QUEENS OWNER HOPES TO SPOIL PARTY
‘Mike from Queens’ covets two shots at hometown glory
Forget the Kentucky Derby. The race of Mike Repole’s dreams is the Belmont Stakes.
Repole grew up in Middle Village in Queens, the son of Italian immigrants. His mother, Anna, was a seamstress. His father, Benny, was a waiter. He became the first member of his family to graduate from college, requiring five years to earn his degree from St. John’s in sports management with a 2.2 grade-point average.
He became a racing fan as a teenager. When he dreamed of owning a horse good enough to win a Triple Crown race, the Belmont was always the object of his desire.
“If you could only give me one,” he said, “I might be the only person ever who says, ‘I want to win the Belmont Stakes,’ ” Repole said. “It’s my New York roots. I grew up going to Aqueduct and Belmont Park. I’m always going to be Mike from Queens.”
Mike from Queens made his fortune in the sports beverage industry, and now has two solid shots to win the $1.5 million Belmont Stakes on Saturday and prevent undefeated Justify from becoming the 13th Triple Crown champion. He co-owns Vino Rosso, winner of the $1 million Wood Memorial at Aqueduct, as well as Noble Indy, winner of the $1 million Louisiana Derby.
Neither ran well when Repole made his fourth Derby appearance in eight years last month, with Vino Rosso floundering in ninth and Noble Indy lagging in 17th among 20 horses on a sloppy surface at Churchill Downs.
“You can kind of forgive any horse for a poor performance in this year’s Derby,” said trainer Todd Pletcher, referring to the wettest Run for the Roses in history.
The Belmont was always the primary target for Vino Rosso. Repole’s team of advisers searches incessantly at sales for racing prospects with the pedigree to endure the grueling mile-and-a-half distance of the final leg of the Triple Crown.
Repole quickly signed off on Vino Rosso as a $410,000 yearling purchase in 2016 because he is a son of Curlin, a two-time Horse of the Year who narrowly lost to the filly Rags to Riches after a prolonged stretch duel in the 2007 Belmont.
“Before we even bid on this horse, the Belmont Stakes has been on my mind. The horse can go 2 miles, never mind a mile and a half,” said Repole, 49. “And I get excited by that.”
Noble Indy, who may well set the pace, asserted himself by training exceptionally well when he returned to Belmont Park after the Derby.
“We brought him here with no real solid plan,” Pletcher said.
Pletcher has few equals when it comes to preparing horses for the Belmont. His strategy of typically skipping the Preakness has helped him to become a three-time winner of the marathon event, including a victory last year with Tapwrit.
“I feel it is an advantage when you don’t run back in the Preakness and you are stabled here at Belmont for five weeks. I think that’s helpful,” Pletcher said. “At the same time, it’s a tall challenge to beat a horse like Justify. We prepared them the best we can. Now, it’s up to them to see if they can compete against a horse like that.”
Repole and his wife, Maria, look forward to hosting a group of approximately 75 family members and friends. Gioia, their 2-yearold daughter, will be there. So will Nonna, Repole’s 91-year-old grandmother.
And Mike from Queens will see how the race of his dreams unfolds.