Mike Repole backs Renegade as Daisy Phipps Pulito flags Derby favorite
daisy phipps pulito caught Mike Repole outside Todd Pletcher’s barn at Churchill Downs on April 30, 2026, with Renegade installed as the morning-line favorite for the 152nd Kentucky Derby. Repole owns the horse, and the setup puts one of racing’s most visible owners in the spotlight during Derby Week.
About 50 media members listened as Repole opened with, “You can ask me anything. I’m not scripted. There’s no message points.” He added, “If you guys are OK with cursing, I’m going to curse. If you’re not OK with cursing, I’m going to curse.”
Churchill Downs on April 30
April 30 gave reporters a rare direct line to Repole at Churchill Downs, where Renegade had already galloped around the grandstand turn on April 26 in preparation for the race. Todd Pletcher trains the colt, so the owner-trainer combination enters the week with the favorite and the burden that comes with it.
0 for 11 is the record Repole is carrying into this Derby, and it is not a small footnote. He got into horse racing in 2004, and the numbers say he has stayed close to the sport long enough to know how hard this race is to win, even from the strongest position on paper.
Forte and the 2023 scratch
2023 is the other number hanging over Repole’s Derby story. He and Pletcher were close to entering Forte in the Kentucky Derby, but a Kentucky regulatory vet observed Forte jog along Pletcher’s shedrow and removed him from the field after three late scratches changed the race’s shape.
Cherie DeVaux, working next door to Pletcher’s barn, captured the mood around the stable area when she said from the saddle of her pony, “People need to get out of the way, we’re conducting business here.” That line fits Repole’s current position well: the favorite is in place, the owner is available, and the race now belongs to execution rather than reputation.
Repole’s racing ledger
August 24, 2024, sits in the background as the last clean reminder that Repole can win at the top level, after Fierceness took the Travers trophy at Saratoga Race Course. He has also poured energy into St. John’s men’s basketball, where he is an alum and close friend of Rick Pitino, and into the United Football League, which makes him one of the more unusually active owners in sports.
For Derby readers, the practical takeaway is simple: Renegade is the horse to beat, but Repole’s 0 for 11 Derby record keeps the pressure on the barn until the gates open. If this favorite finally delivers, it will do more than extend a week of hype at Churchill Downs; it would give Repole the one result his Derby ledger still lacks.
