Mike Repole Joins the TDN Writers' Room - Episode 252
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.พ. 2025
- Mike Repole celebrates his GI Travers winner Fierceness and shares updates on the National Thoroughbred Alliance on this week's TDN Writers' Room.
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Love Repole
He's a clown 🤡
Mr. Repole Has Had Some Kind Of Year!! He Has So Many Prestigious Races Under His Belt!! What More Can A Owner Ask For!! Really Impressive!!
Kentucky Derby.
Had the pleasure of meeting Mike at Tampa this past February. He could not have been nicer to say hello to.
I love this sport .I think Mike Repole would be the right person to take the sport where it belongs. His passion, business know how would be a positive boost to the sport.
I feel McPeek is better for the sport, and not near as 'twitchy.' Though, there's certainly no questioning Mike's "passion" and "business know how." And Thoroughbred racing is mainly that... passion, and business. I get really annoyed when folks (not saying he does/doesn't) refer to horses as "products." Mostly the breeders.
Good show! I really enjoyed it. Repole was an excellent guest! I liked what he said.
MIKE REPOLE MAKES A GOOD POINT.
08/28/24: What a pleasure it is to listen to Randy Moss when Jerry Bailey isn't screaming into his ear. And mine.
I enjoyed the show. Mike has some great ideas and I wish him luck.
The Travers was one for the ages. Looking forward to the BCC with Fierceness, Arthur, and the rest. It should be a good one.
Shoutout to my favorite PA. bred, Smarty Jones.
08/28/24: I gradually lost interest in horse racing; Mike Repole is one good reason why I hung in there for so long, while ignoring what is incessantly terrible about the sport. He's like Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani --- he sets a great example for everyone else. I have no doubt about the veracity of the multiple stories I've heard about his generosity. He gives because he wants to give, to nurture the spirit of generosity in others that he knows will in turn motivate them to be thoughtful and considerate to others. Above, his sense of humor ... I wish it were contagious (basically, in this respect, he's in the wrong sport. Bob Baffert, before he was lobotomized, had one that dazzled. Horse racing will not tolerate this. How Mike has kept his is a wonder). Thank you, Mike (with all due respect, who would dream of calling him "Mr. Repole"?).
I had always been a little on the fence about Repole. Loved his heart on the sleeve enthusiasm but would be off-put every so often by his comfort if not desire to be the center of attention, to build up his horses for future stallion deals and fees, and toot his own horn about his accomplishments.
But he has matured over the years and is taking his energy to making the sport overall the best it can be which is the way it will persist against interests that desire its demise. His comments on thoroughbred aftercare were the best I’ve heard on the subject and he provided numbers to illustrate it. That won me over behind him in a way I didn’t know was possible. Brilliant stuff. And I am interested to know how much PETA donates to thoroughbred(or quarter horse and standardbred) aftercare? Not everyone in PETA believes in the end horse racing now stance, but their members have led protests outside tracks along with groups that do strongly advocate the abolishment of horse racing in which the imagery is that PETA is the organization people within the thoroughbred industry single out as an “enemy” of the sport. There are individuals within PETA and other animal welfare rights groups that understand the complexity, the jobs, economic impact, and the lives of the horses themselves that would be affected by the cessation of horse racing in the US or even a particular state or track. I believe that most race fans, like myself, are in line with the moderate animal rights advocates in wanting to do as much as financially feasible to make the sport as safe as posible, for horse AND human, and have appreciated the statistically large and statistically significant decline in race-related equine fatalities since so many tracks dedicated extra money and put in place additional safeguards for the horses.
The animal rights groups had reason to get on the sport for not doing(spending) enough on the safety of its equine atheletes and that kick in the butt led to changes and sacrifices by the tracks and the results have been indisputable. The sport had not been doing enough prior to that dreary winter at Santa Anita in 2019 that culminated in the training death of Battle of Midway, most of the industry got the message that unless the tragic visuals were reduced the sport could lose the silent majority forever, and devoted themselves in time, energy, and resources to make our horses safer. And it has worked.
