Mike Repole | Horse Racing Free Tips

Repole Pledges Matching TAA Donation

Owner Mike Repole has pledged to match donations to the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance up to $100,000 throughout the month of January.

“Every Thoroughbred athlete deserves an enjoyable and quality retirement. I am honored to support Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance and their mission of accredited aftercare,” said Repole. “I encourage others to join me in making a charitable donation during the month when Thoroughbreds celebrate their birthdays. Let us all raise awareness and do our part in ensuring these athletes receive the best, well-deserved protection as they transition beyond the finish line. It is our responsibility, and we all owe it to these amazing loving Thoroughbred athletes.”

To help spread awareness of the matching campaign for the month, TAA and Repole Stable encourage anyone with a registered Thoroughbred–whether still racing, bred to race, or retired–to contribute to the campaign, capture the celebratory moment with a photo of their Thoroughbred, and use the hashtag #TbredBDAY2024 to post to social media.

“Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance is deeply grateful for Mike Repole's extraordinary $100,000 pledge. His commitment sets the tone for all of us to rally together and make an even greater impact. Join us in honoring his generosity by contributing what you can to support our retired Thoroughbred racehorses,”

said TAA director of funding and events Emily Dresen, Director of Funding and Events.

Contributions can be made by check, text, or online donation.

To donate online visit: thoroughbredaftercare.org/donate
To donate by text message: text DONATE to 56651
To donate by check: mail with attention to Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance at 821 Corporate Drive, Lexington, KY 40503.

The Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that accredits, inspects, and awards grants to approved aftercare organizations to retrain, retire, and rehome Thoroughbreds using industry-wide funding. Along with continued funding from its original partners Breeders' Cup, The

Jockey Club, and Keeneland Association, TAA is supported by owners, trainers, breeders, racetracks, aftercare professionals, and other industry members. Since inception in 2012, TAA has granted more than $31.9 million to accredited aftercare

organizations. Currently 86 aftercare organizations comprised of approximately 180 facilities across North America have been granted accreditation.

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Pletcher-Forte Team Granted Temporary Restraining Order On Hopeful DQ

The Schenectady Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order Thursday that put a halt on the New York Gaming Commission's efforts to disqualify Forte (Violence) from his win in the 2022 GI Hopeful S. at Saratoga and suspend trainer Todd Pletcher.

Acting on behalf of Pletcher and owners Mike Repole and Vinnie Viola, attorney Drew Mollica filed an Article 78 appeal. Article 78 appeals are lawsuits mainly used to challenge an action, or inaction, by agencies of New York State and local governments.

The New York Gaming Commission has alleged that Forte tested positive for meloxicam, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, widely prescribed to treat osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, and sold under the brand name Mobic. Forte was disqualified and Pletcher was issued a 10-day suspension and fined $1,000.

The Forte team has used Dr. Steven A. Barker, considered one of the foremost experts in equine drug testing and research, as a witness and Barker has said that 500 picograms or .5 nanograms of meloxicam was detected in Forte's system. Barker said he believes that such a low level of the medication would not impact a horse's performance and that the small amount is indicative of environmental contamination.

A hearing was granted by the Gaming Commission, which voted unanimously to uphold a recommendation from a hearing officer. After that decision, Forte's legal team took the next step and went to court. The case is scheduled to resurface on Jan. 9, at which time the court can issue a permanent injunction.

“We look forward to appellate review of one of the most unfair, egregious hearing processes and commission orders that I have ever seen,” Mollica said. “The facts will show that not only did Mr. Pletcher break no Gaming Commission rule, the rule by which he was charged has no applicability at all and the hearing was constitutionally flawed.”

Mollica also argued that the amount found in the horse's system did not merit a violation. He said that Dr. George Maylin, the director of the New York Equine Drug Testing Programs, agreed with that finding and stated as much when going before the hearing officer.

“The scientific finding alleged by the Gaming Commission did not meet the standard of a violation,” Mollica said. “Dr. George Maylin, the nation's foremost equine pharmacologist, testified as much at the hearing. It should be noted that Dr. Maylin did not testify for the prosecution, in this case the Gaming Commission, but testified for the defense. That speaks volumes. We look forward to an impartial review of this matter. After reviewing the transcript of the hearing all I can say is that this was a travesty of justice.”

Once the positive finding was revealed Repole has been adamant that the disqualification was unwarranted and vowed to fight.

