Mike Repole eyes Kentucky Derby, Oaks after bringing UFL to Louisville

UFL co-owner Mike Repole speaks to the crowd as the UFL franchise Louisville Kings are introduced at Lynn Family Stadium. Wednesday, October 8, 2025

Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher trains both of the horses in question: Renegade, who is second on the Derby points leaderboard after winning the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby on March 28; and Zany — whom Daily Racing Form dubbed the country's top 3-year-old filly entering the Grade 1 Central Bank Ashland Stakes on April 3.

Pletcher delivered Repole his breakthrough moment as an owner in 2010, when Uncle Mo won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Churchill by 4½ lengths — making him an early favorite for Derby 137. Twelve years later, they did it again with Forte at Keeneland.

For both horses, the dream of capturing the Run for the Roses ended with Pletcher delivering some tough news. Uncle Mo was scratched due to a gastrointestinal infection. A bruised right front foot kept Forte out of Derby 149 in 2023.

In 2024, Repole's morning-line favorite, Fierceness, finished Derby 150 in 15th place. Last year, his Wood Memorial runner-up, Grande, bowed out of Derby 151 the day prior due to a foot bruise.

His best finish in the race? Fifth, with Mo Donegal in 2022.

“Racing’s full of highs and lows," Repole told reporters the day Grande scratched, after Fierceness redeemed himself with a record-breaking run to victory in the Grade 2 Alysheba Stakes. "I’m blessed, because many people just have lows — no highs.”

Owner Mike Repole hugs trainer Todd Pletcher after their horse Forte won the Breeders' Cup $2 million Juvenile Grade 1 at the Breeders' Cup World Championships at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky. Nov. 4, 2022.

Across more than two decades of his horses competing at Churchill and Keeneland, Repole has put down some roots in the Bluegrass State. That led him to researching Louisville as a potential market for a UFL team when he bought into the league and was handed the reins of its business operations last summer. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense — especially with Lynn Family Stadium (capacity 15,304) on the table as a venue.

Five months after the Kings were formally introduced as a UFL member, 14,034 fans braved chilly temperatures to watch the team's inaugural game in Butchertown. Quite a few of the attendees sported green gear featuring the team's logo — a thoroughbred, paying homage to horse racing's status as the "sport of kings" — in addition to repping either the Cardinals or the Wildcats. Churchill Downs Incorporated occupied one of the suites.

That's exactly the kind of buy-in Repole was looking for when he set out to bring three new cities into the UFL, replacing the Memphis Showboats, Michigan Panthers and San Antonio Brahmas. It's why he has faith the league can expand to 10 teams in 2028 and to 16 by the early- to mid-2030s.

"We're here for the long term," Repole told The Courier Journal on April 9. "I'm not just making an investment in the United Football League; I'm making a huge investment in the city of Louisville and the state of Kentucky."

Repole Stable is only one example of the entrepreneur's staying power that he hopes will carry over to the UFL. He's best known for turning beverages such as Vitaminwater and Bodyarmor into billion-dollar brands — and for using some of the money to fund Hall of Famer Rick Pitino's rosters at his alma mater, St. John's.

There's just that one thing missing: a trip to the winner's circle in the Derby and/or the Oaks. And with the horses he's bringing to Churchill this go-around, hitting the double is very much on the table.

Mike Repole, owner of Fierceness -- one of the Kentucky Derby favorites -- watches from the rail as trainer Todd Pletcher scans the turn with binoculars early Thursday morning at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. May 2, 2024

Renegade, a son of Into Mischief, is 2-2-1 across five career starts. Zany, a daughter of Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, is 3-1-0 across four career starts, with the lone second-place finish coming in the Ashland. Both are typically jockeyed by Irad Ortiz Jr., who ranks third all-time among North American riders in earnings.

And, if all else fails and Repole can't get over the hump in 2026, the Kings host the St. Louis Battlehawks for an 8 p.m. kickoff on Thurby — April 30.

"It's so funny. I said, 'Well, I haven't won the Oaks and I haven't won the Derby. But at least, with the Louisville Kings, I own both teams,'" Repole said. "So Thursday, I'm guaranteed a win."

Reach Louisville men's basketball reporter Brooks Holton at bholton@gannett.com and follow him on X at @brooksHolton.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky Derby 2026, Mike Repole brings favorite Renegade to Churchill