Mo Donegal | Horse Racing Free Tips

Spendthrift Newcomers Feature Pair of Juvenile Stakes Winners

Spendthrift Farm has added four new stallions to their extensive roster for 2023. Of those, two carry the weighty distinction of winning a graded stake at two. Both precocious horses furthered their success on the racetrack after their juvenile campaigns.

Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo – Callingmissbrown, by Pulpit) took home a hard-fought win in the 2021 GII Remsen S. and went on to claim a Classic victory this year. His new studmate Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music – Unicorn Girl, by A.P. Five Hundred) came close to an undefeated season at two, but upped his game at three to be named Eclipse Champion Sprinter in 2021.

Jackie's Warrior's remarkable career highlighted by five Grade I scores started off with his domination of New York's juvenile division in 2020. Spendthrift's Mark Toothaker admits that ahead of the colt's stakes debut in the GII Saratoga Special S., their stallion nominations team was eyeing a different race contender. But after a call in to Steve Asmussen's assistant Scott Blasi, who said that Jackie's Warrior was the one they needed to look out for, they turned their attention to the bay son of Maclean's Music.

“The next thing you know, the horse does just what Scott said he was going to do and I'm on a plane headed up there trying to get a deal done,” Toothaker recalled with a laugh. “We were very fortunate to be able to get involved with him early.”

After his three-length win in the Saratoga Special, Jackie's Warrior established a new stakes record in the Hopeful and then earned a 100 Beyer Speed Figure in his 5 1/2-length Champagne win.

“It takes a special 2-year-old to be able to do what he did,” Toothaker explained. “What was amazing was how big and strong he was. He is a heavily-muscled horse with a lot of bone. When you first saw him as a 2-year-old, you're thinking that this is the biggest kid on the playground.”

During his Eclipse-worthy sophomore season, Jackie's Warrior reeled off four graded stakes wins highlighted by the GI H. Allen Jerkens Memorial S., where he went head-to-head with MGISW Life Is Good (Into Mischief). His four graded stakes wins at four included his fifth straight win at Saratoga in the GI Alfred G. Vanderbilt H., where he became the first horse in the storied track's 159-year history to win a Grade I in three consecutive seasons.

Toothaker recalled visiting Jackie's Warrior one morning during Derby week ahead of the sprinter's win in the GI Churchill Downs S. The backside was hectic and the Asmussen team had several high-profile contenders entered for that weekend, but the quietly composed Steve Asmussen spent over half an hour talking about his superstar trainee.

“He was so proud that he had bought the horse for $95,000 at the Keeneland Sale,” Toothaker said. “He said, 'Tooth, where were all the experts? Did they all go to lunch when he sold?' He was very proud that he had picked out the horse for the Robisons, who are wonderful people. Getting to meet Kirk and Judy Robison and develop a friendship with them and their children and grandchildren over the last three years has just been amazing.”

Jackie's Warrior, the highest-earning son of Maclean's Music, will stand for $50,000 in 2023. The champion has been in high demand with breeders and has already amassed a high-quality book to kick off his stud career.

“I've had so many people come out to the farm and say that he might be the best one they've seen of all the new [stallions],” Toothaker said. “Almost every mare that he got was a stakes winner or a stakes producer, so he's going to get every opportunity.”

Spendthrift's Mo Donegal has been received by breeders with similar enthusiasm.

“We love to have sons of Uncle Mo because that is what our breeders want,” Toothaker explained. “Last year [Spendthrift sire] Yaupon was the second most-popular horse in North America. Mo Donegal is a big, stretchy horse. What I love about him is that even though he stands over a lot of ground at 16'2 and a half, he's got a beautiful frame on him and a really nice hip.”

Going two for three as a juvenile, Mo Donegal claimed an exciting edition of the GII Remsen S. when he battled future Grade I winner Zandon (Upstart) down the stretch and survived a stewards' inquiry to get the win by a nose. The Todd Pletcher pupil ran third in this year's GIII Holy Bull S. before adding a win in the GII Wood Memorial S. over eventual GI Preakness S. winner Early Voting (Gun Runner). In the GI Kentucky Derby, he drew the rail and raced 10 wide in the stretch to get up for fifth.

Mike Repole obtained a minority interest in Mo Donegal shortly before his Kentucky Derby bid and was rewarded in the colt's next and final start in the GI Belmont S., where he finished three length ahead of the runner-up, fellow Ashview Farm/Colts Neck Stables-bred Nest (Curlin), who is also co-owned by Repole Stables.

