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Mike Repole Joins The TDN Writers’ Room Podcast

Four days after his Forte (Violence) won the GII Fountain of Youth S. in his 3-year-old debut, co-owner Mike Repole was still beaming. At this point, Forte's lead-up to the GI Kentucky Derby has been perfect. There have been no hiccups and his race in the Fountain of Youth checked every conceivable box. So what did Repole, who owns the horse in partnership with Vinnie Viola, think? We had Repole join us on the TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland to find out. Repole was this week's Green Group Guest of the Week.

“The script you write never works out,” Repole said. “But the way things have turned out with Forte, I couldn't have written that script any better. We just got his Ragozin number, which was a 7 3/4, which was the lowest number of his career off a four-month layoff. So it's always a promising sign. You don't really know who the competition was in the race. But he hadn't raced in four months and all those horses had starts either four weeks ago or eight weeks ago. So everything really worked out.”

That Repole and Viola have a horse like Forte is no accident. They have spent millions at the sales acquiring dozens of horses. Forte, who cost $110,000, was one of 43 yearlings they bought at the 2021 Keeneland September sale. Over the last two years at Keeneland, they have spent $30 million on 75 horses. Repole acknowledged that their way of attacking the sales only works if you can come up with a couple of stars.

“When you buy 100 horses, if you can get 2% of them to be Grade I winners, you're going to pay for the whole crop,” Repole said. “Now, it sounds easy, but you need to find a Nest and you need a Forte. It is very difficult. But I think I play at all different levels. And listen, I don't want to give away a secret here, but. I'm aggressive.”

Repole made some news during the interview, revealing that his preference is that Forte run as a 4-year-old. He said he would not enter into an agreement for Forte with a stud farm unless they agreed to give him an option to run the horse next year.

“I have to have an option to run him at four, whether we do or not,” he said. “It has to be that I get to choose, and everybody knows that's the plan. Let's be honest, we don't know if he's going to or not. In this sport, we don't even know that he's going to have a next start. But I have to have that option.”

As for Nest (Curlin), the 3-year-old filly champion of 2022 that Repole owns along with Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Repole said she will make her 4-year-old debut in the GI La Troienne S. on April 5 at Churchill Downs.

“We gave her time off and she's grown up and she's developed,” Repole said. “We all know what happens with Curlin's between three and four. It's hard to think this way, but she might even be better this year.”

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by Coolmore,https://lanesend.com/ the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, Woodford Thoroughbreds, The Kentucky Thoroughbred Association, XBTV, 1/st Racing, WinStar Farm and https://www.threechimneys.com/ West Point Thoroughbreds, Randy Moss, Zoe Cadman and Bill Finley took a look back at a big weekend of racing that included the Fountain of Youth S., the GII San Felipe S. and the GI Santa Anita H. and a look ahead to the GII Tampa Bay Derby. The subject of Alex Canchari's suicide brought about an important discussion of how jockeys best deal with mental health issues. Canchari's death came six week after jockey Avery Whisman also took his own life. Cadman, a former rider, pointed out that both jockeys were not actively riding at the time of their deaths and said that down time can be difficult for any rider. Finley raised the issue of whether or not it's time to allow jockeys to ride at slightly heavier weights, but Cadman and Moss both maintained that would not solve any problems.

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Taking Stock: Pletcher on the Curlins

Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher is on fire, unveiling one promising colt or filly after another in maiden, allowance, and stakes races it seems.

Last month, Pletcher won his eighth Eclipse Award as North America's leading trainer. Not only that, but three horses trained by Pletcher also won Eclipses: Forte (Violence), champion 2-year-old colt; Nest (Curlin), champion 3-year-old filly; and Malathaat (Curlin), champion older female.

Like Pletcher, Curlin shone at the Eclipses. Aside from Nest and Malathaat, his Elite Power was named champion sprinter of 2022, giving the Hill 'n' Dale-based stallion three individual Eclipse winners in one year, the first time any stallion has had more than two in a year.

