Uncaged The Next Curlin Juvenile Winner for Repole

Debut winner Uncaged  has a lot in common with some of owner Mike Repole's top horses. Like Vino Rosso, Nest , and Crupi , he's by Curlin  . Like those three, Repole owns him in partnership. All four cost in the low to mid six figures, and all four count Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher as their trainer. And maybe, the colt has something in common with Repole himself.

"A lot of people would say that you can't cage Mike Repole," said the owner. "Someone said that to me a long time ago." 

Both Vino Rosso and Nest were both also first-out winners, albeit at distances longer than the six furlongs at which Uncaged won at Saratoga Race Course on Aug. 3. Professional from start to finish in a maiden special weight for 2-year-olds, the bay colt stood calmly in the gate while the juveniles around him shifted and moved around in the starting gate stalls. 

"Usually Curlins don't break that good," said Repole. "When he broke fourth, I said, 'I think we're going to win.'" 

And win Uncaged did, by 1 3/4 lengths, barely tested and barely urged by jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. 

"If he had been third by three, we would have been happy," said Repole. "We were looking at this as an experience race, and we got more than that. We took him out of the cage and this is what we got."

Repole purchased the colt from Warrendale Sales' consignment at last year's Keeneland September Yearling Sale. In addition to his being by Curlin, Repole also liked that he's out of a mare descended from Empire Maker , but Uncaged's breeder is what sealed the deal.

"I liked that he was WinStar-bred," he said. "I asked Kenny Troutt and Elliott Walden if they'd like to stay in for 25% if I bought the horse, and they said yes, so I figured that they must really like him. They were sitting three rows in front of me at the sale and I asked them about ten seconds before the bidding started." 

The most accomplished of Repole's many runners is Vino Rosso, owned in partnership with St. Elias Stables, who retired in 2019 with $4.8 million in earnings on the strength of grade 1 wins in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) and the Gold Cup at Santa Anita Stakes (G1). Though he finished first in the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) by a head, he was disqualified and placed second. He now stands at Spendthrift Farm near Lexington where he commanded an advertised fee of $25,000 for the 2024 season. 

Also by Curlin, Nest earned $2.1 million for Repole and partners Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Michael House, winning both the Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) and Alabama Stakes (G1) after finishing second in the Belmont Stakes (G1). And on the Belmont Stakes undercard, Crupi, also co-owned by St. Elias Stables, got his first graded stakes win in the Suburban (G2). He's finished second in both the Brooklyn Stakes (G2) and the Whitney Stakes (G1) this summer. 

Curlin stands at Hill 'n' Dale Farm near Lexington for $250,000 during the 2024 breeding season.

With a number of Curlin yearlings on offer Aug. 5 and 6, at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale, Repole will have options to add to his stable of Curlin offspring.