Tales from the Crib: Renegade

Apr 17, 2026 Kellie Reilly/Brisnet.com

Baby Renegade practices running (Photo by Kelcey Loges/Taylor Made Farm)

Six years ago, the blueblood filly Spice Is Nice was on the Kentucky Oaks (G1) trail for Robert and Lawana Low. Now her homebred son, Renegade, has made a far bigger splash on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, bringing the Lows – and co-owner Mike Repole – back to Churchill Downs with a potential favorite in the Run for the Roses.

It’s also a “full circle” moment for bloodstock maven Jacob West, who serves as an advisor to both the Lows and Repole. West, on the Lows’ behalf, found Spice Is Nice as a yearling at the 2018 Keeneland September Sale, and they went to $1.05 million to purchase her.

When Spice Is Nice’s first foal, Renegade, toured the same auction ring in 2024, West acted as Repole’s agent when purchasing him for $975,000. The Lows stayed involved in the colt, and a partnership with Repole was born.

The connection runs even deeper with his Hall of Fame trainer, Todd Pletcher. Renegade is a third-generation Pletcher trainee, after Spice Is Nice and her own mother, Dame Dorothy.

Dame Dorothy was acquired at Keeneland September by celebrity chef Bobby Flay, who named her in honor of his mother. The daughter of champion Bernardini hailed from the famed Derry Meeting Farm in Pennsylvania. Best known as the birthplace of supersires Storm Cat and Danzig, the late Marshall Jenney’s nursery also bred Mrs. Penny, who became a top-class performer in Europe.

Mrs. Penny ranked as a champion in England and Ireland, although her biggest wins as a three-year-old came in France, in the 1980 Prix de Diane (French Oaks) (G1) and Prix Vermeille (G1). As a broodmare, she has the distinction of producing the very last stakes winner sired by breed-shaper Northern Dancer, Northern Park.

Mrs. Penny’s daughters have continued her influence through the female line. Dame Dorothy descends from Mrs. Penny’s daughter Mrs. Jenney. Herself a multiple stakes winner, Mrs. Jenney is most notably responsible for Unaccounted For, the hero of the 1995 Whitney H. (G1) at Saratoga who placed to the great Cigar in that fall’s Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) and Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1).

Dame Dorothy’s half-sister, Mrs. Lindsay, emulated their ancestress Mrs. Penny by winning the Prix Vermeille in 2007. Also runner-up in the French Oaks, Mrs. Lindsay concluded her three-year-old season on a high note at Woodbine, capturing the E.P. Taylor (G1) in what was then course-record time.

Mrs. Lindsay, a homebred for the late Bettina Jenney, was named after her mother. So it was a nice touch that Flay echoed the sentiment with half-sister Dame Dorothy.

Trained by Pletcher throughout her career, Dame Dorothy won her first four starts, capped by a victory in the 2014 Turnback the Alarm H. (G3) at Belmont Park. The runner-up that day, Catch My Drift, has gone on to produce millionaires Bishops Bay and Catching Freedom (the third-placer in the 2024 Preakness [G1] and fourth in the Kentucky Derby [G1).

Dame Dorothy proved most effective around one turn. Her signature win came at Churchill Downs on Derby Day 2015, when rallying to deny champion Judy the Beauty in the Humana Distaff (G1).

Retired with $749,740 in earnings from a record of seven wins, one second, and two thirds in 12 starts, Dame Dorothy began her broodmare career by visiting Hall of Famer Curlin. Their daughter, Spice Is Nice, was more in the mold of her sire.

Spice Is Nice announced herself as one to follow when crushing her debut over a mile at Gulfstream Park in January 2020. Jumping straight onto the Road to the Kentucky Oaks in the Davona Dale (G2), she settled for second as the odds-on favorite. After regressing to fifth in the Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2), she was given a break. Spice Is Nice returned that summer with an allowance score at Belmont Park, but a disappointing sixth in the Alabama (G1) put her out of the reckoning for the pandemic-delayed Oaks.

Resuming in the spring of 2021, Spice Is Nice adhered to her pattern of firing fresh. She rolled as the 1-2 favorite in her Keeneland comeback, setting herself up for a bigger target. Spice Is Nice was next seen at Pimlico in the 1 1/8-mile Allaire duPont Distaff (G3), forcing the pace, gamely outdueling her rival, and pulling away to score her biggest victory. Her form declined in her final two outings, and she bowed out with a mark of four wins and a second from nine starts, with a bankroll worth $259,688.

Spice Is Nice had done enough to deserve a date with leading sire Into Mischief. Their bay colt arrived on Jan. 25, 2023, at Taylor Made Farm in the Bluegrass, and he immediately presented himself as a fine foal.

“From day one, he was very nice,” West recalled. “For a first foal, he had plenty of size and leg.

“His momma is pretty big, so it was a good mating with Into Mischief. We got the speed mixed with the distance from Curlin.

“He had natural muscling since day one also, and you can see him today that he hasn’t changed. He’s just a big, beautiful colt.”

