Charles Fipke

7th-Meydan, AED82,500, Maiden, 2yo, 1600m, 1:38.92, ft. SHIRL'S BEE (c, 2, Bee Jersey--Shirl's Soul, by Perfect Soul {Ire}) was the subject of some pre-race buzz and turned in a tough debut effort to stamp himself one to watch in next year's 3-year-old events in Dubai. Nicely into stride from gate two, the homebred colt appeared set to challenge for the lead at the rail, but was taken hold of by Pat Dobbs and immediately began to overrace. More settled as they raced past the half-mile marker, Shirl's Bee faced a...

In this series, we will have a look at first-time starters entered for age-restricted maiden races on the week's main live program at Meydan Racecourse, focusing specifically on pedigree and/or performance in sales ring, both domestic and abroad. With the exception of Thursday, Dec. 1, Super Saturday, Mar. 4, and Dubai World Cup night Mar. 25, the main meeting at Meydan takes place on Fridays. Six meetings are to be staged at the UAE's flagship racecourse prior to the start of the Dubai World Cup Carnival Friday, Jan. 6, 2023....

LEXINGTON, KY--You may have seen in the news last week how they've just realised that a Mondrian masterpiece has been hanging the wrong way round for 77 years. That's just a year longer than Willie Browne has been accumulating his own perspectives on life and, when he looks at the filly he has brought to the Breeders' Cup, he pretty much knows that same, upside-down feeling. Because his long quest for the secrets of equine potential--which has so often brought him to this same town, wearing a very different hat--has...

Owner/breeder Charles E. Fipke, a Canadian geologist and diamond prospector who has made an impact on the sport on both sides of the border, will be inducted as part of the 2022 class in the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame. The other Thoroughbred inductees include jockey Eurico Rosa Da Silva, as well as horses Court Vision (Gulch) and Alydeed (Shadeed). Fipke has been involved in Thoroughbreds for over 40 years. His Sovereign Award winners are all homebreds: Not Bourbon (Not Impossible {Ire}), Impossible Time (Not Impossible {Ire}), Perfect Soul...

Stepping up a furlong having broken her maiden at the third attempt over six at Naas Sept. 15, Charles Fipke's homebred filly Spirit Gal (Fr) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) made all to annexe Friday's Listed Irish Stallion Farms EBF StarAppeal S. at Dundalk. Sent off the 4-1 joint-second favourite, the bay gave generously for Seamie Heffernan as she had last time and never let Ballydoyle's Cairo (Ire) (Quality Road) make a fight of it as she kept that 11-10 market-leader at bay to score by 2 1/4 lengths. "She is in...

Speak of the Devil (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) makes her first start for Peter Brant and trainer Chad Brown in the GII Churchill Distaff Turf Mile S. Saturday. The 5-year-old mare, who just missed when second in the 2020 G1 French 1000 Guineas and again when third in last year's G1 Prix Rothschild, was purchased by Brant for €1.95 million at last year's Arqana December sale. Brant and Brown will also be represented in the Distaff Turf Mile by In Italian (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}). The 4-year-old was a flashy wire-to-wire...

Shirl's Speight (Speightstown) is the 3-1 morning-line favorite in the GI Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic S. at Churchill Downs Saturday. The Charles Fipke homebred, saddled by Roger Attfield, gets an extra furlong to work with after a dramatic late-running victory in the GI Maker's Mark Mile at Keeneland last time out Apr. 15. The lightly raced 'TDN Rising Star', who will be making his first start at Churchill Downs, won the 2020 GIII Marine S. over the all-weather at Woodbine and captured the GIII Tampa Bay S. over the...

Dispatched at 9-1 despite entering on a two-race win streak, 'TDN Rising Star' Shirl's Speight (Speightstown) sling-shotted his way to his first top-level score in Keeneland's GI Maker's Mile S. Friday afternoon. Away in good order, the Fipke homebred bided his time in second last, running off the fence, as GI Shoemaker Mile winner and last out GI Breeders' Cup Mile runner-up Smooth Like Strait (Midnight Lute) dictated terms, putting up early splits of :24.95 and :49.63. Inching up a bit on the backstretch run, Shirl's Speight still had plenty...

Prominent North American owner/breeder Charles Fipke was represented by his first winner in Japan when the newly turned 3-year-old filly Kana Tape (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) ran out an impressive three-length winner of a newcomers' event going 1800 meters on turf at Tokyo Racecourse Sunday afternoon. Sent off the narrow second favorite at odds of 3-2, the bay filly jumped well from gate two for top rider Takeshi Yokoyama and tracked pacesetting Mozu Cleopatra (Jpn) (American Pharoah) from close up in second. Felt for as the field entered the final...

'TDN Rising Star' Lady Speightspeare (Speightstown) made a successful transition to the Tapeta track Saturday, racing away to a convincing score in the GII Bessarabian S., remaining unbeaten from four starts in the process. The Fipke homebred, whose prior victories include the GI Natalma S. over the local turf course last season, wired a Sept. 6 turf allowance over 8 1/2 furlongs, but was scratched after becoming fractious in the gate ahead of the GI Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Oct. 16 at Keeneland and was a trainer scratch prior...

New Ocala Stud residents Seeking the Soul (Perfect Soul {Ire}), Win Win Win (Hat Trick {Jpn}) and Dak Attack (Ghostzapper) have each had first mares scanned in foal. Charles Fipke's Mine's Perfect (Mineshaft), from the family of Fipke's Grade I winners Forever Unbridled (Unbridled's Song) and Unbridled Forever (Unbridled's Song) and his GI Kentucky Oaks heroine Lemons Forever (Lemon Drop Kid), is in foal to Seeking the Soul. Also a Fipke homebred, Seeking the Soul racked up nearly $3.5 million with his signature win coming in the 2017 GI Clark...

Charles E. Fipke's Title Ready (More Than Ready), winner of the GIII Louisiana S. at Fair Grounds Jan. 16, is targeting the G1 Dubai World Cup Mar. 27. It will mark the third consecutive year Fipke and trainer Dallas Stewart have had a runner in the $12-million race. Their champion Forever Unbridled (Unbridled's Song) finished fifth in 2018 and their GISW Seeking the Soul (Perfect Soul {Ire}) was eighth in 2019. The 2020 edition of the Dubai World Cup was cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Originally trained by...