Canadian high on prospects
Fipke’s hopes riding on Blue Grass winner Java’s War, Golden Soul
Charles Fipke believes he has a horse addiction that can’t be cured.
The Canadian diamond and gold prospector chuckles when he talks about his ever-growing thoroughbred stable, numbering over 100 these days.
“They have therapy for drug and alcohol addictions,” Fipke said from his home near Kelowna, B.C. “But there isn’t anything out there for horse addiction.”
Fipke’s not complaining, however, as his obsession with racing and breeding has landed him two entrants in the 139th Kentucky Derby at the famed Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., on Saturday.
Both Java’s War (15-to-1, post 19) and Golden Soul (50-to-1, post 4) were bred through Fipke’s own knowledge of bloodlines and his team of consultants who reside from B.C. to South Africa.
Java’s War won the prestigious Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland, Ky. in his last start, overcoming a very slow start and blowing past the field to win by a long neck.
And Saturday is Java’s War’s third birthday, at least one reason to lay a few dollars on the colt in the 19horse Derby field.
Fipke, 66, has been in racing since the early 1980s but it has been only in the last five years that his horses have surged onto the world scene.
In 2005, his Ontario-bred colt Not Bourbon won the Queen’s Plate and in 2011his filly Perfect Shirl won the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf at Churchill. Both were trained by hall of famer Roger Attfield.
“It seems to be getting better all time,” said Fipke, who discovered diamonds in the Northwest Territories and has active diamond and gold digs in Angola, Morocco, Brazil and parts of Canada.
“Behind the scenes, there is a lot of work going on. It’s a lot of science trying to duplicate superior female families. We try to get a good idea, when we match stallions and mares, what the best distance will be for the foal. Ideally we try to breed a horse that excels at 11⁄ miles (the distance of the Derby).”
Fipke races a few in Ontario and Not Bourbon has been standing at stud in King, Ont., but most of his horses are in the U.S. and France. “I did get scared about the whole government thing (in Ontario) and what might happen to (Woodbine) and its racing,” said Fipke. “I foaled a lot of mares in France this year. They have a great system there with betting outlets everywhere and a lucrative revenue-sharing program for (all groups).” Fipke will have a contingent of family and friends — including actress Bo Derek — with him at Churchill Downs for his second crack at the world’s most famous horse race. “It’s a passion for me,” said Fipke. “I spend half of time on my horses. I will be happier when I am in the black but what the heck, it’s fun.”