“I know that was a very special day for Mike and his family, the Lyster family and for Todd,” said Toothaker. “With Mo Donegal, one of the biggest factors for us has been that Mike Repole is our partner. Mike brings so much energy and when you've got a guy that buys 71 yearlings at the Keeneland Sale, that was a huge thing for us to know that we had his support like we have on Vino Rosso.”

One of Uncle Mo's top three leading earners along with fellow Classic winner Nyquist, a top third-crop sire this year, as well as champion Golden Pal, who is also set to begin his stud career in 2023, Mo Donegal will stand for $20,000. His dam Callingmissbrown, a daughter of GI Acorn S. victress and GI Kentucky Oaks runner-up Island Sand (Tabasco Cat), has produced two others winners including her 2-year-old daughter Prank (Into Mischief), who was named a 'TDN Rising Star' after her 9 3/4-length debut win at Saratoga this summer.

“For Mo Donegal to win a graded stake at two in the Remsen, which is a tough, grueling race at a mile and an eighth, but yet be able to do what he did as a 3-year-old in the Wood Memorial and top it off in the Belmont, it takes a very good horse to be able to do that,” Toothaker noted. “Mo Donegal was one of the absolute best of his class. It's a lot to offer breeders, especially for $20,000.”

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Repole’s Dream Season Rolls Into Breeders’ Cup Weekend

LEXINGTON, KY – Mike Repole is heading into Breeders' Cup weekend with 'Uncle Mo' on his side.

After fulfilling a lifelong dream by running one-two in the GI Belmont S. with the recently retired and Spendthrift-bound Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo) and Nest (Curlin)–one of Repole's seven Grade I victories on the year–the momentum has continued to build for the native New Yorker's stable ahead of this year's Championships at Keeneland.

'TDN Rising Star' Forte (Violence) and Chocolate Gelato (Practical Joke), two of the bigger names on the 'Future Stars Friday' card, will line up in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile and Juvenile Fillies, respectively. The aforementioned Nest will look to put an exclamation point on her brilliant 3-year-old campaign against an all-star cast of older fillies and mares in Saturday's GI Breeders' Cup Distaff. All three are trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher.

“This has been an amazing year,” Repole said. “It's one thing to win the Belmont. But in all my biggest dreams, I never envisioned them coming down the stretch with the blue-and-orange silks in first and second. We won seven Grade I's this year, which is insane, with the incredible team that we've put together of Ed Rosen, Jim Martin, Jake West, Danielle Bricker, and, of course, Todd Pletcher, who has the most pressure.

“Having horses like Chocolate Gelato, Forte and Nest, I have to scratch my head every day,” Repole added.

It's been 12 years now since Repole Stable's flagship runner turned Coolmore leading sire Uncle Mo concluded his championship season with authority in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Churchill Downs.

“I think Uncle Mo not only was the perfect name for that horse (Editor's Note: Uncle Mo is a popular sports expression used to describe when a team or player gets on a roll), but I really think that he's been the perfect name for the stable,” Repole said. “From Uncle Mo, you get Mo Donegal. You get horses like that. At the end of the day, he's gonna be the patriarch of the stable.”

Stars in the Making…

Forte is likely to go off as the second choice in the Juvenile behind the unbeaten Bob Baffert-trained MGISW and 'Rising Star' Cave Rock (Arrogate). Looking to be any kind with a blowout debut win at Belmont Park, Forte has more than made up for an off-the-board finish as the favorite in Saratoga's GIII Sanford S. with a pair of subsequent wins at the highest level.

After splashing home first by three lengths in a saturated renewal of the GI Hopeful S. with next-out GI Champagne S. winner 'Rising Star' Blazing Sevens (Good Magic) back in third, Forte passed his two-turn test in style with a hard-fought neck decision after making a powerful, sweeping move on the far turn over the Juvenile track and trip in the GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity.

Bred in Kentucky by South Gate Farm and co-owned with Vinnie Viola's St. Elias Stable, Forte is one of six Grade I winners for Violence. The $80,000 Keeneland November weanling and $110,000 Keeneland September yearling hails from the extended female family of champion 2-year-old filly Folklore (Tiznow).

“We went out there for the Futurity with the number one goal to prepare this horse for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile,” Repole said. “We wanted to get a race over the track and for him to be stabled at Keeneland. The way he did it was incredibly impressive. He's getting better and better.”

Repole continued, “We have that West Coast Baffert horse to beat. We know we can sit behind horses and we'll see what happens. You never know, you got to show up, right?”

Chocolate Gelato, winner of the GI Frizette S., has been installed as the 7-2 morning-line favorite in a full field of 14 for the Juvenile Fillies. “I think it's a wide-open race,” Repole said.

