Mike Repole has considerable experience when it comes to the emotions generated by winning a grade 1 stakes.
Standing in the winner’s circle after races such as the Belmont Stakes (G1), Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1), and Travers Stakes (G1) are highly educational in that regard.
So when Repole said what he felt on Sept. 12 during the second day of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale was on a par with either of his victories in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1), there’s no reason to question him.
One of the sport’s most charismatic owners, Repole found a lofty level of success at another end of the sport when the hammer went down last week in Lexington and he was the breeder of the sale-topping, $3 million colt.
“It’s very exciting obviously to see a horse go into the ring and bring out that kind of money. When Vino Rosso won the Breeders’ Cup Classic (in 2019) we got about that much ($3.3 million), so when you breed a horse like this one it feels very, very special. It felt like a grade 1 win,” Repole said.
The $3 million colt, who attracted the highest price at the sale since 2019, is a son of Into Mischief out of the Empire Maker mare Nonna Mia, who raced for Repole and trainer Todd Pletcher and was grade 1-placed. Consigned by Lane’s End, he is a half brother to grade 1 winner and sire Outwork as well as Nonna Bella, which supplied a big boost to the interest in him during the bidding.
On Aug. 25, Repole’s homebred Fierceness , a 2-year-old son of Nonna Bella out of City of Light , registered a scintillating 11 1/4-length debut win for Pletcher at Saratoga Race Course, covering six furlongs in 1:09.56. With Fierceness bound for the Oct. 7 Champagne Stakes (G1) off that maiden win, it brought the bidding into the stratosphere.
“Beautiful colt,” said Terry Finley, CEO of West Point Thoroughbreds, a partnership that joined forces with Woodford Thoroughbreds, and Chuck Sonson in the winning bid. “I was up at Saratoga when Fierceness won. I was awestruck by that performance. Young family (and) with Into Mischief, you don’t have to say much. He was always at Lane’s End so we knew a little about his upbringing. We are really excited and have a new group of partners who are in on him. We will try to get to the Kentucky Derby (G1) in 2025.”
While Repole owns about 35 mares, he is best known for owning and racing Eclipse Award champions Forte , Nest , Vino Rosso, and Uncle Mo . So, it should not be surprising that Repole retained the largest individual share of the colt and will be a main part of the group that races him.
“To sell a horse for $3 million and retain a share of him is the best of both worlds,” Repole said.
Through Sept. 20 and nine sessions of the sale, Mike Repole the breeder, sold eight horses for a total of $3,847,000. He has four more scheduled to be sold Sept. 20-21.
A year earlier, Repole bred and sold a son of Street Sense out of the Bernadini mare Bambalina for $725,000 at the September sale. Named Billal , he finished third behind Fierceness in the Aug. 25 maiden race at the Spa.
Needless to say, Mike Repole the owner, has been extremely active. Working with Pletcher and a team that includes agent Jacob West of West Bloodstock, on his own (through Sept. 20) he has bought 34 horses for $11,435,000.
In addition, he has purchased four in a 50-50 arrangement with Spendthrift Partners for $2,650,000 and five with Spendthrift Farm for $1,935,000 (also 50-50), bringing his total expenditures to $13,727,500.
The biggest price tag was the $1,150,000 he paid along with Spendthrift Partners for a Gun Runner colt out of the Speightstown mare Margate Gardens that was consigned by Runnymede Farm.
None of those horses were bought with his good friend Vinnie Viola of St. Elias Stables, his partner in dozens of horses over the years, including last year’s 2-year-old champion male Forte and Vino Rosso. Repole said he and Viola are still friends and will race together, but they came into the sale with different approaches.
Repole said he wanted to develop new partnerships at the sale, dubbing himself “The United Nations of Horse Racing Ownership” for his willingness to embrace new co-owners.
“I will still work with Vinnie but at the end of the day, I have a unique style of buying horses. I love all facets of the game. The stakes horses, claimers, state-breds. And the way my style works, it’s hard to partner with one person on everything you do. I’ll partner with a lot of people, like Vinnie, Spendthrift, Eclipse, West Point, Donegal,” Repole said. “I call myself ‘The United Nations of Horse Racing Ownership.’ I really enjoy the partnerships.”
As much as he has spent more than $13 million at the sale, Repole did not back away from comments he made in the spring, voicing concern for the sport’s future and a need for better leadership. He said he may drop out of the sport in about three years if he does not see change in certain key areas.
“I have a lot of concerns but I’m going to try to force change with the racetracks, (the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority), other owners, and trainers,” the self-made billionaire from Queens, N.Y., said. “I love this game, but if I am not a part of it in the future it’s because I could not make an impact with changing things.”