“I spent $20 million last year on horses, I can spend $20 million fighting this case,” he said in May. “I think long-term this is going to be good for racing. This whole process, though sad and pathetic, has been a great learning experience for me.”

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After Great White Way Stakes Fiasco, Repole Calls for Jockey Club Leaders to Resign

In the aftermath of the controversial running of Saturday's Great White Way S. at Aqueduct, in which Brick Ambush (Laoban) crossed the wire second but was disqualified and placed last, outspoken owner Mike Repole has called for the resignation of The Jockey Club's president and CEO Jim Gagliano and its chairman Stuart Janney III. He did so Wednesday in a post to his account on the social media website X.

Repole, who did not have a horse in the race, recently announced the formation of The National Thoroughbred Alliance (NTA), an organization he hopes can bring needed change to a sport he has said is rudderless and in steep decline.

“I'm asking for the immediate resignation of both the Chairman/CEO and President of The Jockey Club and I appeal to the board members of The Jockey Club to terminate the operating leadership,” Repole wrote. “The industry needs help, we are in an extreme crisis. Let's take action!!!!!”

Neither Gagliano nor Janney responded to a request for comment at deadline for this story.

The Jockey Club employs Samantha Randazzo, one of the three stewards working at the NYRA tracks. Other than that, it was unclear why Repole placed the blame for controversy on The Jockey Club. He did, however, make it clear that he is frustrated with the organization and labeled it the “old guard.”

In a roughly run race, there was an incident near the quarter pole in which three horses came together, bumped and were steadied. At the time, Brick Ambush was racing well outside of that trio, kept a straight path and did not make contact with another horse. The consensus since the race is that the stewards mistakenly took down the wrong horse.

Race winner Antonio of Venice (Laoban) may have started the pile-up when he came off the rail under Manny Franco after being blocked. It's also possible that the stewards mistook Brick Ambush for Solo's Furry (Solomini), who may have come over a path or two. Brick Ambush was racing outside of Solo's Fury, who was eased after the incident, and the jockeys of both horses wore green silks.

Brick Ambush's owners Dean and Patti Reeves attempted to appeal the decision, but were informed by the New York Gaming Commission that disqualifications are final once the race is made official and cannot be reversed.

The disqualification cost the owners second-place money of $100,000.

Not only did the stewards disqualify Brick Ambush, they handed his jockey, Junior Alvarado, a three-day suspension for careless riding.

“Dean and Patti Reeves are great owners and wonderful people,” Repole wrote. “This sport is very fortunate to have them. The events at Aqueduct last Saturday were brutally unfair to them. Their horse should have been placed first, instead he was disqualified. The bettors, the fans, the trainers, jockeys and owners were blatantly hurt in this situation. With no governing body in place or people policing the sport, they can't even appeal an atrocious ruling.

“The more I dig deeper into this situation, the more I place the blame on the operating leaders, Chairman/CEO and President of The Jockey Club,” Repole wrote. “I have an incredible respect for the great leaders on the board of The Jockey Club. They have great passion for this sport. Let's unite and work together and rebuild The Jockey Club into a trusting organization that can represent and govern this wonderful sport while working with all people associated in the industry to make racing better. We all need to have an immense sense of urgency and we must move quickly.”

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America’s Repole Starts to Make His Mark in Europe

DEAUVILLE, France– On Nov. 19 at Aqueduct, Leslie's Rose (Into Mischief–Wildwood Rose {Ire}) by Galileo {Ire}) made a spectacular debut, demolishing the competition by almost 10 lengths, becoming her sire's 42nd 'TDN Rising Star'. Nothing new there. But the Into Mischief cross with a Galileo mare got Mike Repole thinking.

Repole, the American entrepreneur who looks set to earn his second straight Eclipse Award with a champion juvenile, this time with his homebred GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner Fierceness (City of Light), has become more and more invested in the breeding end of the business over the past few years, and is now looking to Europe for strains of soundness and stamina, according to the team of Eddie Rosen and Alex Solis who represented him at the Arqana December sale this week.

“Mike is a student of the game and he's very forward-thinking,” said Solis, who has worked as an advisor to Repole for several years. “In the U.S., the medication rules are changing, and becoming more like they have been in Europe for a long time, so jumping into those European pedigrees where horses are more durable and have stamina makes sense to him. So we're mixing up the bloodlines and trying new things. The mares we bought over here are really of a shape that works on the dirt.”