A disappointing third on debut as the heavy favorite on opening day at Saratoga, Chocolate Gelato ran to those lofty expectations next time out, airing in front-running fashion with a career-best 92 Beyer a month later at the Spa. The $165,000 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky yearling and $475,000 Fasig-Tipton Florida 2-year-old showed a different dimension over a sloppy track going a one-turn mile in the Frizette, rallying through traffic from fifth with a blitz on the far turn en route to a professional-looking one-length victory.

She will seek to become the ninth filly to pull off the Frizette/Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies double. Bred in Kentucky by Vince Colbert, Chocolate Gelato's deep female family includes GISWs Imagining, Rhythm, Girolamo and Super Saver. She makes her two-turn debut in the Juvenile Fillies.

“She sat behind horses, got mud in her face and she fought down the stretch,” Repole said of Chocolate Gelato's Frizette win. “She's on the backstretch sitting in fourth or fifth on the inside and I said to everyone around me, 'If this is a good horse, she's gonna win this race because this is a really tough spot.' She was 8-5, but at that point, if there were live odds, I would've made her 6-1. Irad [Ortiz, Jr.] said she came through willingly and the rest is history.”

That Top 1% of 1%…

It's been a season to remember for the division-leading Nest, led by a trio of jaw-dropping Grade I victories against her peers in Keeneland's GI Central Bank Ashland S. and Saratoga's GI Coaching Club American Oaks and GI Alabama S. Also a solid second as the favorite in the GI Kentucky Oaks, the $350,000 Keeneland September graduate ran terrific in defeat once again after stumbling at the start against the boys in the final leg of the Triple Crown. The Repole Stable, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Michael House colorbearer punched her ticket to Lexington with an effortless 9 3/4-length win while taking on older fillies and mares for the first time in the GII Beldame S. at Aqueduct.

“I've been so blessed to have Grade I, special horses,” Repole said. “The only horse I've owned that I can even remotely at this time compare her to is Uncle Mo. Uncle Mo had the brilliance of that top 1% of 1%. Nest has that. She's a once-in-a-lifetime filly and she's coming back next year. She's just getting better.”

Nest may be favored in a Distaff field for the ages that also includes her champion 'Rising Star' stablemate Malathaat (Curlin), MGISW Clairiere (Curlin) and GI Kentucky Oaks heroine Secret Oath (Arrogate).

“I dreamed of watching races like this as a kid,” Repole said. “Forget that she's potentially the favorite. It's an honor and a blessing just to be in a race like this.”

Bred in Kentucky by Ashview Farm and Colts Neck Stables–also the breeders of Mo Donegal–Nest is one of 19 top-level winners for the mighty Curlin. Her full brother GI Santa Anita H. winner Idol (Curlin), campaigned by Calvin Nguyen, will begin his career at stud as a Repole Stable/Taylor Made Stallions Venture in 2023. Their 2-year-old stakes-winning half-brother Lost Ark (Violence), a troubled sixth in the Breeders' Futurity, is entered in the Juvenile.

“I've been following Idol's career since the day we purchased Nest as a yearling,” Repole said. “A few weeks after we bought Nest, Idol broke his maiden and showed incredible talent. It was very exciting when he won a Grade I in California. Now with Nest and Idol both being Grade I winners, I'm excited about both of their future potentials–Idol as a stallion, and Nest, one day in the future, as a broodmare.”

Strength in Numbers…

Smart money says that you're going to be seeing a lot more of Repole in the coming years at the Championships. The co-founder of Glaceau Vitaminwater (sold to Coca-Cola for a reported $4.1 billion in 2007) and the sports drink BodyArmor (which also sold to Coca-Cola for $5.6 billion in 2021) and Viola's St. Elias Stables led all buyers for the second straight year at the Keeneland September sale, purchasing 31 yearlings in partnership for $12.84 million ($414,194 average).

In addition to Forte, Repole and St. Elias, of course, teamed up to campaign 2019 GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner and champion older dirt male Vino Rosso (Curlin), himself a $410,000 KEESEP graduate. Now standing at Spendthrift Farm, Vino Rosso was represented by a first-crop filly that brought $550,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale.

“It's been a good run, so I stepped it up a little bit,” Repole said. “I thought I was being too cheap, so I decided to spend a little bit more money last year and this year. I say I do this with 5% of my time. I think I'm gonna increase it to 10%, so let's see what happens.”

With an emphasis on creating stallions, Repole, either alone or in partnership, purchased a total of 70 yearlings at Keeneland September for a total of $26.67 million. Some of Repole's other high-profile partners include: Coolmore, Eclipse, West Point, Spendthrift and Gainesway.

