Relentless Repole moves ahead with Fierceness

Mike Repole, born to a seamstress and a waiter in Queens, N.Y., kept an unwavering eye on a better life. He continued to press forward despite being a self-admitted mediocre student at St. John’s University. Very simply, the self-made billionaire does not allow anything to hold him back.

It is therefore not surprising that Repole went on with Fierceness to the $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita when another owner might have taken a step back. The colt’s poor performance in the Grade 1 Champagne Stakes on Oct. 7 at Belmont at the Big A was that alarming.

“One of the things I like to preach to either my family, my friends or people working in my companies is I take failure really well. I do better with failure than with winning,” said Repole, 54, adding, “If you’re not failing, you’re not trying. That’s always been a philosophy of mine.”

Repole did not know what to think of Fierceness after the youngster lunged at the start and finished a thoroughly beaten seventh in the one-mile Champagne, 20 1/4 lengths in arrears of Timberlake for jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. and trainer Todd Pletcher. Sloppy track conditions might have played a part, but the City of Light colt had splashed home by 11 1/4 lengths at muddy Saratoga on Aug. 25 in one of the most eye-catching performances of that talent-laden meet.

“He ran in mud the first time, so it was no excuse,” Repole said. “He ran in mud the second time, deeper mud, stumbled off his break, maybe Irad took him a little bit back just to let him gather himself and, obviously, he didn’t like it.”

With John Velazquez aboard Fierceness, they prompted pace-setting General Partner through the opening three-quarters of a mile before taking command almost as soon as Velazquez gave his mount his cue. They drew away to a 6 1/4-length rout against Muth in a deep Juvenile. Breeders’ Futurity victor Locked, another Pletcher trainee, took third as a beaten favorite. Timberlake and previously undefeated Prince of Monaco wound up fourth and fifth, respectively. General Partner was a withering sixth.

“What we saw (Friday) was brilliance. What we saw was freakish,” a jubilant Repole said of his third Juvenile triumph and his most impressive based on margin. Uncle Mo coasted by 4 1/4 lengths against Boys at Tosconova in the 2010 Juvenile with Velazquez aboard to secure the Eclipse Award as leading 2-year-old and conclude a brilliant 3-for-3 campaign. Forte and Ortiz combined for a 1 1/2-length score versus Cave Rock in last year’s Juvenile at Keeneland.

As heavily as Repole invests in young racing prospects at sales, as hard as he is working to build his breeding operation, including buying out his partners in Nest on Tuesday for $6 million, he appreciates everything that goes into winning the season-culminating Juvenile.

“I have a great sense of the moment and a great sense of gratitude,” he said. “I know that this is not normal, so I’m blessed every single time.

“I have a great program with a great team who works really, really hard. We’re passionate about what we do.”

This is Repole’s first Juvenile success with a homebred. It was orchestrated by pedigree expert Eddie Rosen. Uncle Mo was purchased as a $220,000 yearling. Forte was acquired for $110,000 as a yearling in a joint venture with Vinnie Viola’s St. Elias Stable.

Fierceness’s success is particularly meaningful because he is a homebred. Repole owns shares in City of Light. The dam, Nonna Bella, was named as a salute to his grandmother. Stay Thirsty provided him with a victory in the 2011 Travers.

Repole possesses a keen understanding of how perilous the road to the Kentucky Derby can be. Uncle Mo was scratched the day before the Derby with a rare liver ailment. Forte was scratched the morning of the nation’s premier race with a lingering foot bruise after state veterinarians determined, to the owner’s consternation, that the colt was not fit to race. The decision also kept Forte out of the Preakness.

And now Repole will see whether Fierceness is finally the one to deliver Derby glory. He envisions a pre-Derby campaign that will focus on the Gulfstream Park prep races, perhaps beginning as soon as the 1 1/16-mile Holy Bull (G3) on Feb. 3.

“I don’t think anything we do will be defined by the Derby,” Repole said, “but it’s a race we love to be part of and a race we’d love to win.”

So Repole, head down, unbowed, is moving forward again.