Curlin and Pletcher, in case it wasn't evident, have a special long-term relationship. On Saturday, the promising Pletcher-trained Julia Shining (Curlin), a Grade ll-winning 3-year-old sister to Malathaat owned and bred by Stonestreet, finished third in her season debut in the one-mile-and-40-yard Suncoast S. at Tampa Bay Downs, 1 1/4 lengths behind 2-year-old champion Wonder Wheel (Into Mischief), who in turn was a neck behind 38-1 upsetter Dreaming of Snow (Jess's Dream), a granddaughter of Curlin. This Saturday, Pletcher saddles Crupi (Curlin) in the Gll Risen Star S. at Fair Grounds for Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable. Crupi is a maiden; he has placed in each of his five starts, but like Julia Shining, who won the Gll Demoiselle at 1 1/8 miles last year, he figures to improve as the year progresses and the distances increase. That's simply a function of the Curlins.

I spoke to Pletcher about this recently, and he said, “Curlin is my favorite stallion I didn't train. We're big Curlin fans.”

Pletcher has trained a number of prominent stallions throughout his career, including More Than Ready, Scat Daddy, Quality Road, Uncle Mo, Speightstown, and Munnings, among others. There isn't another modern-day trainer with such a striking record as a stallion maker. None of these stallions, however, regularly imparts stamina in the pronounced manner that Curlin does. And many of the better Curlins frequently get even more stamina in their pedigrees from their broodmare sires, because the stallion nicks so well with Seattle Slew-line mares. Both Nest and Malathaat (and Julia Shining), for instance, are from A.P. Indy mares; Crupi, who was bred by Claiborne, is from a mare by A.P. Indy's top sire son Malibu Moon, the sire of Gl Kentucky Derby winner Orb. (Skinner, a promising maiden winner from over the weekend for John Shirreffs, is also from a Malibu Moon mare and was bred by Stonestreet.) In different hands, the Curlin sons and daughters that have excelled with Pletcher may not have realized their potential. They have with Pletcher because he understands pedigrees and specifically knows how the Curlins tick.

“A lot of our training program builds toward stamina,” Pletcher said. “I don't think [the Curlins] want to be rushed off their feet. We always feel like you want to let a horse be comfortable, and if you're trying to take them out of their comfort zone early on, then you're probably not going to finish the way you want to. We would expect them, hopefully, to put themselves in a tactical position, but you wouldn't see too many of them going wire to wire. We've recognized that, for whatever reason, he fits our program well.”

Pletcher's Curlins

Curlin, a son of the Mr. Prospector stallion Smart Strike, has been represented by six Eclipse winners to date, and Pletcher has handled three of them. In addition to Nest and Malathaat, he also trained Vino Rosso, champion older male of 2019.

Though the Curlins aren't especially noted for early maturity and front-running speed, the best of them have plenty of class, are seemingly Classics contenders every year, improve with time, and are particularly adept at a mile and a sixteenth and above on dirt. That's because Curlin, a two-time Horse of the Year, was a Classic winner and a mile-and-a-quarter specialist who also stayed a mile and a half on dirt (he lost the Gl Belmont S. by a head to the Pletcher-trained A.P. Indy filly Rags to Riches, who, like Curlin, was out of a mare by Deputy Minister). In fact, it was notable and surprising that in 2022 Curlin got a champion sprinter and two others, Cody's Wish and Obligatory, that won Grade l races at seven furlongs. Both Cody's Wish, who won the Gl Forego at Saratoga, and Obligatory, first in the Gl Derby City Distaff at Churchill, won their respective sprints by closing from the back of the pack.

Bill Mott trained the trio of Elite Power, Cody's Wish, and Obligatory, and before them he'd trained Gl Coaching Club American Oaks winner Paris Lights, giving him four of Curlin's 20 top-level winners.

