Tag: Repole Stable

Forte Settles in at Spendthrift

It didn't take long for champion Forte (Violence – Queen Caroline, by Blame) to settle in at Spendthrift Farm and after just a few weeks of breeder inspections, the 'TDN Rising Star' is already booked full for his first year at stud.

“Any time you get a chance to show a champion off to your breeders, it makes the sales team's job pretty easy,” said Spendthrift's Mark Toothaker. “He has been hugely popular and is completely sold out. Most every mare that he got is a blacktype mare, so he's going to get a huge chance.”

With an introductory fee of $50,000, Forte follows in the steps of Spendthrift sires like champion Jackie's Warrior, who stood for the same fee in his debut year last year, and the fast-starting first-crop sire Omaha Beach, who joined the roster in 2020 with a $45,000 fee.

“When Omaha Beach came in, he got the mares and then the next year Authentic got the mares,” explained Toothaker. “Jackie got the mares last year and so Forte will get them this year. He's a beautiful horse and we're so glad to have him here.”

The first champion 2-year-old to join the Spendthrift roster in over 40 years–since the likes of Seattle Slew, Affirmed and Lord Avie– Forte broke his maiden by nearly 8 lengths at Belmont, earning 'Rising Star' honors in that debut in May for Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable. The Todd Pletcher trainee would later score three straight Grade I victories in the Hopeful S., Breeders' Futurity and Breeders' Cup Juvenile, where he bested MGISW Cave Rock (Arrogate) and eventual GI Preakness S. victor National Treasure (Quality Road).

Forte wins the 2022 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Keeneland | Horsephotos

It was a roller coaster of a 3-year-old campaign for Forte, as he continued his win streak in the GII Fountain of Youth S. and GI Florida Derby but was forced to scratch from the GI Kentucky Derby as the favorite due to a foot bruise. Off a 10-week layoff, he returned to the starting gate for the GI Belmont S. and was runner-up to Arcangelo (Arrogate). Before his final career start in the GI Travers S., Forte earned a career-high 105 Beyer Speed Figure in a hard-fought victory in the GII Jim Dandy S.

A quarter crack forced him to retire ahead of his bid in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic.

“He had some hiccups along the way, but still the talent came through,” said Toothaker. “The horse had so much class and he was just so push button. I think he just knew where the wire was. That was our biggest comment about him is that if you ever got in a dogfight with him, he knew how to win.”

Toothaker said that Forte first came on Spendthrift's potential stallion list after his win in the Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland, where he defeated fellow 'Rising Star' Loggins (Ghostzapper), a horse co-owned by Spendthrift.

“That race really puts him on our radar to try to get something done and we were able to get a deal done with Mike Repole and Vinnie Viola. We were thrilled we were able to get him secured late in his 2-year-old year. We got to ride the roller coaster this year, but it was all worth it.”

A $110,000 Keeneland September buy, Forte is out of the multiple stakes-winning Blame mare Queen Caroline, who just sold for $3 million to John Stewart at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale.

Toothaker said that Forte's physical is reminiscent of his sireline and has been another bonus to his credentials as breeders have stopped by the farm since his arrival.

“He's got that Medaglia d'Oro length to him,” he said. “He stands over some ground and he's such a good mover. You see why Jacob West picked him out. He just drops his head and motors when you show him. Breeders have loved that when you bring him out on the end of the shank. He's just got a classy look to him. We're thrilled to have him and so happy we can show him off to all of our breeders.”

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Repole Buys Out Partners in Nest for $6 Million at Fasig-Tipton

Mike Repole went to $6 million for triple Grade I winner Nest (Curlin–Marion Ravenwood, by A.P. Indy) at Tuesday's Fasig-Tipton November sale to buy out his partners, who campaigned the reigning champion 3-year-old filly for the partnership of Repole Stable, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, and Michael House. Consigned by Highgate Sales, agent II as hip 163, Nest is a full-sister to GI Santa Anita H. winner and Taylor Made stallion Idol, whose first foals will be born next year, and a half-sister to 2023 Jockey Club Derby Invitational S. Lost Ark (Violence).

Winner of the 2023 GII Shuvee S., Nest captured the GI Alabama, GI Ashland, and GI Coaching Club American Oaks in 2022. She's earned more than $2.1 million and sold as a racing or broodmare prospect.

 

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Breeders’ Cup Friday Aftermath

All five of the 'Future Stars Friday' winners at Santa Anita appeared to emerge from the efforts unscathed, with connections looking forward to their Classics campaigns in 2024.

