I like Mike Repole most of the time, but this sort of stuck in my craw:
He’s a multi-millionaire. He has always said he enjoys horseracing. So enjoy it, Mr. Repole, even if you don’t get to squeeze the nickel til the buffalo jumps.
He’s a multi-millionaire. He has always said he enjoys horseracing. So enjoy it, Mr. Repole, even if you don’t get to squeeze the nickel til the buffalo jumps.
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It is hard to hear rich people complain that the purse is “only” $7M and their horse “only” made $3.1M after expenses.
But it would be interesting to see his books.
The reality is Fierceness and Mindframe and other top horses are paying the way for the lesser horses, who are no cheaper to maintain and probably losing money hand over fist. Repole can afford to keep racing them at 4, but you can’t deny that it makes so much more economic sense to retire them to the shed as soon as there is a demand. Especially if the owner doesn’t have a large fortune to bankroll the endeavor.
Although bigger and bigger purses don’t really seem like the answer, either. My entire adult life we’ve been creating these mega purses and bonuses, but they never solve anything.
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I’m not a fan of Repole. While I am happy he supports aftercare and ensuring he is sending a message on that front, he has always ebbed me as the typical New York City person. He has a very “its all about me” personality and the minute his plans go sour or doesn’t live up to expectations; the laundry list of excuses come out. Fierceness was always talented but was he the best of his crop, I certainly don’t think so.
Repole is worth nearly 2 Billion dollars. And I am sure his business mind is always entering the chat when his stable is concerned; I find it laughable that these super-rich racehorse owners act like having a racing stable is an investment venture when every sane minded horse person knows that owning horses is extremely expensive and hardly ever a net-positive, especially when you own many and are paying someone else to do everything. Repole has had some very successful horses that have rewarded him well, financially, and he is a very smart businessman that he can ensure stud deals and the like are well-thought to bring the most money… but they are not the statistical norm in the world of horses and that type of financial gain usually only comes to the uber-rich who have the money to play initially.
Call it for what it is at that level… millionaires and billionaires playing on their playground to have a chance to see their name in lights. And when it doesn’t work out; some of their egos get bent.
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No, not typical. That is a rather mean stereotype.
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This is how I look the article. Repole has been able to campaign these two lovely horses beyond their 3 YO year, but explains why many cannot or do not. I often think of retirement after a successful 3 YO campaign as a way to avoid the horse losing value as a stud if the 4 YO record is less than stellar, so I appreciated him putting actual numbers on the scenario. Like every race fan, I’d love to see more horses run longer, but I do appreciate that it’s a business at the end of the day.
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With all due respect, Repole knows more about racing than all of us. He knows what he is talking about.
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I never said he didn’t. He is very smart in business and with his racing stable. But all of us know that retiring at 3 to the breeding shed with a lucrative stallion prospect is extremely financially rewarding. It’s the blatant reason why so many of them never see the racetrack at 4 if they are at the top of their class at 3.
Pretty sure the mega rich guy who was congratulated after he won a million with his race horses replied by pointing out he started with several million did understand horses are not an investment.
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So, you don’t like him because he is a successful, self made, wealthy businessman with a good eye for racehorses, and is human?
The fact that the top level of TB racing is very expensive isn’t his fault.
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I like a lot of things about him. He does a lot of aftercare, even bailing one of his former horses (Noble Indy) out from a Puerto Rican racetrack. I believe the horse is at Old Friends. He speaks up or racing enthusiastically if not always tactfully.
I guess what is bugging me is that my “investment” in racing is a few MRH shares. I have to carefully budget for those, but I am luckier than most people to even be able to afford them. He can go to the sales and spend a small fortune on racing stock with money he probably finds in his couch cushions. Mind you, he earned that money–clever entrepreneur, good for him. But, to reiterate, enjoy the ride Mr. Repole, and don’t whine.
And now I will stop whining.
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no to all of your comments
but if you look at someone like John Stewart his comments are very much that this is an investment portfolio. Given Repole is regretting running Fierceness this year to lackluster success was a poor business decision; you can’t make a comment like that about financial prowess and not view it as an investment or money entity.
I don’t perceive it as whining. He’s just saying how it is.
I read somewhere that he usually has around 200 horses- some in training, some young stock, some broodmares, and I think he is involved in the ownership of his stallions retired to the shed.
Sure, one of his top runners might make $3M in a year, but most of those horses are hemorrhaging losses of money. So yeah, it’s frustrating to realize that $3M could easily be 300% greater in earnings if he had retired the horse earlier or gone overseas. That money is going right back into the industry so that he can keep buying, breeding, and racing horses.
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Racing and breeding TBs is a business at that level. All of the big operations are run as a business, they have to be.
I think Repole makes a good point in that running older horses doesn’t make good business sense and that it’s a shame. We all like to see horses keep racing past their 3 year old year but for many owners it doesn’t make sense to do so.
I don’t know the answers, but it’s good to have the conversation and good for Repole for addressing it.
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I tend to appreciate people like Repole who are involved and interested in all aspects of TB racing, breeding and aftercare, instead of just trying to buy the next Derby winner.
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