Repole Steady brings a uncommon alternative to this yr’s Breeders’ Cup, an opportunity for racing followers to look at full siblings carry out in championship races on the identical weekend.
Fierceness , who has been pre-entered within the Breeders’ Cup Basic (G1), and Mentee , who has been pre-entered in each the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T) and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Dash (G1T), are each sons of Lane’s Finish’s Metropolis of Mild out of Mike Repole’s homebred winner Nonna Bella .
If they begin of their respective races throughout Breeders’ Cup weekend Nov. 1-2 at Del Mar, they’ll grow to be the eighth pair of full siblings to race throughout the world championships in the identical yr.
The primary pair of full siblings raced throughout the second Breeders’ Cup occasion in 1985 at Aqueduct Racetrack the place Earl Scheib’s homebreds Fran’s Valentine and Earl’s Valentine ran within the Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1), respectively. The sisters have been by group 1-placed stakes winner Saros, who Scheib acquired and raced in america starting in the summertime of 1978 and later stood at KingsWay Farm in California. Scheib additionally raced the sisters’ dam, stakes-placed Iza Valentine, from 3 to five within the identify of his Inexperienced Thumb Farm Stables.
The second and third units of full siblings to contest the Breeders’ Cup in the identical yr yielded the one pairs up to now to incorporate a winner.
In 1988, Ogden Phipps’ homebred Private Ensign captured an epic version of the Breeders’ Cup Distaff over that yr’s Kentucky Derby (G1) victress Profitable Colours however the winner’s brother Private Flag completed sixth within the Breeders’ Cup Basic. The siblings have been by homebred stallion Personal Account, and are the one graded stakes winners produced by homebred Grecian Banner.
The subsequent siblings competed in 2006 when Frank Calabrese’s homebred Dreaming of Anna gained the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies and earned honors because the yr’s champion 2-year-old filly. Full brother Lewis Michael, nonetheless, would end eleventh within the Breeders’ Cup Dash (G1). These siblings are by Rahy out of the grade 3-placed stakes winner Justenuffheart, additionally the dam of Justenuffhumor (Distorted Humor), who ran third within the 2009 Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1T).
Just one pair of full siblings has ever competed in the identical Breeders’ Cup race, which occurred within the second working of the Breeders’ Cup Filth Mile in 2008 when the race was a listed stakes. Proprietor/breeder Joseph LaCombe raced brothers Slew’s Tiznow, who was 3, and Slew’s Tizzy, who was 4. They completed tenth and eleventh, respectively.
Fierceness is the third foal out of Nonna Bella, a daughter of Repole’s a number of grade 1 winner Keep Thirsty who now stands at Lovacres Ranch in California. The mare was bred to Metropolis of Mild as a result of Repole had simply bought shares within the son of High quality Street and pedigree adviser Ed Rosen had been impressed with Dunbar Street , a grade 1 winner by High quality Street out of a Bernardini mare.
“We have been taking a look at what was working with High quality Street,” Rosen advised BloodHorse in an interview final yr. “(Dunbar Street) is out of a Bernardini mare. Keep Thirsty is by Bernardini, so it isn’t actual scientific, however it appeared that cross was working with a filly that was distinctive.”
Fierceness was such a handsome foal—rated among the many finest foals produced at Lane’s Finish in 2021—that Nonna Bella went again to Metropolis of Mild and produced Mentee.
Coach Todd Pletcher mentioned he first noticed Mentee at an Ocala coaching heart in March of the colt’s 2-year-old yr.
“He’s a pleasant colt however a unique colt than Fierceness. He’s a bit on smaller facet and is shorter-coupled with totally different muscle tone however nonetheless a nice-moving horse,” he mentioned. “One factor we discovered that was related, as soon as we bought him in, is his disposition; he is laid-back, simple to coach, and has a superb thoughts.”
Mentee gained his racing debut June 15 throughout the Belmont on the Huge A meet at Aqueduct. He subsequent ran sixth within the Hopeful Stakes (G1), prompting a reevaluation and consideration of the six-furlong Futurity Stakes (G3T) on the grass at Aqueduct.
“I do not maintain the Hopeful in opposition to him as a result of we did not have an incredible schedule in between,” Pletcher mentioned. “He did not run badly however did not run in addition to we had hoped. We had had it in our minds to strive him on the turf and the Futurity was a beautiful spot at six furlongs. Fairly a couple of of the Metropolis of Lights we have had have taken to the turf, so we gave him a breeze on it. Clearly, he took to it rather well.”
They zeroed in on the Futurity, which Mentee gained by 3 1/2 lengths and earned an automated entry into the Breeders’ Cup as a result of the race is a Breeders’ Cup Problem Sequence qualifier for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Dash.
Mentee wins the Futurity Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack
“We appreciated the best way he ran and the best way he rated, and have been inspired sufficient by it and the best way he galloped out that the Juvenile Turf was the following logical goal,” Pletcher mentioned. “He’s doing rather well. We now have not dominated out placing him again on the dust in some unspecified time in the future, in all probability within the spring, however for proper now we’re targeted on the Juvenile Turf.”
Metropolis of Mild’s runners have proven nice versatility with six of 10 black-type winners up to now discovering success on the grass, together with grade 2 winner Formidable Man and a number of grade 3 winner Chop Chop . The sire has turf influences all through his household, notably below his second dam, grade 1 winner Fabulous Notion, who additionally ran third on the turf within the 1983 Del Mar Oaks (G2T). The mare is a half sister to Cacoethes, winner of the 1990 Turf Basic Handicap (G1T) at Belmont Park and 1989 King Edward VII Stakes (G2) throughout Royal Ascot and third within the 1989 Epsom Derby (G1).
Regardless of the Breeders’ Cup races yield, Repole mentioned he proud to see two such completed runners representing his program.
“Having a breeding program that’s producing homebred graded stakes winners is surreal,” Repole mentioned. “Nonna Bella is a good mare, producing this dynamic duo. This goes again 15 years in the past after I raced her sire Keep Thirsty and her dam Nonna Mia, who is called after my beloved grandmother. It is extraordinarily particular.”
