Owner Mike Repole remains frustrated with the state veterinarian's decision to scratch Forte, the morning-line favorite, from this year's Kentucky Derby due to a bruised hoof, he told Horse Racing Nation this week. The vet's decision kept the colt out of the Preakness as well, and Repole believes the unintended 10-week gap between races played a role in Forte's subsequent loss in the Belmont Stakes.
The colt is expected to start in Saturday's Grade 2 Jim Dandy at Saratoga as a prep race for the G1 Travers on Aug. 26, and while Repole is excited to get back on track with his Champion 2-Year-Old of 2022, the owner has expressed skepticism about his own future in the sport.
“If I can't make change in the next three years, I don't see myself being in the game after that,” Repole told HRN. “For someone who loves the sport and is highly passionate, I would be disappointed.”
Repole didn't specify what type of changes he hoped to make, but he compared horse racing to “a board game without instructions” and pointed out that commissioners answer to owners in all other major sports. He also said more should be done to educate fans and improve racing's image.
“The negativity is all people want to talk about in every business and every sport, whether it's baseball with steroids, whether it's the NFL with concussions or whether it's the less than 1 percent cheaters that we have in the game that we all want out of the game,” Repole said.
Read more at the Thoroughbred Daily News.
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