Chuck Fipke

For Chuck Fipke, Saturday could have gone better. His Lady Speightspeare (Speightstown) finished fourth in the GI Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational S. and with a better trip might have been closer. "That's the way horse racing is," the owner and breeder said. "I was kind of disappointed. For every time you do well in this sport, it seems that you are disappointed 50 times." Not that Fipke was complaining. With his having nearly died just 15 days before the race, it's easy to keep things in perspective. On Jan....

Last Thursday, I received an email out of the blue from someone I didn't know. Evidently Jason Brooks listens to me every Wednesday on Steve Byk's "At the Races" radio show where we discuss pedigrees among other things, and Brooks wanted to inform me that there were "21 graded stakes wins in the first half of 2022 for horses with Phipps pedigrees." According to Brooks, he does social media for Phipps Stable and operates the account @PhippsStableFan on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. Curious, I took a look at his...

Speightstown (Gone West)'s highly promising 3-year-old colts Nashville and Charlatan are set to square off in the Gl Malibu S. over seven furlongs on opening day at Santa Anita Dec. 26, and the race already has the feel of an anticipated prize fight to it, all the way down to their respective heavyweight connections, who were once together on the same team that celebrated Justify (Scat Daddy)'s Triple Crown. But an important focus of this race belongs to their top-class sire, himself a champion sprinter, because it's quite a feat...

Charles Fipke's Grade I-winning multimillionaire Seeking the Soul (Perfect Soul {Ire}) has arrived at Ocala Stud to take up stud duties in 2021, Fipke Stable announced on Twitter. "I am really pleased that Ocala Stud will stand Seeking the Soul," Fipke said. "They are one of the most important stud farms in Florida, with a great and long history of success, and I look forward to Seeking the Soul joining their roster and program. Years ago, I sent my first mare to board at Ocala Stud while breeding her to...

Debutante Lady Speightspeare (Speightstown) followed in the hoofsteps of close relative and stablemate Shirl's Speight (Speighstown) Saturday to garner the 'TDN Rising Star' distinction off of a sharp unveiling over the Woodbine turf. Given a 4-1 chance off a steady, but unassuming series of drills over the Tapeta, the chestnut broke a half-step slowly but was rushed up in between rivals by Emma-Jayne Wilson to take over. She doled out and opening quarter of :22.65 with pressure to her inside, but was asked for a bit more rounding the bend...

Responding to the global coronavirus pandemic, people and organizations within this industry from around the world have stepped up to generate goodwill gestures every week it seems, whether it's owner-breeder Chuck Fipke offering no-fee breedings to his stallions, Finger Lakes HBPA and track management distributing $827,000 in the form of "stimulus checks" to local trainers and owners, or an Irish lawyer galvanizing interest in more than 350 housebound fans and industry participants in "The Art of the Mating," a hypothetical exercise in stallion selection for some famous mares. Jack Cantillon...