Tale of the Cat

Coolmore stallion Tale of the Cat (Storm Cat--Yarn, by Mr. Prospector) died Monday from "the infirmities of old age" according to an announcement released through the Coolmore website. Born in 1994 for the breeding partnership of Indian Creek, Philip Freedman and Hugo Lascelles, Tale of the Cat was a $375,000 Keeneland September grad in 1995 for trainer John Forbes, who signed the ticket on behalf of Phantom House Farm. He was a 11 1/2-length winner on debut at Monmouth Park and quickly moved up the ranks, contesting the GI Buick...

Charles Fipke homebred JUSTIFY PERFECTION (Justify) is a half-sister to four winners from six to the races, including three to have earned black-type, namely GI Natalma S. runner-up Stormy Perfection (Tale of the Cat)--the dam of the Irish stakes-placed Stormy Entry (Point of Entry)--SP Perfection Cat (Tale of the Cat) and MSP Perfect Silent Cat (Tale of the Cat). The unraced dam Silent Perfection (Perfect Soul {Ire}) is a daughter of the beautifully bred Silence Beauty (Jpn) (Sunday Silence), herself responsible for Fipke's GI Wood Memorial S. hero Tale of...

As someone who worked tirelessly throughout his career to promote New Jersey racing, first as a trainer then as a horsemen's rep, John Forbes no doubt would have liked what's being offered Saturday at the Far Hills hunt meet in the race named in his honor.  The John Forbes Memorial is worth $100,000, has attracted an evenly matched field of 14 and, run at two miles on the flat, is at a distance that makes it a handicapping puzzle. The Forbes Memorial is among the highlights on a card that...

John Hamilton Forbes, a top trainer on the New Jersey circuit for four decades and the president of the New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, passed away Sunday after a battle with cancer. He was 73 years old. "John was New Jersey racing," said Dennis Drazin, chairman and CEO of Darby Development LLC, operators of Monmouth Park Racetrack.  "He was a tireless advocate for the industry, for the horsemen and for Monmouth Park. "With a boundless capacity for kindness, John embodied everything good about this business-honor, integrity, compassion and selflessness. More...

It will be exactly 23 years ago on Sunday- August 23, 1997. Julie Krone vividly, and affectionately, recalls the day that she and Tale of the Cat took the GII King's Bishop S. "We had an inside post that day, and there were some great sprinters," Krone recounted. "It was a really tough field, but Tale of the Cat literally had wings. He just came out of there and it was like the faster we went, the more his ears came up and his stride got longer and more relaxed....