Mike Repole owns another top colt at the Kentucky Derby. And he’s perfect for the role.

Editor’s note: Kentucky Derby favorite Forte was scratched from the race Saturday morning after this article was originally published.

Nobody is drinking in the pageantry of Kentucky Derby week quite like Mike Repole.

The 54-year-old Italian-American New Yorker — best known as a beverage magnate who co-founded both Glacéau (maker of Vitaminwater) and BodyArmor SuperDrink — was a charismatic presence on the Churchill Downs backstretch Tuesday morning.

He spoke with his hands, and was quick to interject a joke at any possible opportunity.

He was comfortable in front of the camera, enough so to jokingly join his Kentucky Derby 149 contender, Forte (whom his Repole Stable operation co-owns), for several photos as the horse received a morning bath in front of media members.

But most evident was how Repole projected the image of a man comfortable in his own skin.

There he stood, holding court with a gaggle of media members.

His puffer jacket gave way to baggy, dark blue jeans that stretched over the top of blue and orange Nike athletic shoes, likely a nod to his hometown New York Mets.

The name Uncle Mo was emblazoned on the front and back of the jacket, a reminder to all that Repole has been a longtime player on horse racing’s biggest stage.

This isn’t Repole’s first trip to the Kentucky Derby, not by any measure.

But it’s shaping up to be his best chance to win it, and nobody would be more fit for the role of Derby-winning owner than he.

In the sport of kings, Repole carves out own lane

Horse racing is full of charismatic characters, particularly among owners. Even then, Repole stands out.

Born in Queens, Repole was the first in his family to go to college, and he graduated from St. John’s University in his home borough.

His love for horse racing came early in life, with frequent visits to local tracks Aqueduct and Belmont Park as a teenager.

The ability for Repole to make a meaningful mark on the sport arrived in 2007, when he and his partners sold Glacéau, the VitaminWater company, to Coca-Cola for a reported $4.1 billion.

“Many kids dream about being a professional baseball player or pro basketball player, and I dreamt about having a Triple Crown winner,” Repole said back in 2010. “Even when I was 13, 14 years old, I knew eventually I would be an owner. I didn’t know if it would be 1994, 2004 or 2014, but it was on my bucket list of things I was going to do in my life.”

A significant investment in the sport of kings followed that sale, and the returns for Repole were nearly immediate.

Plenty of people will recall the impression he made in 2011 when he brought both Uncle Mo and Stay Thirsty to the Derby, only for Uncle Mo, one of the race favorites, to be scratched prior to the race due to the effects from a gastrointestinal infection.

Stay Thirsty ran 12th in the 2011 Derby, and Repole has been a frequent visitor to Churchill Downs ever since with entrants in the Run for the Roses.

On Tuesday, Repole rattled off the names of his other Derby horses: Overanalyze (11th in 2013), Outwork (14th in 2016), Noble Indy (17th in 2018), Vino Rosso (ninth in 2018), Dynamic One (18th in 2021) and Mo Donegal (fifth in 2022).

None had as good a chance to win as Uncle Mo

Until now.

Forte (post position No. 13) is the clear favorite from an admittedly weak Derby field this year. A winner in six of seven career starts, he’s won five straight races and was installed as the 3-1 morning-line favorite Monday.

“It’s a dream,” Repole said of becoming a Kentucky Derby fixture. “I watched Big Brown win (in 2008) with my wife and I said, ‘You know what, next time I come here we’re going to have a horse in the Derby.’”

Repole has had close-ish calls in the Derby, and has won big races on other stages, most notably the 2019 Breeders’ Cup Classic with Vino Rosso. He was part-owner of last year’s Belmont Stakes winner, Mo Donegal.

But not since Uncle Mo (who sired 2016 Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist) has Repole been expected to win the Kentucky Derby, although he’s not showing any signs of the stress that would be expected with owning a Derby favorite.

Repole’s role in horse racing continues to grow

If anything, Tuesday showed an added detail of depth to Repole’s role within horse racing.

His backstretch media session came alongside Loren Hebel-Osborne — the wife of Kentucky Speaker of the House David Osborne — and featured extensive discussion about how Kentucky’s approach to horse racing should be mimicked by other states around the country.

“Kentucky is doing it right, I’ve just got to be honest with you,” Repole said. “If we could have a model that works nationally, that’s basically the model you guys have here, and get NYRA (New York Racing Association) and get Florida and California. ... I just wish it was a national model.”

But it’s not as if this stage has taken Repole by surprise, especially given the horse he has for Saturday’s race.

Forte was a dominant 2-year-old who twice won at Keeneland in Lexington in the fall: The Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity as part of Keeneland’s Fall Meet and the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile as part of the World Championships of Thoroughbred racing.

The son of Violence is trained by Todd Pletcher, who has also been been the trainer for all of Repole’s past Derby runners.

There also figures to be plenty more opportunities for the Pletcher-Repole duo to work together in the future.

Repole said Tuesday he owns 275 horses, and estimated that around 240 of them are Kentucky-breds.

And like any good horse owner with ties to the commonwealth, Repole is keeping count of his Derby performance to date.

“I’m a regular that’s 0-for-7 in the Derby,” he joked Tuesday.

But come Saturday night, there’s a strong chance that Repole’s mark in the sport will be permanent. And nobody would be better suited for the moment.