Renegade as a foal poses with mom Spice Is Nice (Photo by Kelcey Loges/Taylor Made Farm)

Renegade takes off in the paddock (Photo by Kelcey Loges/Taylor Made Farm)

Renegade strides along with mom Spice Is Nice (Photo by Kelcey Loges/Taylor Made Farm)

The Lows have their own magnificent farm in their home state of Missouri – Primatara, outside of Springfield. Once the mares give birth in Kentucky, and are bred back to elite stallions, they are transported to Primatara, where the foals are raised until it’s time to return to the Bluegrass.

Like his mother and grandmother in their yearling days, the unnamed colt was cataloged for the Keeneland September Sale. He naturally prepped at Taylor Made, one of a bumper crop for their sales consignment.

Amazingly, the Taylor family’s operation has its fingerprints on a number of 2026 contenders. Derby points leader Commandment was born and raised at Taylor Made, and likewise sold under their banner, as was Kentucky Oaks threat Zany. Other Taylor Made sales graduates in the Derby field include So Happy, Albus, and Silent Tactic.

Renegade as a yearling (Photo by Kelcey Loges/Taylor Made Farm)

The colt now known as Renegade sold to Repole for $975,000 at Keeneland September.

“You’ve got to sell a horse or two along the way,” Robert Low told Oaklawn Park publicity prior to the Arkansas Derby (G1). “That’s the business we’re in, and it keeps the IRS happy. We made a tough decision to sell him, even though we loved him, absolutely loved him.”

Indeed, the colt was so special that Low was already regretting it after the gavel came down.

“We asked if Mike would sell half of him back to us,” Low said. “Mike was kind enough to make it a square deal. He didn’t charge a premium for a half, and we were glad to get him back.”

Renegade has rewarded his connections’ faith in him. Debuting at Saratoga last summer, he finished a distant third in a seven-furlong maiden. He wanted to go longer, and his opportunity came in a one-mile maiden at Aqueduct, where he fought to win by a nose.

Unfortunately, the stewards disqualified Renegade for interference in a controversial call, and his rival was officially awarded the victory. That rival was Paladin.

The two got a rematch in the Remsen (G2), and this time, Paladin was first across the wire, and Renegade was second. But Renegade’s runner-up effort was sneakily-good, considering that he’d had an interrupted training pattern. When Paladin went on to become the Derby favorite, only to sustain an injury that knocked him off the trail, Renegade was poised to take over his mantle.

Reappearing in the Sam F. Davis S. at Tampa Bay Downs, Renegade blasted from near the back of the pack to win decisively by 3 3/4 lengths. He delivered a similar performance in the Arkansas Derby, rallying from last in a dominant four-length victory.

A huge performance from RENEGADE in the G1 Arkansas Derby, grabbing 100 points in his final Kentucky Derby prep race! 🌹🌟@iradortiz piloted the 3YO colt for trainer Todd Pletcher!

🎥 #TwinSpiresReplay pic.twitter.com/H9Zot5b7vj

— TwinSpires Racing 🏇 (@TwinSpires) March 29, 2026

The Lows were delighted for Renegade to use the Arkansas Derby as his major stepping stone, since Oaklawn Park is effectively their home track. Their past Kentucky Derby hopes, Steppenwolfer (2006) and Magnum Moon (2018), had tuned up there. Steppenwolfer was second in the Arkansas Derby before finishing third to Barbaro in the Run for the Roses. Magnum Moon, who extended his record to 4-for-4 in the Arkansas Derby, couldn’t land a blow at Churchill Downs after a miserable trip.

Steppenwolfer and Magnum Moon were both auction purchases, making Renegade their first homebred Derby runner. The Lows also bred Citizen Bull, the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) champion and Derby also-ran, but had sold him as a yearling.

Repole has endured Derby heartbreak himself, not just the unplaced efforts by his eight starters, but especially because he had two champions who were scratched. Uncle Mo came down with an illness that forced him out of the 2011 Derby, and Forte, the 2023 Derby favorite, was scratched by the veterinarian on the morning of the race.

Perhaps Renegade will be the one to fulfill Derby dreams. If so, there would be another aspect of the “full circle” for West and the Lows.

Magnum Moon was raised at Claiborne Farm, and West has since become the stallion seasons and bloodstock manager for the historic nursery. When the Lows bought Spice Is Nice as a yearling, Magnum Moon was battling laminitis, and he succumbed the following year.

At that sad time, who could have imagined that the Lows would return to the Kentucky Derby with another smashing Arkansas Derby winner – no less than the firstborn son of Spice Is Nice!

Spice Is Nice’s latest colt, born on Feb. 24, is already inspiring hopes. By Taylor Made’s red-hot sire Not This Time, the chestnut was recently spied napping in his stall. Is he dreaming of roses?

Nap time for Renegade's baby half-brother (Photo by Jacob West)

Renegade's baby half-brother (Photo by Kelcey Loges/Taylor Made Farm)