Not a fan of Sheikh Mohammed at all, however a well deserved honor for all the connections.
I’m a little verklempt… 
Do they always have that awards dinner at The Breakers?
I don’t know. 
Thought they usually had it in Kentucky?
I’m sure that someone here more personally into racing and the Eclipse Awards knows. I’ve never really paid attention to where the ceremonies take place, only the winners. I’ve never attended.
I am happy too see they got the Horse of the Year right. No one was more deserving than Cody’s Wish.
I had also heard that Mike Repole was quite disgusting in his acceptance speech for Fierceness, using the “f” word a few times. What a class guy he is. 
No, don’t think so. But with Gulfstream right down the road and the weather traditionally crappy up north? Not a bad idea to stage it near a big purse race day away from the dead of winter.
What was his problem??? Not really his fan. Who got 3 yr old colt???
I have to say that from what I have read and seen in interviews with Repole, he really enjoys racing, he takes care of the horses he retires and the ones he has bred and is very generous with TB aftercare causes.
Yes he is an enthusiastic, rough around the edges, New Jersey guy. He may have gotten carried away by the excitement, his homebred Fierceness won Champion 2 yr old male.
While that language is certainly not meant to be used at a public event, I wouldn’t hold it against him.
Arcangelo.
Here it is from TDN;
" Owner and breeder Mike Repole took home the hardware for champion 2-Year-Old Male for the second consecutive season, winning with Fierceness (City of Light) after being victorious last year with Forte (Violence). After doling out thanks to his racing and bloodstock teams, Repole overstayed his allotted 60 seconds at the podium by 2 1/2 additional minutes while advocating for disruptive yet positive changes to the industry.
Repole’s passion was evident. But by choosing to punctuate his remarks with f-bomb profanities while surrounded by family members and children on the stage as “exit music” got cued up in the background to encourage him to wrap it up, Repole introduced a level of coarseness that didn’t mesh with the spirit and tone of the festivities.
“Right now, this sport, we’re all on the Titanic, okay?” Repole said. “There’s an iceberg there. But we’re not hitting the iceberg yet. We need a vision. We need leadership. We need alignment. We need strategy. We need collaboration. [From] the big entities [all the way down to individuals in the sport], we’ve got to make this better for everybody.
“So I implore you, please, for the next two years–other than me taking more time–be selfless over selfish,” Repole said. “That’s number one. [But] this is the most important message of the night: Let’s [expletive] compete in the racetrack. Outside the racetrack, let’s compete together for what’s best for this game. I love this [expletive] game. It’s going to be here a long time.”
Stuart Janney III, the chairman of The Jockey Club, was honored with the Eclipse Award of Merit for his lifetime of service to the sport. He was thankful for his broad supporting cast, but he too had words about the tenuous future of the sport.
Like Repole, Janney spoke of cooperation. But his focus emphasized one of The Jockey Club’s main initiatives over the past decade, creating and empowering the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA).
“Our industry’s got a lot of issues that [we need] to get in front of and solve,” Janney said. “We’ve now been given the tool kit. We didn’t have it before. With HISA, we can go forward, but we need to go forward together…. I hope that we have learned, as an industry, the advantages of being together, and that we really do go forward in a unified fashion…. And where racing’s continuation is in question, in some states, we’ll work with others to hopefully find viable solutions.”
Repole , unfortunately, just said pretty much the same thing in his coarse New Jersey manner. That’s too bad, but I really think that he is a good force in TB racing.
Then he gets my vote… if he takes care of his horses. that he breeds and retires. Thanks for the information.
Back in 2011;https://www.saratogian.com/2011/04/08/horse-racing-mike-repole-uncle-mos-owner-does-right-by-his-horses/
Just a few examples in the press.
He’s super excited about racing and brings about 50 people along with him to the big races, so they’ll see how fun racing is. He’s definitely outspoken, and rough around the edges, but he cares about the horses that bring him so much pleasure and fun.
MR may have overstayed his welcome on the podium and been vocally inappropriate but he speaks the truth and has put his money where is mouth is. How many former owners have paid to fly used up, 8 year olds they no longer own plus 2 other horses back to the mainland and a safe retirement?
Appreciate the passion to do the right thing in racing and for the horses. I give him a pass on the rough edges…which I find somewhat refreshing amidst all the slick BS excuses, lawyers, blame game and dancing around the rules.
Repole is a New York guy, not a New Jersey guy.
Just saying, as a Jersey girl.
Ooops….
Oh you’re right. My mistake. He always gets super excited at the Belmont Park races.