The very domination of the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner and 'TDN Rising Star' Fierceness (City of Light) will likely have put the colt at the head of the class for champion 2-year-old honors, and the Repole Stable homebred looked good Saturday morning.

“We were extremely happy with the way Fierceness ran,” trainer Todd Pletcher said. “The race kind of unfolded the way we envisioned it would. We wanted to get involved and get to the first turn in good position, which he was able to do. Just a powerful performance.”

'Rising Star' Locked (Gun Runner) looked to be going nowhere at short odds on the Juvenile, but got going late to finish a respectable third.

“Locked got shuffled back a little more than we wanted and then got stuck inside,” Pletcher said. “There was a lot of kickback. I thought once he kind of got into the clear down the lane he started closing pretty well. At that point, the race had kind of gotten away from him. He was a couple strides away from being second, but he just had too much to do at that point.”
Pletcher said both colts will return first to Churchill Downs before shipping to the trainer's South Florida base at Palm Beach Downs to chart a course towards the new year.

There will be no such gray area where it comes to the Eclipse Award-winning juvenile filly after George Krikorian's Just F Y I (Justify) stamped her authority on her race Friday, lowering the colors of the previously undefeated divisional front-runner 'TDN Rising Star' Tamara (Bolt d'Oro). If he wasn't totally surprised that his filly proved best, he was slightly taken aback with the way she did it.

“She actually showed a bit more early speed than I expected,” Mott said. “She put herself right up there, which was great.”
The connections of Tamara confirmed that she emerged with a 'small knot' and the back of her rear hind.

“We'll take a look at it and see what it is,” said trainer Richard Mandella. “That will determine whether we may need to give her a rest. I could see at the half-mile pole that she wasn't running her race. I thought Mike (Smith) would have a tight hold on her.”

Chad Brown said that Hard to Justify, who gave her sensational young stallion a second straight Breeders' Cup winner on Friday in the Juvenile Fillies Turf, would get a rest with an eye on her sophomore season.

European horses unsurprisingly made their presence felt in the afternoon's other grass races. Big Evs (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}) gave her sire, trainer Mick Appleby and jockey Tom Marquand their first Breeders' Cup winner with their first starter.

“It hasn't sunk in yet, it really is a dream come true,” trainer Michael Appleby said. “I'm still pinching myself. It was the best day of my career and I'm just so proud of all my team at home, Tom Marquand and Big Evs's owners Rachael and Paul Teasdale.”

Trainer Aidan O'Brien was dealt a disappointing blow when River Tiber (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) was withdrawn from the Juvenile Turf Friday morning, but the team was mollified some when Unquestionable (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) validated favoritism in the final Breeders' Cup event of the day.

“It's very tough to win here, but I'm delighted for the lads as they put so much into it,” O'Brien said. “It's hard to explain because when things start bad like what happened with River Tiber as it usually goes down because there are a lot of areas you can't control.”

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“A Collector’s Item,” Champion Nest Points to Fasig-Tipton November Sale

Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners is proud to use the label #EclipseFillies to commemorate the long list of Grade I-winning fillies they have campaigned over the years, but one outstanding racehorse that will soon depart from their racing stable stands out above the rest.

Campaigned in partnership with Repole Stable and Michael House, reigning champion sophomore filly and three time Grade I winner Nest (Curlin – Marion Ravenwood, by A. P. Indy) took Eclipse President and Founder Aron Wellman and the rest of her connections on a journey they will not soon forget.

“There is no question that Nest has taken the queen's position at the top of the Eclipse fillies ranks,” Wellman said. “She breathes different air. The ride she has taken Eclipse and our partners, the Repole and House family, on has been nothing short of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that we've all really cherished.”

Nest will be a standout for Fasig-Tipton, too, when she goes through the ring in a few weeks at the Night of the Stars sale.

“We've had the opportunity to offer some amazing broodmares and broodmare prospects in the last decade or so, from Havre de Grace to Songbird to Gamine and so forth, and this year we have another special offering in Nest,” said Fasig-Tipton's Boyd Browning. “She ranks right up there as one of the finest offerings we've had the privilege to present to the marketplace. She's like poetry in motion, watching her run. Anyone that has ever watched a horse race knows just how special she is.”

Purchased for $350,000, Nest was a yearling that Todd Pletcher just kept coming back to when he was going over his short list with the Repole team.