Only Pletcher has more, and then some. He has trained an astounding eight of the 20, or 40% Grade l winners. Aside from champions Nest, Malathaat, and Vino Rosso, Pletcher handled Belmont S. and Gl Metropolitan H. winner Palace Malice, who was from Curlin's first crop; Gl Florida Derby winner Known Agenda; the fillies Curalina, who won the Coaching Club American Oaks, and Off the Tracks, winner of the Gl Mother Goose. Keen Ice, who won the Gl Travers for Dale Romans, won the Gll Suburban at a mile and a quarter for Pletcher.

I asked Pletcher if there is a common physical thread among the Curlins.

“I think yes and no,” he said. “I do think there are some similarities in the good ones, that they're medium–at least medium–to larger size. Some of them can tend to be a little bit small, and we've found that the better ones maybe have a little more size and scope, but in terms of a particular conformational prototype, I don't know that there is. Keen Ice was a big strong horse, and so is Palace Malice. Off the Tracks was a very talented filly, but conformationally she was very, very incorrect but was able to overcome that with good mechanics. Malathaat is a scopey, long mare; Curalina was a little more refined, but she was impressive as a 2-year-old; Nest is not real big, but she's one of the best walkers I've seen. For a filly that's probably just over 15.3, she covers a lot of ground. There is an athletic component to the good ones, and in particular, I'd say Nest would stand out as an outstanding walker.”

Pletcher also noted that some of the Curlins may show talent in workouts that takes some time to translate to races.

“Known Agenda reminded me a lot of Vino Rosso in that way. If we hadn't had the setback that ultimately made them decide to retire him to stud, Known Agenda was going to be a good 4-year-old. As a younger horse, he would display more talent sometimes in the mornings than we were producing in the afternoons. But then he kind of put it together in the Florida Derby, and I thought if we'd had a chance to go on with him, we would have seen him get more consistent. I'm not saying he would have won the Breeders' Cup Classic like Vino, but he had that sort of potential.”

Mike Repole's Repole Stable, which co-owns Nest with Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Michael House, raced Vino Rosso in partnership with Vinnie and Teresa Viola's St. Elias Stable, which bred and raced Known Agenda. Both Repole and Viola are billionaire patrons of Pletcher, and they race Forte, the current Derby favorite, in partnership as well. However, they know the value of the Curlins and their trainer's ability with them, and they've loaded up on more sons and daughters of the stallion to send Pletcher's way. Last September at Keeneland, the two combined to sign for two fillies at $650,000 and $450,000, and two colts at $400,000 each. Meanwhile Repole, in partnership with Coolmore, bought a colt for $1.1 million, and in another partnership with Spendthrift bought a colt for $525,000. For his own account, Repole then purchased another five with agent Jacob West signing the tickets: three fillies for $675,000, $500,000, and $250,000; and two colts for $320,000 and $275,000.

So be prepared to see even more Curlins in Pletcher's hands this year, and not just from Repole and Viola. Stonestreet, which raced Curlin with Steve Asmussen and is the stallion's majority owner, campaigns Grade l winner Clairiere with Asmussen, but the operation sent Julia Shining to Pletcher instead of Asmussen, presumably because of Pletcher's success with her Grade l-winning dam, Dreaming of Julia (A.P. Indy), and with her champion sister Malathaat, but also for his sterling record with their stallion.

Pletcher is a maestro with the Curlins.

Sid Fernando is president and CEO of Werk Thoroughbred Consultants, Inc., originator of the Werk Nick Rating and eNicks.

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Hill ‘n’ Dale Stallions Sparkle at Eclipse Awards

Flightline was clearly the star among stars at the Eclipse Awards ceremonies held Jan. 26 in Palm Beach, Florida, but a trio of stallions that call the rustic environs of John Sikura's Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa home stole the show from a sires' perspective, accounting for half of the evening's 10 winners among the Flat divisions.

