Tom Pedulla, for America’s Best Racing, is interviewing prominent owners, trainers, and jockeys as they travel the Road to the 149th Kentucky Derby May 6 at Churchill Downs.
This week's installment features owner Mike Repole, who is back on the Kentucky Derby trail with 2-year-old champion male Forte , who is poised to make his highly anticipated 3-year-old debut in the $400,000 Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) March 4 at Gulfstream Park for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher. Repole co-owns Forte with friend and frequent partner Vinnie Viola of St. Elias Stable.
Repole, 54, has experienced the highs and lows of the game to a greater degree than most. The Queens, N.Y., native shed tears of joy last June when horses he co-owned, Mo Donegal and the filly Nest, finished one-two in the Belmont Stakes (G1).
He also endured heartbreak when Uncle Mo, his 2-year-old champion male in 2010, had to be scratched the day before the Kentucky Derby (G1) with what was ultimately diagnosed as a rare liver disorder.
PEDULLA: How is Forte doing?
REPOLE: He's been doing great. We gave him a little bit of a vacation in Florida. He's gotten a little bit bigger, a bit wider. You never know what happens when a horse turns from 2 to 3. But, as of today, Todd and I couldn't be any happier.
PEDULLA: Do you need to win the Fountain of Youth for it to be a successful day?
REPOLE: He lost the second start of his career (Sanford Stakes (G3) at Saratoga Race Course) and he went on to win three grade 1s. Of course, you'd love to see him win. But the goal is to get him peaked not for his first race of the year, not his second race of the year, but the third in the Kentucky Derby. And then, hopefully, we're talking Preakness (Stakes, G1) and Belmont (G1) stakes.
PEDULLA: Have you had Derby fever since he won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1)?
REPOLE: I'd really say I've had Derby fever since I was 15 years old, to tell you the truth.
PEDULLA: Will you always feel that the Uncle Mo Derby was one that got away?
REPOLE: The dream of having a horse in the Derby was one in a million, especially for a kid from Queens. What people forget is I scratched the Derby favorite, Uncle Mo, but I still had Stay Thirsty in the race. And how many people can say they scratched the Derby favorite in their first Derby but still had a horse in the race.
PEDULLA: Was your one-two finish in last year's Belmont Stakes your greatest moment?
REPOLE: I've been so blessed over the last 12 years to have some of the best horses in the country, colts and fillies. The dream, being a kid from New York, was always to win the Belmont Stakes. I don't think I ever dreamed of coming first and second in the Belmont Stakes like that happened. To see Mo Donegal get the lead and then to see Nest coming behind him, there was a moment maybe for an eighth of a mile that I wasn't sure whether it was Mo Donegal or Nest that was going to win. But I knew it was going to be a Repole Stable horse and that made it super-special.
PEDULLA: You are partners with Vinnie Viola's St. Elias Stable on Forte. You have partnered before. Why does that partnership work well for both of you?
REPOLE: I think we share a lot of the same values, whether it's family, whether it's horse racing. We're both Italian cultures. We've gone from partners to friends to family. I think when you win a race with Teresa and Vinnie and I have Maria and my parents, it just makes it more special. I have a saying, "Success is best when shared."
PEDULLA: We don't always see the loyalty that you've shown to Todd. Why do you remain so loyal?
REPOLE: Because he's a friend and family member first and he's more than just a trainer. This started as a business relationship and it's become a lot bigger. Many times when Todd and I are having conversations, people think we're talking about horses. That's probably the least thing we're talking about nowadays. When we're together with families, we never talk about horses. I think Todd uses it to his advantage because it doesn't matter whether he wins or loses. He knows he's got a job for life with me. There is nobody more focused. There is nobody more determined. I respect his work ethic, second to none.
PEDULLA: What would it mean if you could win the Derby?
REPOLE: It's hard for me to go there. Being a kid from Queens with immigrant parents, I've been so blessed to win so many incredible things in my life, in business, in racing, having my daughter. Listen, it's something I've always dreamed about. It's something I've always thought about. I've been to seven Derbys. We've celebrated 19th-place finishes, 17th-place finishes, 13th-place finishes. We've had a lot of fun and we're blessed. It would be special, but just being in the Derby is a very special thing that very few people can talk about. I'm 0-for-7. Usually, you wouldn't brag about being 0-for-7. But being in seven Derbys is pretty special.