“Physically, she was a medium-sized filly,” Pletcher recalled of the bay bred by Ashview Farm and Colts Neck Stables. “Very good conformation with a great neck, head and shoulder, but what really stood out to me about her was her walk. If I were talking to someone saying, 'Hey, what does a horse that walks really well look like?' she would have been a terrific example.”

By Curlin and out of stakes-winning daughter of A.P. Indy, Nest was always expected to get better with age and distance. So when she came flying out of the gates as a juvenile to win by five lengths on debut and then claim the GII Demoiselle S., Wellman said her precocity was an unexpected bonus.

“To be a graded stakes winner at two as a daughter of Curlin with her pedigree, we felt like we were going into her 3-year-old season with some pretty heavy artillery,” he said.

Nest exceeded any expectations set before her last year as a sophomore as she reeled off five stakes victories, including three Grade I wins, and was named champion 3-year-old filly.

While she came just short of a Kentucky Oaks win–having come off an eight-length victory in the GI Ashland S. and settling for second behind Secret Oath (Arrogate)–her next start was one that her connections believe might be her most underrated performance.

Nest delivers an eye-popping performance in the 2022 GI Ashland S. | Coady

Although they initially planned on giving the filly some spacing before her next race following the Oaks, Nest flourished so well coming out of the race that they decided to go up against colts in the GI Belmont S. Despite stumbling at the start, she overcame a difficult trip to finish second behind stablemate Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo).

“Jose Ortiz had to really use her going into the first turn to get position, and then all the way up the backside and around the far turn she was really hemmed in behind big, burly colts,” Wellman explained. “When she did finally get clear in the stretch, it was just a little bit too late, but she leveled off like you don't see horses do. It was an extraordinary performance even in defeat.”

“What really impressed me was how she came out of the Belmont,” added Pletcher. “We've run quite a few horses in the Belmont over the years and I don't think I've ever had a horse run really well in the Belmont and then just thrive afterwards. She bounced out of the race really quickly and it set her up for two big performances at Saratoga.”

Nest's victories in the GI Coaching Club America Oaks, which she won by over 12 lengths and earned a career-high 104 Beyer Speed Figure, was followed up with another dominating Grade I score in the Alabama.

Nest gets a third Grade I score in the Alabama | Sarah Andrew

“It gives me chills to think about those moments,” Wellman said. “I was able to sit back and appreciate just how incredible of a filly she was and what she was doing for the business in gaining so many fans and what she was doing for my family, the Repole family, the House family, and of course all the Eclipse partners that are so privileged to be associated with her.”

“She displayed an ability you don't see very often of being able to really quicken and finish on the dirt,” explained Pletcher. “She has a high cruising speed, but it's not very often that you see any horse be able to accelerate on the dirt like she has been able to.”

This year, Nest's 4-year-old campaign was delayed due to an early setback from a fever and it was recently announced that she will miss the upcoming GI Breeders' Cup Distaff, but her connections still celebrated a productive season with a win in the GII Shuvee S. and yet another Grade I placing in the Personal Ensign.

The chapter of her career with Eclipse will come to a close when the 4-year-old sells on Nov. 7 at Fasig-Tipton, going through the ring with Highgate Sales as Hip 163.

“Of course we would love to keep her ourselves, but the economics of the business do not allow for our operation to do that,” explained Wellman. “Emotions will be running high come the Night of the Stars, without question. It's such a privilege and honor, and it's so humbling, to know that Nest will be well represented and looked after there at the Newtown Paddocks at Fasig-Tipton. The eyes of the world will be on her that night and it will be an exclamation point on what has been a career on the racetrack of constant exclamation points.”

Nest's siblings have helped boost her pedigree since she was purchased as a yearling three years ago. Her full-brother Idol won the 2021 GI Santa Anita H. and now stands at Taylor Made and her 3-year-old half-brother Lost Ark (Violence) just won the Jockey Club Derby Invitational S. in his last start on Oct. 7.

“I think anyone interested in having one of the top, top fillies of her generation,” Pletcher responded when asked about who Nest might appeal to on the eve of her sale. “It's a remarkable pedigree and a terrific cross with Curlin over A.P. Indy. It has worked so well many times. If you're looking for a broodmare prospect, this is as good as it gets.”

“When you look at Nest's potential as a broodmare, it's truly remarkable,” added Browning. “Not only is she by Curlin, who speaks for himself as a brilliant stallion, but you go through her pedigree and you've got the influence of Quiet American, Nureyev and A.P. Indy. The potential there is enormous and the possibilities are limitless. She's going to go to someone who is looking for the highest quality–a collector's item–to add to their broodmare band.”

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