Success at the Eclipse Awards is obviously directly correlated with horse racing on its biggest stages, and the results from the first weekend of November, not far away from Xalapa at Keeneland Race Course, hinted that a night of this sort of magnitude was a distinct possibility. Breeders' Cup Friday featured a championship-clinching peformance from 'TDN Rising Star' Forte (Violence) in the GI Juvenile and the momentum carried over into the first of Saturday's nine races when Goodnight Olive (Ghostzapper) raced away with the GI Filly & Mare Sprint. Elite Power (Curlin) turned in a bit of a surprise in the GI Qatar Sprint–with Hill 'n' Dale sire Maclean's Music's reigning Eclipse Award-winning sprinter Jackie's Warrior third, and later in the program, the GI Longines Distaff provided the race of the meeting–if not the entire year–when 'Rising Star' Malathaat was up in the final jump in a pulsating finish, with another daughter of Curlin, Clairiere, narrowly beaten into third. Nest was fourth as the Distaff favorite, but had long since clinched the 3-year-old filly championship.

On that evidence, Thursday evening's results could hardly be deemed a total surprise, but Sikura is never one to take anything for granted and was duly humbled.

“It's very rewarding,” Sikura said. “It's hard to ask for more really. It was a magnificent evening, great recognition for the farm, the stallions and all of our supporters. It's a very competitive business and sometimes less is emphasized with regards to achievement as compared to sales ring performance and the like. It doesn't happen every year and hopefully it brings attention to the staff and the great work everyone does.”

In addition to his three winners–which took his total to 10 champions overall–dual Horse of the Year Curlin was also represented by two other finalists: the aforementioned Clairiere in the dirt female category and Cody's Wish, whose work over seven and eight furlongs landed him a spot on the sprint ballot.

“Curlin has really emerged and in my own opinion, he's the great classic sire of today,” said Sikura. “If you want to win the Breeders' Cup or any Classic race, you have a better chance of that with Curlin than any other sire. I think that's borne out in fact. There are a lot of really good [sires] out there, but I think he's unique.”

So what is it exactly that Curlin passes on to his progeny?

“He's one of those unique horses that imparts so much quality and talent into his offspring,” Sikura said. “He can sire a top-quality horse at any distance and I think that's the separating part between the good, very good and great sires. It's not easy to sire multiple Grade I winners and it seems like–maybe it's just nostalgia for me–but it seemed like it happened more in the day of A.P. Indy, Mr. Prospector, Northern Dancer and Nijinsky II, Alydar, Seattle Slew. I think Curlin is certainly in that category.

He continued, “It's a tribute to Barbara Banke and her support and a tribute to all the breeders and a tribute to the horse himself. He was such a magnificent, tough racehorse and he's not only imparted his ability, but his durability and soundness. No matter how much talent you have, if you can't get to the races, it's kind of insignificant. They're tough, they're not fragile. Whatever is their best race at two, they get better and better and better as they go.”

More Than A 'Ghost' of a Chance…

Ghostzapper joined the Hill 'n' Dale stallion roster after being transferred by Frank Stronach from Adena Springs for the 2021 breeding season. Having just turned 23, the son of Awesome Again just keeps on keeping on, Sikura says.

“I'd heard many negative comments that he's too old, but I like to say you're only old if you can no longer do it,” he commented. “Some people get old at 30 and some at 80 are creative and inventive in pursuing life and moving forward, and I think it's that way with stallions. He has Moira who's going to be Horse of the Year and champion 3-year-old filly in Canada. Her best distance was a mile and a quarter on the turf, but then he can get you a champion sprinter.

“He's such a good horse. I wish I would have had him earlier, but I thank Frank Stronach for doing a deal with me to stand Ghostzapper much the way Ken Ramsey did with Kitten's Joy. I think we've brought a lot to the table and commercialized the horses a little bit. I bred 12 of my own mares to him last year and we'll do the same this year. He can get a dirt horse or a turf horse and they're fast, but they can also get two turns and have great versatility at the highest levels of racing.”

