![\"Mike](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/1_Kentucky-Derby-Previews.jpg\")
Mike Repole: has seen his latest Kentucky Derby runner ruled out of the race(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\nMike Repole\u2019s challenger Grande was scratched by vets on Friday, the same fate which befell previous big hopes Forte and Uncle Mo just before the big race<\/p>\n
14:50, 02 May 2025Updated 14:51, 02 May 2025<\/p>\n
Mike Repole: has seen his latest Kentucky Derby runner ruled out of the race(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n
The billionaire star of hit Netflix documentary \u2018Race For The Crown\u2019 has seen his Kentucky Derby dream dashed again – on the day before the race. Mike Repole, one of the biggest investors in the sport, has been trying to land \u2018the Run for the Roses\u2019 since he first entered horse racing<\/a> more than 20 years ago.<\/p>\n The New Yorker\u2019s Repole Stable has won over 1,100 races of more than $40 million including many of the biggest races in the US. Yet in the Kentucky Derby he is 0-for-8, even when he has had the favourite for the historic race.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Punter lands \u2018stuff of dreams\u2019 bet after picking 5 winners to secure \u00a374k windfall<\/a>READ MORE: Ryan Moore rates his 2,000 Guineas prospects and identifies the main dangers<\/a><\/p>\n His best horses Uncle Mo, Forte and Fierceness, all trained by Todd Pletcher, were each champion two-year-olds as winners of the Breeders\u2019 Cup Juvenile. But Uncle Mo was ruled out by illness during Kentucky Derby week and Forte was scratched by vets just hours before the race.<\/p>\n \u2018Race For The Crown\u2019 follows Repole, who made his fortune after selling his drinks brands to Coca Cola, at the 2023 Breeders\u2019 Cup at Santa Anita where Fierceness triumphs in the Juvenile to cement his Kentucky Derby credentials.<\/p>\n The colt got to the starting gate but ran the worst race of his career, finishing 15th of 20 having gone off the 16-5 favourite. Repole was back at Churchill Downs this week with a less vaunted candidate in Grande, but he too will now miss the big race.<\/p>\n Breaking the news to his followers on X, Repole said: \u201cUnfortunately, the vets have decided to scratch Grande from tomorrow\u2019s Kentucky Derby.<\/p>\n \u201cHe has been battling a slight cracked heel this week which has been improving. To be cautious, Todd X-rayed on Monday and the horse had clean X-rays.<\/p>\n \u201cOn Wednesday, the state vets asked us if we could do a PET scan, and Grande had that yesterday and it was also clean. He has been training and looking great on the track all week.<\/p>\n \u201cThe heel has improved throughout the week and it also improved again this morning. Unfortunately the vets told us this morning they were scratching the horse despite the clean diagnostics.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were very confused with all the clean diagnostics and improvement all week, why they rushed to judgment to scratch today.\u201d<\/p>\n The Kentucky Derby lost another runner on Thursday when the Bob Baffert-trained Rodriguez, who defeated Grande in his previous race, was ruled out. The reserve Baeza has replaced him.<\/p>\n Repole went on: \u201cWith the race being tomorrow, and Baeza already having drawn into the race, we are also shocked and confused why this decision was made now. We were given no real explanation why Grande was scratched 36 hours before the race.<\/p>\n \u201cWe all love these horses and our number one concern is the safety and welfare of these amazing Thoroughbreds. That is, and should always be the priority.<\/p>\n \u201cWith all the diagnostics we have taken, the great vets we use, and the experience of Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher, we are baffled and confused by what criteria vets are using to determine who scratches, who doesn\u2019t and when\u2026especially when every diagnostic tells us the horse is safe and sound.<\/p>\n \u201cI love racing\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mike Repole\u2019s challenger Grande was scratched by vets on Friday, the same fate which befell previous big hopes…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":68703,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4107],"tags":[2380,34542,34543,5238,11457,21031,32578,451,1071,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-68702","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-racing","8":"tag-billionaires","9":"tag-bob-baffert","10":"tag-churchill-downs","11":"tag-coca-cola","12":"tag-documentaries","13":"tag-horses","14":"tag-kentucky-derby","15":"tag-netflix","16":"tag-racing","17":"tag-sports","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114438907089021210","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68702","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68702"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68702\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68703"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/consent-placeholder.svg.svg+xml\")
Content cannot be displayed without consent<\/p>\n![\"Mike](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/1_GfLQ9UiXEAA5he4jpeg.jpg\")
Mike Repole: with the late Uncle Mo<\/p>\n