a length over favorite Kodiak Kowboy at Belmont Park on Saturday.
Trained by Barclay Tagg, Tale of Ekati won for the second time in three starts. An 8 ¼-length winner in his maiden debut in early July, the Charles Fipke homebred followed that up with a second place finish in the Sanford Stakes (gr. II) at Saratoga July 26. This victory solidifies Tale of Ekati into the upper-echelon of the juvenile division.
“He’s a very nice colt,” said Tagg. “We’ve been very high on him since we’ve gotten him to the track. He came back after his last race with some sore shins. We gave him some time to freshen him up. He came back well in his workouts. I’m with him all day, every day, and you can really tell when a horse is coming to himself.
“We are very excited about him. We’ll probably train him straight up to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.”
After hitting the gate at the start, Tale of Ekati was quickly hustled up to third by Coa, and stayed there through an opening quarter of :22.90 that was set by Mythical Pegasus. The son of Fusaichi Pegasus held the lead through a half-mile (:46.46).
David Grening, Daily Racing Form 9/13/2007
ELMONT, N.Y. - In some instances, a case of bucked shins can spell the end of a horse's juvenile season. Not so in the case of Tale of Ekati.
Tale of Ekati, a good-looking debut winner and the runner-up to Ready's Image in the Grade 2 Sanford in a 19-day period, appears to have gotten over his bucked shins in time to return to the races in Saturday's Grade 2 Futurity at Belmont Park. The Futurity is one of four graded stakes on a blockbuster Saturday card at Belmont.
Trainer Barclay Tagg said he used a "severe blister" to help heal Tale of Ekati's sore shins. The act of blistering involves putting heat on the inflamed area in an effort to increase circulation.
Tale of Ekati responded to the blister, and after an easy month of training he has worked three times in 12 days, including a five-furlong move in 1:01.17 on Tuesday, the best of seven moves at the distance.
"One shin was very sore, but he got over it very quickly," Tagg said. "I got two real good works into him."
Tale of Ekati, a son of Tale of the Cat, won his debut by 8 1/4 lengths over Anakim, who came back to win a maiden race here last weekend. In the Sanford, Tale of Ekati was interfered with at the start when two horses came over on him, and he was pinched back to sixth position early. After taking a good amount of dirt for the first time, Tale of Ekati made a mild rally to be second to Ready's Image while holding off The Roundhouse.
"I thought he ran very well that day," Tagg said. "Then he bucked his shins, and I had to give him some time. He seems to be working well."
While Ready's Image is not running in the Futurity, Tale of Ekati will have to face Kodiak Kowboy, a winner of four consecutive starts, including the Grade 2 Saratoga Special. Others pointing to the Futurity are Mythical Pegasus, Sargent Seattle, Stand Pat, and The Leopard.
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