Mike Repole

According to the rulings page of the New York State Gaming Commission, trainer Todd Pletcher began serving a 10-day suspension Thursday. The suspension stems from the 2022 GI Hopeful Stakes when the Pletcher-trained Forte (Violence) tested positive for Meloxicam, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory. Pletcher has denied using the medication with Forte. The Gaming Commission also ruled that Forte was officially disqualified from the Hopeful victory. The news from the Gaming Commission led owner Mike Repole to post a long and scathing tweet on X. "The New York State Gaming Commission @NYSGamingComm...

Turning 40 does things to people. When Josh Isner reached the milestone, he took a look at the road ahead and asked himself a question. "Do I just want to get worse at golf every year for the rest of my life? Or do I want to try to go win the Kentucky Derby?" This was only last year, but this is a guy whose words can barely keep up with his deeds. Which is saying plenty, because his every syllable is suffused with energy and drive. Isner had played...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - She's got the 'Golden' touch. After pulling off a historic 23-1 upset in the GI Kentucky Derby, the Cherie DeVaux-trained 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' Golden Tempo (Curlin) doubled up in Saturday's GI Belmont Stakes, held for the third and final time at Saratoga. The Phipps Stable and St. Elias Stable homebred and future Lane's End stallion followed in the footsteps of Sovereignty (Into Mischief), who also secured the first and third legs of last year's Triple Crown after famously skipping the GI Preakness Stakes....

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - You better get used to failure and you better get used to losing if you're striving to do something historic or epic. Those are the words of Mike Repole after coming within a neck of winning his first GI Kentucky Derby with Renegade (Into Mischief), the 2-1 morning-line favorite for Saturday's GI Belmont Stakes at Saratoga. "I probably take losing better than I take winning," said Repole, who campaigns the $975,000 Keeneland September graduate in partnership with breeders Robert and Lawana Low. "If you ask me...

Despite broad Thoroughbred industry support, those who seek to keep the slaughter pipeline active are flexing their muscles in Washington D.C. in the hopes of trying to kill progress. One such group is the Public Lands Council (PLC), a nonprofit representing cattle and sheep farmers who graze herds on public land. The National Thoroughbred Alliance sent a letter to the PLC's executive director Kaitlynn Glover, reprinted below for industry awareness, after a PLC publication indicated their active opposition to the Van Drew--Titus Amendment which passed last week, calling these accomplishments...

Early Friday morning, the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee passed a surface transportation reauthorization bill that includes a bipartisan ban on transporting horses for slaughter, according to Chris Heyde, who runs the governmental affairs firm Blue Marble Strategy, and who has long worked on the ban, and Patrick Cummings of the National Thoroughbred Alliance. The Van Drew-Titus amendment to the Build America 250 Act, HR 8870, shares the identical language of the Save America's Forgotten Equines Act--the SAFE Act, which has 229 cosponsors in the House. The bill would...

Repole Stable and Robert and Lawana Low's Renegade (Into Mischief) returned to the worktab at Saratoga Thursday morning for the first time since being outfinished by 'TDN Rising Star' Golden Tempo (Curlin) in the May 2 GI Kentucky Derby, going a half-mile in :49.80 (8/22) in the company of Repole's Powershift (Constitution). Both are possibilities for the $2-million GI Belmont Stakes at Saratoga on June 6. Renegade, a flashy winner of the GI Arkansas Derby ahead of his effort at odds of 11-2 beneath the Twin Spires, worked to the...

Members of The Jockey Club, I've been a casual horse racing fan since I watched American Pharoah cross the wire at the Belmont on my iPhone 6. But I've been obsessed with this sport since August 2, 2025. Dave Portnoy was nice enough to invite me to the Whitney Stakes and the Saratoga Sale last summer. He wanted a partner for more ammo to buy exclusively grey horses. We bought one, simply because he was grey and a horse. Zedan Racing outbid us for another one. Imagine that. I had...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - After Jacob West signed the ticket on Renegade (Into Mischief) for $975,000 at the 2024 Keeneland September Yearling sale, breeders Robert and Lawana Low weren't quite ready to say goodbye. "We made the decision, reluctantly, to put him through the sale, and by the time the hammer dropped, I was quizzing Jacob," Robert Low said. "'Can we buy half of this horse back?' And Mike was kind enough to do it." Mike, as you've probably figured out by now, is prominent and outspoken owner Mike Repole. West...

Renegade (Into Mischief), a spectacular, come-from-behind winner for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher in the GI Arkansas Derby, was tabbed as the 4-1 morning-line favorite despite drawing the rail in a field of 20 set for next Saturday's GI Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. Irad Ortiz, Jr. rides. Renegade, a $975,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase, is campaigned in partnership by Repole Stable and breeders Robert and Lawana Low. Pletcher has won the Kentucky Derby twice with Super Saver (2010) and Always Dreaming (2017). The last horse to win the...

A busy Thursday for GI Kentucky Derby and GI Kentucky Oaks hopefuls was lead by a trio of Mark Casse trainees, and the presumed 'Run for the Roses' favorite Renegade (Into Mischief) put in his final drill in Florida before shipping to Louisville. John Oxley's Silent Tactic (Tacitus), with jockey Cristian Torres aboard, worked a half-mile in :48 on a picture-perfect Thursday morning for Casse at Churchill Downs. On the tab as a single at 7:15 a.m. ET, Silent Tactic clicked off fractions of :12, :24, :48 and galloped out...

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...