Goodnight Olive is a seventh worldwide champion for Ghostzapper.

A First For Violence…

The progeny of Hill 'n' Dale's Violence have been increasingly sought after, both as commercial entities and also for their racetrack ability, but the 13-year-old son of Medaglia d'Oro was recording a first when Forte took home the hardware for champion 2-year-old male Thursday evening.

“While Violence has always been popular in the sales ring and with breeders, to sire a champion 2-year-old, that's an accolade that he didn't have before,” said Sikura. “He's bred nice mares, but a champion seems to drive the quality to the next level. When buyers know a sire can get a champion, they're certainly more determined to have them. This adds to his resume, which was already impressive. Champions are champions, there is only one a year, and it's a great achievement for him.

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Flightline, Curlin Star at the Eclipse Awards

Having just last week been crowned the Longines World's Best Racehorse in London, 'TDN Rising Star' Flightline (Tapit) was named America's no-doubt-about-it Horse of the Year and champion dirt male at the Eclipse Awards, held Thursday evening at The Breakers in Palm Beach, Florida.

Bred in Kentucky by Jane Lyon's Summer Wind Equine, Flightline was a $1-million purchase out of the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale, didn't start as a juvenile and didn't get to a starting gate until April of his 3-year-old season.

The negatives end right about there.

In a spectacular six-race stretch over the course of the following 19 months, Flightline never earned a Beyer Speed Figure inferior to his debut 105 and never started at odds longer than 90 cents on the dollar while winning those half-dozen contests (or, no-contests) by an average of just under 12 lengths. That included a breathtaking 19 1/4-length romp in the GI TVG Pacific Classic, good for a 126 Beyer Speed Figure, a performance that was difficult to put in any real context. His victory in the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic came at the expense of fellow dirt male finalist Olympiad (Speightstown) after the third divisional finalist, the freakishly fast 'Rising Star' Life Is Good (Into Mischief), capitulated after taking it to Flightline for the opening mile. The Horse of the Year begins his second career as one of the most sought-after stallion prospects in recent memory this winter at Lane's End.

Speaking of superstar sires, Curlin–himself Horse of the Year in 2007 and again in 2008–was represented by a sensational three Eclipse Award winners Thursday from the 10 flat divisions. 'TDN Rising Star' Malathaat and stablemate Nest, each trained by Eclipse Award-winning conditioner Todd Pletcher, took home the hardware in the older dirt female and 3-year-old filly categories, respectively. Elite Power was a somewhat surprising winner of the male sprint Eclipse courtesy of his success in the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint, while GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile hero Cody's Wish completed a Curlin exacta in the division.

John Sikura's Hill 'n' Dale Farm celebrated a banner evening Thursday, as the nursery's stallions accounted for half the night's flat winners. In addition to the Curlin trio, 'TDN Rising Star' Forte (Violence) was a near-unanimous winner of the 2-year-old male Eclipse Award, while Ghostzapper's Goodnight Olive parlayed victories in the GI Ballerina S. and GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint into a statuette of her own.

The hotly contested 3-year-old divisional honors went to GI Runhappy Travers S. hero Epicenter, providing Taylor Made's Not This Time with his first U.S. champion, while 2-year-old Wonder Wheel (Into Mischief) gave her all-conquering sire another champion in providing the Green Family's D J Stable with a second such title.

Chad Brown and Peter Brant fielded two-thirds of the finalists for champion turf female and the voters went for the body of work of Regal Glory (Animal Kingdom)–a fourth 'TDN Rising Star' to be recognized Thursday–over fellow 'Rising Star' In Italian (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}).

Modern Games (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) sewed up the male turf Eclipse with his dominating performance in the GI Breeders' Cup Mile for Godolphin, who was named outstanding owner and breeder. In the other human categories, Irad Ortiz, Jr. was crowned outstanding jockey and Jose Antonio Gomez champion apprentice.

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