“Now that we're more involved in breeding, Mike has realized that the infusion of bloodlines from all over the world would be helpful to our breeding program,” said Eddie Rosen, who serves as General Manager of his Repole Stable. “We participated at Goffs and Tattersalls this year, and while Alex has been here many times, it's my first time at Deauville and Mike thought it would be a good experience for me to be here.”

Solis said that the win by Leslie's Rose in such an impressive performance made Repole think that the mixing of American and European bloodlines was the way forward for his breeding program. He has since spent €450,000 at Goffs on four mares through Jacob West, and bought three more at Tattersalls for 480,000gns. But he saved most of his powder for France. From Arqana, the team will bring back five purchases; four in-foal mares and one 2-year-filly, for a total of €875,000.

“He started buying European mares at Goffs because of the Niarchos reduction,” said Solis. “He then purchased three mares at Tattersalls. Along the same theory with the European mares, he'd like to find some South American mares.”

Repole's father was born in Nice, France, and it wouldn't be surprising to have him turn up personally in Deauville in the future, Solis said. “I have helped Mike at the sales for the last three years, and he has turned from someone I advise to a friend. It's amazing how motivating he is and the thing I really appreciate about Mike is that he's willing to try all kinds of things.”

All five of his Arqana purchases will be sent home to America. Repole keeps mares at Lane's End, Brookdale Farm, and WinStar.

Lot 45, All Grace (Fr) (Kingman {GB}), is a 7-year-old mare in foal to Too Darn Hot (GB), and brought €250,000. Lot 97, Baltic Duchess (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}), is nine, and in foal to St Mark's Basilica (Fr), and sold for €180,000. Lot 104, Pamplemousse (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}), is a 9-year-old also in foal to Too Darn Hot and brought €100,000. Deep Impact (Jpn) mare Tempel (Fr) (lot 482), an 8-year-old winner who ran fourth in the G3 Prix Penelope, joined the Repole fold for €95,000 in foal to successful Grey Sovereign (GB)-line sire Kendargent (Fr) during Sunday's session.

While Repole retired his potential turf champion Up To The Mark to Lane's End Farm this winter, matings for the mares have not yet been determined, said Rosen. “They are all by sires that we like, out of very strong female families, in foal to young, very promising sires. Kingman is a sire that we have great respect for and he's had a lot of success in America, so he's appealing to us,” said Rosen of All Grace. “And this mare is from an excellent female family and we believe that Too Darn Hot is a young sire and we have confidence in him succeeding.”

“Lope de Vega, much like Kingman, has had tremendous success in America. She's in foal to St Mark's Basilica, another young sire that we think is a good prospect, and this mare [Baltic Duchess] is stakes-placed from a strong family.”

Of Pamplemousse, Rosen said, “Siyouni is another that Mike really, really likes, a successful sire, and the kind of blood we want to bring to America. It's another strong female family, and again, in foal to an excellent young prospect.”

His fourth Saturday purchase, the 2-year-old filly High Handed (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}) will be shipped home to America and pointed to a racing career. She was purchased for €250,000.

Rosen, a lawyer by trade, has served as a pedigree advisor to various clients for years, selecting horses such as Tale of the Cat and More Than Ready, among others, and recently gave up his law career to work for Repole full time. He said that Repole was very involved in the selection process, and ran up an international phone bill talking to Solis and Rosen throughout the day as he watched the sale from home in America.

“We haven't had a breeding program for a long time, but we have now bred the presumptive 2-year-old champion, and Mike likes to participate in every aspect of the business. I think that he's found that the breeding side of it is appealing to him. We have tried to upgrade the quality of the broodmare band, and have sold quite a few and purchased a few others, in order to have an exclusive broodmare band to breed from. Part of that plan was acquiring bloodlines outside of American breeding.”

“Mike is directly involved in every aspect of the program,” said Rosen. “He's very hands-on, he's brilliant and he thinks outside the box. That's why this appealed to him. He likes to try different approaches in an attempt to succeed at every level.”

Rosen tried to make the most of his first visit to Deauville, taking a D-Day tour on the Thursday before the sale with his wife, Barbara. “It has been a wonderful experience. Deauville itself is an incredible place. The D Day tour was a very emotional and educational experience. The food is fantastic, from breakfast to dinner, and meeting new people is a great part of the experience. And Arqana has been wonderful. They have been very warm and welcoming and made our stay really incredible.”

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