Controversial and never afraid to speak his mind, owner Mike Repole has been called a disruptor, which means that he is intent on challenging the status quo when it comes to how horse racing is run. And his primary target has been The Jockey Club. When the TDN interviewed Jockey Club Chairman Everett Dobson on last week’s podcast, Repole asked for equal time.
It was a reasonable request, so Repole joined the team on this week’s TDN Writers’ Room Podcast presented by Keeneland. He was the Gainesway Guest of the Week. As expected, Repole had a lot to say about The Jockey Club and the state of the industry. He also spoke about having the likely favorite in the GI Kentucky Derby in Renegade (Into Mischief) and a top contender in the GI Kentucky Oaks in Zany (American Pharoah).
To the surprise of no one, Repole found fault with many of the things Dobson had to say on last week’s podcast.
“(Dobson) said that The Jockey Club and I agree on 95 percent of things,” Repole said. “If that’s true, then we have a major problem with execution and a major problem with getting (expletive) done. If that’s false, then you’re just full of BS, and stop lying to us. Anytime I’ve agreed with someone at 95 percent, you have to find a solution. I am willing to find the solutions on how to move this game forward, and I don’t really believe that they’re attempting to find any solutions.”
The situation between The Jockey Club and Repole has become adversarial, and he has said that he is in the process of filing a lawsuit against the organization. Even so, Repole said he’d still welcome the opportunity to get industry leaders, including those from The Jockey Club, into a room and not leave until everyone can agree on solutions that might solve some of the sport’s problems. He has said that The Jockey Club has rejected his efforts for a meeting.
“All I wanted to do was get a bunch of industry experts together,” he said. “Let’s just lock each other in a room for 24 hours, maybe two days, and just talk about what’s working, what’s not working, and what can we do to make it better in the most non-threatening way. It was rebuffed. So to me, that’s not showing that you’re looking to move the game forward. I don’t want to be pessimistic or negative on the game, but you have to be honest. I don’t really see anything that is really working in this game, from the foal crop, to racing, to HISA, to aftercare, to the sales, to the SAFE Act, to CAWs, to the horseplayers, to the tracks.”
He does not believe that the most prominent organizations in the sport are fulfilling their duty to improve the game.
“Where’s the innovation? Where’s the thought process?” he said. “We get nothing from the Breeders’ Cup. We get nothing from The Jockey Club. And HISA is accelerating the death of the sport, and that’s the truth.”
When the subject moved on to Renegade, a horse he co-owns with Robert and Lawana Low, and the Derby, Repole’s tone shifted. He knows that he has a horse who is capable of giving him his first Derby win.
“He looks wonderful,” Repole said. “He’s training incredibly. Now I’m going to get more anxious talking about this. He’s only going to get better with more distance. That big Churchill stretch is going to look awfully good to him. If Irad (Ortiz, Jr.) can just get him to the outside in fifth or sixth place, he’s going to be in a in great position for that last quarter mile. So, yes, I am excited about that. I’m not as excited about the sport as I used to be, but how can I not be excited about this horse? I have to be.”
And where did Zany and Renegade get their names?
“Zany means crazy,” he said. “Do you know anybody else that’s crazy on this call out of the four of us? Where do you think the name Renegade came from? You know anybody who’s a renegade. We’ve got a crazy renegade running in these races.”
The “Fastest Horses of the Week” was White Abarrio (Race Day), who earned a 111 Beyer in his win in the GII Oaklawn Handicap. The Fastest Horse of the Week segment is sponsored by WinStar, which stands the sire Constitution.
Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by the PHBA, 1/ST TV, the KTOB and West Point Thoroughbreds, Randy Moss, Bill Finley, and Zoe Cadman discussed White Abarrio’s huge win in the Oaklawn Handicap over reigning Horse of the Year Sovereignty (Into Mischief) and GI Preakness Stakes winner Journalism (Curlin), as well as the lawsuit the connections of White Abarrio have filed over the scratching of their horse prior to last year’s GI Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. The team also discussed the news that Churchill Downs had purchased the intellectual property rights to the Preakness and what that means for the future of the Triple Crown.
Click here to watch the podcast, or click here to listen.
