Repole Loves Racing Older Stars, Notes Economic Hurdles

For Mike Repole, the horse owner, having a pair of outstanding, multiple grade 1-winning, 4-year-old future stallions in the Todd Pletcher-trained duo of Fierceness and Mindframe is a joy. "The last time I was in a position like this was when Uncle Mo and Stay Thirsty were 3-year-olds (in 2011). It is a tough thing to manage since my goal is always to make the best decisions for my horses and partners," Repole said. "But it's a tough problem every owner in the game would want. There are real problems in life and this is a great problem." Repole is the breeder and co-owner of Fierceness, the champion 2-year-old male of 2023, $4.5 million earner, and 9-5 favorite in the $1 million Whitney Stakes (G1) Aug. 2 at Saratoga Race Course. His Repole Stable, along with St. Elias Stables, also owns Mindframe, winner of the Churchill Downs (G1) and Stephen Foster (G1) stakes earlier this year. The son of Constitution is entered in the Whitney, but, barring a late scratch of Fierceness, will run Aug. 31 in the Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes (G1) at the Spa. Yet from a business perspective, Repole, dubbed the "Billion Dollar Brand Maker," says running a valuable champion like Fierceness at 4 without racing in the Middle East was a "dumb" decision because of the paucity of multimillion-dollar purses for older dirt horses in the United States. "I know the fans and others want to make it an easy decision to bring a horse like Fierceness back, but let's be honest. It was probably a dumb decision on my part. I wanted to set an example for other owners, but this is where racing has failed to evolve like it should," Repole said. "The Breeders' Cup Classic is $7 million, but the Dubai World Cup is $12 million and the Saudi Cup $20 million. Why is the Classic only $7 million? If you want owners to bring back horses like Fierceness and Mindframe, the Classic should be more than $12 million and maybe $20 million." To back his point, Repole referenced the amount of money Fierceness could have made as a stallion at Coolmore's Ashford Stud this year. "Let's say Fierceness stands for $75,000 and covers 150 mares. Do the math," Repole said. The math is $11.25 million. "I can't fault anyone for retiring a horse at 3 because the economics are not great for the owner," Repole said. "Fierceness had the opportunity to bring in at least $10 million and probably more in stud fees. Even if he wins the Classic, there is zero percent chance that he comes close to that number." At the moment, off a win in the Alysheba Stakes (G2) and a second in the Metropolitan Handicap (G1), Fierceness has earned $658,970 this year. If he wins all of the races currently being considered for him—the Whitney, Lukas Classic Stakes (G2), and Breeders' Cup Classic—it would push his 2025 earnings to around $5.3 million. And that's before you deduct at least 20% for trainer, staff, and jockey fees, training and entry bills, and shipping. Plus, Repole says it costs about $600,000 to fully insure a valuable racing prospect like the son of City of Light. That's leaves a net of about $3.1 million, less than one-third of what Fierceness could bring in as a first-year stallion. But there is joy on race day. "I love watching the horse run, but economically it's a mistake for any owner," the always outspoken billionaire said. As for Fierceness, should all go well in the Whitney, Repole is mulling the idea of running in the Sept. 27 $500,000 Lukas Classic at Churchill Downs as a final prep for the Nov. 1 Classic at Del Mar. "It's one race at a time, but a race I talked about with Todd is the Lukas Classic. I think it would be such a tribute to D. Wayne Lukas, especially this year," Repole said about the famed Hall of Fame trainer who died June 28. "Todd was mentored by Wayne and I am sure that would be really special to him. I've never talked about going to the Lukas Classic but given Wayne's tremendous legacy and the impact he had on Todd, I think it would be a really cool story." As for Mindframe, who is 3-for-3 this year, he's bound for the Gold Cup and then the Classic, where he and Fierceness may finally meet. "With Mindframe, my goal is to be 5-for-5 which is to win the Gold Cup and Breeders' Cup Classic. If I put him and Fierceness in the same race, I don't know which one is better but the betting public would probably make Fierceness 8-5 and Mindframe 2-1," Repole said about the Maryland-bred who will stand at stud at Claiborne Farm. "Claiborne took a big swing with Mindframe. The Stephen Foster, when he beat Sierra Leone, showed they made a good investment." In 2019 Repole and Pletcher gave Vino Rosso a race on the Santa Anita Park track in the Gold Cup at Santa Anita Stakes (G1) and were rewarded with a victory in the Classic at The Great Race Place. This time around, Fierceness ran at Del Mar in last year's Classic and Repole felt the timing of the Jockey Club Gold Cup and Mindframe's ability to handle most tracks made staying east a better decision than traveling west for the Aug. 30 Pacific Classic Stakes (G1) at Del Mar. "Mindframe has been special. He's only lost to one horse twice in his seven starts. Take Dornoch (Belmont Stakes) away and he's undefeated," Repole said. "He runs well at every track and the Gold Cup is good spacing."