So I am a race fan that has many of the same goals as the animal right groups which are unfortunately looked upon by some everyday betting hard boots as the enemy. No, the overwhelming majority of race fans I know hate seeing horses injured, especially catastrophically. But where I have a oroblem, and it s not with all animal rights groups or even an organization like PETA which is not monolithic, but it is with those groups or elements within groups advocating for the abolishment of horse racing, the sooner the better. It is position that rests of ignorance. For it begs the question, what would we do with all the horses, who in our market system are not deemed to be of much value since they no longer are the backbone of our transportation needs or even farmwork, who have actually found employment in a sector that generates a demand for them, what wil be the fate of these horses if that sector is erased? For the abolition of horse racing would not just mean finding new employment and homes for horses currently racing, but for all the retired runners that find work after their racing days are over, in a different part of the racing sector, like as stallions, broadmares, stable “ponies” at the track, some like Lava Man with a particular barn(Doug ONeil) but also those utilized by the track directly as horses for outriders and accompanying horses onto the track, through post parades and warm ups. Except for the elite stallions and blue hen mares that would be plucked out for similar duties overseas, the majority of horses that have value in the breeding industry currently(and this includes the work horses employed by breeding farms and farms dedicated to the early training of young horses all the way down to “teaser” stallions” would no longer have even less value in the market yet would now need new homes.
Don’t these abolitionists of racing know that the highest value in the market for retired racehorses with no reproductive value and not chosen or even capable of the jobs at tracks and ranches, is as an ingredient for dog food overseas. That far too often, when retired runners are placed in an open auction most often the highest bidder isn’t a family looking for a pleasure horse for their children to ride but agents for slaughterhouses concealing their true intention for the horse? Do these abolitionists know how many ex-runners are sold off for whatever an owner can get and then taken by train to Mexico where horse slaughter is legal and can be carried out in the open? And this is with the racing related sectors that are in existence that provide careers for horses that are racing and even some that are done racing(the breeding industry is a huge sector and the end of racing would be the end of it and the end of a market value with the exception of the most exclusive stallions and broadmares that would find homes in the breeding farms in jurisdictions where racing still exists). It would be catastrophic and virtually ensure the deaths of millions of horses.
How can I state this with such confidence? Because even with the racing and breeding industries we still can’t find enough homes for all the retired runners and cannot keep more from the fate of being the winning bid of the slaughterhouses at auction.
I would like to know how much animal rights groups are spending on racehorse aftercare, or are going to auctions and outbidding the slaughterhouses. There are many within the racing industry, not enough as Mike Repole admits, but there has been tremendous growth within the industry for the need to do more towards aftercare. The racing industry and most importantly the horses themselves could really benefit from the support, a lot of financial support, from the animal rights groups who are so interested in the care of horses actively racing. Realize that after racing, a horse might have 20 years or more and that a person must be committed to defending those years just as vigorously.
Some really good points here that I strongly agree with and advocate. The one area I’m not so sure about is the lack of donations by the animal protection groups. As Repole points out, a very small percentage of purse money goes to horse aftercare. Why not tax all the online betting company’s profiting from the game? The animal protection agencies receive donations to advocate, not to bail out billionaire owners of thoroughbred horses who don’t pay their fair share
Shouldn't "Fastest Horse of the Week" be plural' -- two 111 Beyers in Thorpedo Anna, AND Fierceness? 🧐 I think Johnny made the whole difference there... not tussling w/Fierceness, and hemming Anna in on a cold rail (at least, Joel demonstrated that the rail was not the place to be, twice). Quite the show, Travers Day (I heard "highest handle" from somebody on Sunday). I can't warm up to the Repo-man...don't know why. Now, Anna will carry on, and 'Jog' to more distaff trophies, before becoming a broodmare. She'll likely never need to run that fast again. What's amazing to me is how much she had left AFTER the wire! 🤔 Randy, if she had had the kind of trip Senor Buscador had in the Saudi Cup, I think she would have won! 😁
Yes!
I believe McPeek is planning to race Thorpedo Anna next year. I enjoyed Repole in this interview. He said some interesting things. If racing is to continue, aftercare is a must! That should be evident!
Horse Racing needs a Commissioner and Repole could make the changes necessary to not feel embarrassed to be a fan.
When talking about running as a four year old, what would a very top quality four year old stallion sell for? Judging from the stud fee of around $200,000 tomes 200 breeds, what is Filghtline worth, like $150 million?
now that man knows rigth from wrong.good luck mike.make things happen.🐴
Mr. Repole says that people dont like his style but like his policies.....sounds like somebody else we all know ?