Owner/breeder Charles Fipke's grade 1-placed, second-crop sire Tale of Verve has been sold and exported to Haras La Concordia in Uruguay, according to multiple sources.
The 11-year-old son of Tale of Ekati and Fipke homebred compiled a 2-2-2 record from 20 starts that included a second in the 2015 Preakness Stakes (G1) behind eventual Triple Crown winner American Pharoah . He retired with $500,245 in earnings before being retired to stud at Darby Dan Farm.
Fipke stood eight stallions in the United States and Canada this year—Bee Jersey , Tale of Ekati, Tale of Verve, Tale of Silence , and Title Ready at Darby Dan; Forever d'Oro at Breakway Farm in Indiana; Jersey Town at Daehling Ranch in California; and Perfect Timber at Colebrook Farms Stallion Station in Ontario, Canada. Earlier this year, he sold Danish Dynaformer to Joe Humber and Carlos Macias, who are standing the stallion at Humber Stables near Ridgeway, Ontario.
With so many stallions to support, Fipke contacted bloodstock agent and former Keeneland sales executive Tom Thornbury for help finding a new home for Tale of Verve.
"My first thought was South America, and Uruguay was more responsive than anywhere else," said Thornbury, who put the deal together with Pablo Núñez, an auctioneer, bloodstock agent, and racing official at Hipódromo Nacional de Maroñas.
"The farm was impressed that he was second to American Pharoah in the Preakness and they liked all his physical attributes, he is a really perfectly balanced horse," he said. "La Concordia is a very progressive farm that for four of the last six years has been the leading breeder in Uruguay."
Tale of Verve was struggling to gain traction in the highly competitive Kentucky stallion market, having bred at most 25 mares in a single season since entering stud. He has sired two winners, led by stakes-placed Accident, who was third in the listed Juvenile Sprint Stakes at Kentucky Downs last year. The young stallion does hail from a productive family that includes grade 1 winners Zoftig, Zo Impressive, and Zaftig.
Haras La Concordia in Montevideo has been aggressive in acquiring American-bred stallions. Its roster includes 2004 Kentucky Derby (G1) and Preakness winner Smarty Jones, 2013 Kentucky Derby winner Orb, 2012 Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) winner Trinniberg, and 2010 King's Bishop Stakes (G1) winner Discreetly Mine.
Uruguay breeders have gotten support from the national government that created a Uruguay-bred program to incentivize the importing of quality bloodstock.
Javier Chá, the former general manager of Uruguay's leading gaming agency, Casinos del Estado, was instrumental in creating the Uruguay-bred program, according to Thornbury.
"Every racing country needs a Javier Chá. He is a government guy but he wants jobs for his people and he sees the racing business is good business," he said.
According to the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities, Uruguay is the world's eighth-leading country by number of Thoroughbred racehorses for breeding purposes among 80 countries surveyed.
Uruguayan equine imports are mainly purebred breeding horses, which accounted for 78% of total imports in 2020, according to a national marketing report. Within this category, Thoroughbred racehorses accounted for 40% of total imports.
