Mike Repole bankrolls new National Thoroughbred Alliance

Mike Repole made good on his promise to create a new racing organization. Now it is a question of whether he will realize his goal to bring the industry together.

The National Thoroughbred Alliance was introduced by Repole in a teleconference Thursday, according to Daily Racing Form, which quoted the Vitaminwater co-founder and high-profile owner of racehorses as saying he needed to bankroll it because “no one is winning. We’re all losing. Everybody.”

In a statement Thursday evening on X, formerly Twitter, Repole said, “The mission of the NTA is to unite and improve the Thoroughbred industry. Let’s compete inside the racetrack, and let’s unite outside the racetrack. If you have a passion and love for the sport of horse racing, we are all cheering and rooting for the same bet. We are betting for a brighter, bigger and better future for the Thoroughbred industry.”

Pat Cummings, who most recently has led the Thoroughbred Idea Foundation, signed on to be the NTA boss.

“Excited and honored to take this next step in helping improve our great sport,” Cummings put on his X feed, now branded with the handle @PatCummingsNTA. “There are countless discussions to be had and details to come. I embrace these challenges and hope you join us in the future.”

Repole was said by DRF to have spoken Thursday in broad brushstrokes rather than in specifics. His desire is to reach out to various factions of the racing industry to find common directions that will benefit and unify everyone involved in the sport.

Using national media forums this year to express his disdain for inconsistent regulations and policies that vary from state to state and racetrack to racetrack, Repole was reported to have taken the NTA name from an organization formed three decades ago before it would be absorbed into the then newly formed National Thoroughbred Racing Association.

“I am amazed and motivated at the overwhelming support that the new association has received,” Repole said on social media two weeks ago. “Not only have so many people reached out for our cause to make the horse-racing industry better, but I’ve had a few tracks and five current racing associations contact me expressing great interest in working together to make the sport better.”

At the time Repole said he wanted to advance Thoroughbred retirement programs and to pay more attention to the needs and desires of horseplayers.”