Mike Repole bred last week’s $3 million Keeneland September sale topper. He was quickly back to work reinvesting some of those profits. “I’m trying to be the number one buyer and the number one seller at the same sale,” Repole quipped. That benchmark is well within reach, on the buying side anyway. Repole’s name appeared on 43 sale tickets, alone or in partnership, through Sunday night, marking the halfway point of Keeneland September, with those yearlings totaling $16,020,000. “I love the game – whether it’s claiming a $25,000 horse, or buying stallions, or buying mares, or weanlings, yearlings, 2-year-olds,” Repole said. “I just have a lot of fun with the game. A lot of people in my position look to buy sports teams, and Repole Stable is my sports team.” While 35 of Repole’s purchases have been made on his own – with bloodstock agent Jacob West and trainer Todd Pletcher seated alongside him – he made another eight purchases in company with Spendthrift Farm and its partners. Those included his most expensive purchase, a $1.15 million Gun Runner colt in Book 2. Repole has developed a strong association with Spendthrift. The farm stands Breeders’ Cup Classic winner and Eclipse Award champion Vino Rosso, who he raced in partnership with St. Elias, and Belmont Stakes winner Mo Donegal, who he raced in partnership with Donegal Racing. Repole indicated that he could continue to be active during the second week of the sale, noting that Eclipse Award champions Forte, who he races in partnership with St. Elias, and Nest, co-owned by Eclipse Thoroughbreds and Michael House, were purchased out of later books. On the selling side, Repole bred the sale topper, a $3 million Into Mischief colt sold to West Point Thoroughbreds, Chuck Sonson, and Woodford Racing, out of his mare Nonna Mia, who he purchased as a yearling in 2008. She was multiple graded stakes-placed as a 2-year-old, including a third in the Grade 1 Frizette Stakes. “Nonna Mia has been great – she was named for my grandmother,” Repole said. “I thought she was gonna be my first Grade 1 winner in 2009. She’s been special.” Nonna Mia is boarded at Lane’s End Farm, which consigned her colt as agent. She is the dam of Outwork, who won the Grade 1 Wood Memorial as a homebred for Repole, and of stakes-placed Nonna’s Boy. Most recently, the mare’s winning daughter Nonna Bella was represented by Fierceness, a dominant debut winner at Saratoga. Repole bred two other six-figure lots in Book 1. An Uncle Mo filly drew the unfortunate slot of being the first horse through the ring and did not meet her reserve; she was later privately purchased by Scott and Evan Dilworth for $280,000 in the Lane’s End barn. Repole also sold a $475,000 American Pharoah filly out of his Grade 1-placed stakes winner Stopshoppingmaria, dam of graded stakes winner Always Shopping and stakes winner Mo Shopping, to J.S. Company. That filly was consigned by West and partner Jill Gordon’s Highgate Sales, as agent. :: Bet the races with a $250 First Deposit Match + $10 Free Bet and FREE Formulator PPs! Join DRF Bets. In addition to his activity as a breeder, Repole said it is particularly gratifying to see the progeny of his former runners as stallions at this sale, and that their success makes him reflect on his status in the game. Uncle Mo, who gave Repole his first Grade 1 wins and his first championship in 2010, is a classic sire at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud, with Mo Donegal among his major winners. Outwork, standing at WinStar Farm, is the sire of this year’s Grade 1-winning juvenile filly Brightwork, while Vino Rosso is among the season’s leading freshmen stallions. “When I started, I was trying to claim horses for $12,500 or $20,000,” he said. “It’s almost 20 years later, and to sit here at this sale, I see Uncle Mo, and I see Vino Rosso, and I see Outwork, just to see them, whether I bid on them or not or sell them or not . . . I was a 13-year-old kid going to Aqueduct and betting $2 on these horses, and now I’m selling them for $3 million or buying them for a million. It’s kind of surreal. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.