“At first, I was really against partnerships,” Repole said. “I kinda wanted to call the shots. But at the end of the day, you know what? Number one, it builds relationships and partnerships that are very important to me. And number two, would you rather own 50% of 100 horses? Or 50 horses at 100%. I'd rather double my chances, or in certain ways, triple my chances.

“What I'm most proud of with the seven Grade I wins this year is that you've got my partnership with Eclipse with Nest, Forte with my friend Vinnie Viola, Mo Donegal with Donegal Racing and Chocolate Gelato, who is 100% Repole. It's pretty cool to have those four horses, own 50% or more on all of them and have all these different partners.

Repole concluded, “We want to win, we want to have fun and we want to share success. Those are the goals of the stable.”

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Into Mischief Tops Spendthrift’s 2023 Stud Fees

Into Mischief once again leads Spendthrift Farm's roster for 2023 with his stud fee remaining at $250,000 S&N, the operation announced Thursday.

Spendthrift has added four new stallions including MGISWs Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music) and Cyberknife (Gun Runner), who are both pointing for the Breeders' Cup. The other new additions are GI Belmont S. winner Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo) and GSW Greatest Honour (Tapit), who are both available for inspection at the farm.

Champion Jackie's Warrior, the likely favorite in the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint, will command a fee of $50,000 S&N. GI Arkansas Derby and GI Haskell Invitational S. winner Cyberknife's fee will be determined after he runs in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic. Mo Donegal, who retired shortly after his Classic victory, will stand for $20,000 S&N. While regally bred Greatest Honour will be at an introductory fee of $7,500 S&N.

“We are extremely excited about the new stallions we are bringing in for 2023. They represent exactly what we hope to do each year, in terms of offering quality and value at all levels of the market,” said Ned Toffey, Spendthrift general manager. “Jackie's Warrior is a brilliantly fast champion and one of the most decorated racehorses to come around in recent years. Mo Donegal is a graded winner at two and classic winner at three. Cyberknife won two of the most high-profile Grade Is for 3-year-olds, and Greatest Honour has a rare combination of talent, looks and pedigree that you don't find often at his level of the market. From $50,000 on down to $7,500, all four of these horses were precocious, displayed immense talent, are tremendous physicals, and possess the sire power breeders are looking for.”

Into Mischief's GI Kentucky Derby-winning son and Horse of the Year Authentic will stand for $60,000 S&N for his third season, down $10,000 from last year. Meanwhile Bolt d'Oro will see his fee increase on the back of a strong freshman season, going from $20,000 to $35,000 S&N.

Omaha Beach and Yaupon will remain at $30,000 S&N. Omaha Beach's yearlings have proven quite popular, making him the leader in his class at the recent yearling auctions. Yaupon is standing his second season this year.

Spendthrift's stallions under $20,000 are led by champion Vino Rosso at $15,000 S&N, down from $20,000 last year. MGISW Vekoma and champion Mitole will also stand for $15,000 S&N. Mitole's fee is unchanged from last year and Vekoma is down slightly from $17,500. Goldencents, Known Agenda, Rock Your World and Jimmy Creed will all stand for $10,000 S&N.

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Preakness Winner Early Voting Retired to Ashford

Klaravich Stables' Classic winner Early Voting (Gun Runner–Amour d'Ete, by Tiznow) has been retired from racing and will stand at Coolmore America's Ashford Stud for 2023, Coolmore announced Wednesday. Out of a half-sister to Speightstown (Gone West), Early Voting made each of his first three starts at Aqueduct, winning a maiden special weight and the GIII Withers S. before finishing second by a neck to eventual GI Belmont S. winner Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo) in the GII Wood Memorial S.

Despite having the required points for the GI Kentucky Derby, trainer Chad Brown decided to bypass the race and went straight for the GI Preakness S. on owner Seth Klarman's birthday where he defeated likely champion Epicenter (Not This Time) to record a Beyer Speed Figure of 105.

“Early Voting was an outstanding physical specimen as a yearling,” said purchaser Mike Ryan. “He had size, strength, scope, substance and tremendous quality. It is very easy to be impressed by him, he has all the credentials to become a successful stallion and I am very confident that breeders will love him.”

“Early Voting identified himself very early in his initial training as one of our top colts in his crop,” said Brown. “He has tremendous gate speed for a horse his size and incredible stamina to compliment it. His performance in the Preakness confirms his talent as one of the best in this talented division.”

“We're delighted to be standing Classic winner Early Voting,” said Ashford's Dermot Ryan. “He's a very good-looking son of a remarkable sire in Gun Runner–with an incredible six Grade I winners from his first crop–and he's out of a half-sister to the sire of our own Munnings.”

A fee for Early Voting will be announced at a later date.

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