There was a horse in the sales ring at Keeneland and the auctioneer was doing what auctioneers do, rolling through the bids, when shouting from elsewhere in the pavilion became loud enough to interrupt the sale. The auctioneer stopped. For a moment, he apparently thought someone had made a bid. Was that a bid? The room went quiet. Then the response. “No bid.” The auctioneer didn’t miss a beat. He went right back to work.
What the people watching that horse sell could not hear was what had happened shortly before, or why Mike Repole was angry enough that his voice eventually carried into the middle of a live auction.
I am comfortable with the following account and comfortable enough to put my name and Past the Wire behind it. If I write something as fact, it means I am prepared to stand behind it.
Earlier, Pat Cummings entered the sales pavilion and was approached by bloodstock agent David Ingordo. Ingordo confronted Cummings over social media posts critical of aspects of the sales business and sales practices. Ingordo accused Cummings of posting negative material on behalf of Mike Repole. Cummings told Ingordo that he did not author any tweet for Repole and that if Ingordo had a problem with Repole’s posts, he should take the matter up with Repole.
That should have been the end of it. It wasn’t.
The confrontation escalated. Ingordo pointed his finger inches from Cummings’ face and continued accusing him over the social media criticism. He told Cummings that Repole was avoiding him and that he had been unable to track Repole down. Cummings continued telling him that he did not write any tweet for Repole and that whatever issue Ingordo had with Mike should be addressed with Mike.
Then it became physical. Ingordo repeatedly poked Cummings hard and aggressively in the chest while continuing the confrontation. Cummings repeatedly told him not to touch him and that there was no reason to put his hands on him. An older retired police officer who was present also intervened verbally, telling Ingordo there was no reason to touch Cummings.
Eventually Ingordo walked away, but not before directing a “fuck you” at Cummings.
Mike Repole appeared furious when he arrived, a clear indication he was aware of what transpired. He located a table where Terry Finley and William Farish Jr. were sitting and loudly confronted them over what had happened to Cummings. Repole’s accusation, in substance, was that their side had sent a stooge after his guy.
That is the confrontation that spilled loudly enough into the auction that the auctioneer stopped his cadence.
Security became involved. Boots on the ground say Ingordo had been spoken to sternly and given an in house warning.
Now we can talk about what I think.
If you don’t like something someone writes, answer it. If it is factually wrong, correct it. If you think someone is being unfair, say so. If you believe something crosses a legal line, there are remedies available for that as well. This is a business filled with people who have opinions and increasingly filled with people asking questions that some very powerful people would apparently prefer weren’t asked.
But putting your finger inches from someone’s face and then repeatedly putting your hands on him because you don’t like tweets is something else entirely. Doing it after that person tells you he isn’t responsible for the tweets makes it even worse. Doing it to a mild-mannered, soft-spoken gentleman, and a senior of yours makes it worse still. You see the downward spiral here I trust.
There is another part of this that doesn’t pass the smell test for me.
Ingordo seemed to say he couldn’t find Mike Repole and that Mike was avoiding him. Really? Mike Repole? I’d sooner believe you couldn’t avoid seeing him.
Whatever anyone thinks of Mike, hiding isn’t exactly his calling card. He isn’t difficult to identify, he isn’t reluctant to speak, and he isn’t particularly known for avoiding confrontation. On one day he was walking around Keeneland wearing a shirt emblazoned with “THE COMMISSIONER” across the front. Apparently, Waldo was easier to find.
Besides not being responsible for Mike’s tweets, there is another problem with going after Cummings in this manner. Pat Cummings has spent years of his life and worked tirelessly to improve the sport we all profess to love. He has fought and continues to fight the uncomfortable battles the industry would rather see hushed. I do not always agree with every position he takes, and I doubt he mine, but I cannot think of a single instance relative to this sport where his heart and intentions were not in the right place. Improving the game helps us all, remember, rising waters raise all boats.
There is also a human dynamic here that I am not going to pretend doesn’t exist. Pat Cummings isn’t a physically confrontational guy. He isn’t someone I would expect to answer somebody putting a finger in his face by putting one back in theirs. Perhaps that made him an easier person to confront.
Mike Repole is a different personality. Mike grew up in Queens. He is loud. He is confrontational. He gets in people’s faces figuratively and sometimes gets close enough to make the distinction academic. Whether you like that about him or hate it, nobody familiar with Mike Repole wonders whether he is willing to have an uncomfortable conversation face-to-face.
Ingordo apparently couldn’t find Mike before confronting Pat. Mike didn’t seem to have much difficulty finding everybody once he arrived.
Make of that what you will.
What interests me considerably more than the personalities involved is why criticism of sales practices generated this degree of anger in the first place.
That question matters because the horse sales business has already been facing legitimate questions about transparency, including questions recently raised publicly by Repole. Past the Wire has addressed some of them as well. We recently wrote about the controversy surrounding the reported sale of an Uncle Mo yearling and the difference between what happened in the sales ring, what was subsequently paid, and how those transactions are represented to the public.
Those are fair questions.
They don’t become unfair because somebody doesn’t like them. They don’t disappear because someone gets angry. And they certainly don’t become less interesting when criticism of sales practices apparently produces a confrontation that begins with accusations over tweets, progresses to unwanted physical contact, and ends with another confrontation loud enough to stop an auctioneer in the middle of selling a horse.
Quite the opposite.
I cannot tell you what was going through David Ingordo’s mind. I cannot tell you why criticism of sales practices produced the reaction it apparently did. I won’t pretend to know someone’s motive when I don’t.
I can tell you what the reaction does to me. It makes me want to ask more questions.
If the criticism is nonsense, demonstrate that it is nonsense. If Repole has facts wrong, show everyone the correct facts. If the sales process is as transparent as it should be, sunlight ought to be its friend. Put everything on the table and let reasonable people look at it.
What you don’t do is put your hands on someone because you believe somebody else is criticizing you or your business.
There is an old premise that every dispute has three versions: yours, mine and the truth. I’ve been around long enough to know there is considerable wisdom in that. I am comfortable with what I know happened at Keeneland.
Whether the people involved ultimately decide this incident should end there is their business.
The questions surrounding transparency in the sales business are everybody’s business. They won’t end because somebody pointed a finger.
David Ingordo apparently had something he wanted to say about those questions and chose his own way of saying it. Mike Repole certainly had something to say about what happened afterward.
Then there is Keeneland’s reported response, which, if accurate, contributes to the downward spiral. You can send out press releases and publish articles until the cows come home about numbers, integrity, transparency or whatever you want. The Keeneland Sale is run by, attended, and supported by some of the wealthiest and more influential people in horse racing. What message does their action, or should I say inaction say about the talk, when a major bloodstock agent is allowed to roam the pavilion, repeatedly put his hands on someone telling him not to, and gets a stern talking to, and an in house warning?
Comments