Prominent Owners Square Off in a Race to Buy the Mets

The bidding war to assume ownership of the New York Mets has turned into a race pitting owners of some of horse racing's most well-known stars against each other.

With bids to take over the National League team due Aug. 31, published reports have listed two of the main contenders to buy the Major League Baseball franchise as a group that includes Mike Repole of Repole Stable and Vincent Viola of St. Elias Stable and the individual bid of Steve Cohen, who has been a part owner of 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify  as well as six champions, including Lady Eli, Monomoy Girl, and Midnight Bisou.

Repole and Viola, who teamed on the racetrack last year to campaign Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) winner and champion older dirt male Vino Rosso , are part of a group that also includes entertainment superstar Jennifer Lopez and her husband, retired baseball slugger Alex Rodriguez.

Cohen, a hedge fund manager whose net worth was listed at $13.9 billion this year by Forbes, made headlines in New York this year when it appeared he was poised to buy the Mets for more than $2 billion from the Wilpon family, which owns the team. That deal ultimately fell through in February, but Cohen reentered the picture when the team announced in July that it was accepting bids from prospective owners.

Cohen's involvement in racing comes through a friendship and work relationship with Sol Kumin. Cohen has been one of the three investors in all the partnerships organized by Kumin, including Madaket Stables, Monomoy Stables, Head of Plains Partners, and Sheep Pond Partners. 

Aside from having partners in his four stables, Kumin typically buys horses in conjunction with other groups. Justify, for example, was owned by WinStar Farm, China Horse Club, Starlight Racing, and Head of Plains Partners.

Through being involved in those partnerships with Kumin since 2014, Cohen has been a part of more than 60 grade 1 victories. Among the equine stars who collected those wins are 2019 champions Uni and British Idiom, as well as Catholic Boy , Exaggerator , Mind Your Biscuits, and Whitmore.

"Steve is a close friend and a low-key guy," said Kumin, who worked as COO for Cohen at SAC Capital Advisors until he left in 2014 to form his own company. "He's quiet and he's involved in racing for the fun of it."

Cohen, a longtime Mets fan who now heads Point72 Asset Management based in Stamford, Conn., attended the 2019 Breeders' Cup and helped lead the victorious British Idiom and Uni into the winner's circle.

Besides the 64-year-old Cohen, the mainstays in Kumin's four stables are Jim Pallotta and Jim Carey.

According to published reports, Pallotta agreed to sell his minority ownership of the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association for an evaluation of $2.8 billion last week.

Repole and Viola also bring considerable wealth to their bids, as well as experience in running a professional sports franchise. Repole was the co-founder of Glaceau, the maker of Vitaminwater which he sold for $4.1 billion in 2007, and is currently co-founder and co-chairman of BodyArmor SuperDrink. Viola, a Brooklyn native who is the founder and chairman emeritus of Virtu Financial, owns the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League and is a former minority owner of the NBA's Brooklyn Nets, dating to when they were located in New Jersey.

The 51-year-old Repole was born in Queens and has been a lifelong Mets fan. His stable's orange and blue silks are fashioned after the team's colors.

Aside from competing for the Mets, both Cohen and Viola own two of this year's top 3-year-olds. Cohen will be represented in the Sept. 5 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) through Madaket Stables' TVG.com Haskell Stakes (G1) winner Authentic, who is also owned by Spendthrift Farm, MyRaceHorse Stable, and Starlight Racing. Viola owns Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1) runner-up Dr Post, who is a possibility for either the Kentucky Derby or the Preakness Stakes (G1). Cohen and Viola have each owned a share of a Kentucky Derby winner as Viola was a part owner of Always Dreaming , who captured the Run for the Roses in 2017, one year before Justify's sweep of the Triple Crown for Cohen and his partners. 

The third main group in the mix for the Mets consists of Joshua Harris and David Blitzer, who own the Philadelphia 76ers and the New Jersey Devils.

The Mets enjoyed some of their greatest success in their early days when the team was owned by a leading figure in Thoroughbred racing. Joan Whitney Payson, who operated the famed Greentree Stable, owned the team in 1969 when the "Miracle Mets" won the World Series.