Connections’ Faith in Tale of Verve Paying Off
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Tale of Verve finished second in the Preakness Stakes to the delight of his connections. (Photo by Eclipse Sportswire)
By Tom Pedulla, America’s Best Racing
ELMONT, N.Y. – Success in racing sometimes boils down to nothing more complicated than a couple of people who believe in their horse when no one else does.
That was the case after Tale of Verve, on his sixth try, finally gained his first victory in a mile-and-three-sixteenths race at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky., on April 23. To an outsider, there was nothing remarkable about the colt’s charge from off the pace to a two-length victory. To his trainer, Dallas Stewart, it was a sign that the slow-to-blossom 3-year-old belonged in the Triple Crown races.
“He cooled out as if he had just been for a gallop,” Stewart said. “That’s when I started thinking there’s a chance this horse could be right there in the Derby because he can go that far.”
Stewart knows what it takes to compete in Triple Crown races. He was an integral part of D. Wayne Lukas’ operation when that Hall of Fame trainer rattled off six consecutive victories in such races in the mid-1990’s.
Lukas taught him that a bold stroke can be a brilliant one, and Stewart’s record in the spring classics says that he sees what others miss. Lemons Forever, at 47.10-to-1, justified his faith in her when she overcame her long odds to win the Kentucky Oaks in 2006.
Macho Again, at nearly 40-1, ran second for Stewart in the 2008 Preakness. Golden Soul (34-1) and Commanding Curve (37-1) gave him runner-up finishes in each of the previous two Derbies.
Unfortunately, no one will ever know how Tale of Verve might have fared in the run for the roses. His poor record caught up to him when he failed to have the points needed to qualify for the 20-horse field. He was second on the also-eligible list, but the scratches he needed occurred too late for him to make the field.
Stewart and owner-breeder Charles Fipke shifted their sights to the Belmont Stakes with the idea of using the mile-and-three-sixteenths Preakness as a prep race. The son of Tale of Ekati went off at 28.50-to-1 in the middle leg of the Triple Crown, the second-longest shot on the board. But he was much better than that in placing second, seven lengths behind mud-loving Triple Crown threat American Pharoah.
Fipke gives Stewart much of the credit for Tale of Verve’s emergence as a Belmont contender and potential spoiler. “He’s a very optimistic person and a very good horseman, too,” Fipke said. “He knows if a horse is ready and he trains to make a horse peak at that particular time.”
STEWART (right) WITH TALE OF VERVE
Photo by NYRA/Susie Raisher
Fipke, a geologist who made a fortune through his ability to locate precious stones, may have a diamond in the rough with his homebred. Tale of Verve looks to be peaking for the Belmont after breezing five furlongs in 59.02 seconds on Saturday, the fastest work at the distance that morning at Belmont Park.
“Tale of Verve wasn’t that precocious,” Fipke said. “It took him time to mature, but he matured just in time.”
Fipke hopes his emphasis on breeding for endurance with an eye toward the spring classics will make the difference against American Pharoah, a son of Derby runner-up Pioneer of the Nile.
“American Pharoah is a wonderful horse, but on paper he doesn’t have stamina,” he said. “You can never tell with an exceptional horse. Sometimes they outrun their pedigree. That might be with American Pharoah.”
If American Pharoah cannot stay the mile and a half, Stewart and Fipke are convinced Tale of Verve will be one that can.
$1.5 million Belmont StakesSaturday, June 6, Belmont Park, 6:50 p.m. ET1 1/2 miles, dirt, 3-year-oldsTV COVERAGE: 4:30-7 p.m. ET on NBC
PP
Horse
Jockey
Trainer
Owner
ML Odds
1
Mubtaahij
Irad Ortiz Jr.
Mike de Kock
Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa al Maktoum
10-1
2
Tale of Verve
Gary Stevens
Dallas Stewart
Charles Fipke
15-1
3
Madefromlucky
Javier Castellano
Todd Pletcher
Cheyenne Stables and Mac Nichol
12-1
4
Frammento
Mike Smith
Nick Zito
Mossarosa
30-1
5
American Pharoah
Victor Espinoza
Bob Baffert
Zayat Stables
3-5
6
Frosted
Joel Rosario
Kiaran McLaughlin
Godolphin Racing
5-1
7
Keen Ice
Kent Desormeaux
Dale Romans
Donegal Racing
20-1
8
Materiality
John Velazquez
Todd Pletcher
Alto Racing
6-1