American entrepreneur, businessman, and racehorse owner Mike Repole has taken a big stake in thoroughbred horse racing company Churchill Downs. This acquisition comes amid share-related struggles for the latter party.
Mike Repole Is Optimistic About Churchill Downs’ Business
Churchill Downs has cemented itself as a major racing and gaming company in North America. Despite that, its public business has faced certain struggles, as the company’s stock has been taking a dip, experiencing a 35% drop on a year-to-date basis.
Repole commented on his decision to invest in the business, confirming that he has purchased 1 million shares in the company. To put things into perspective, this is equivalent to a stake of roughly 1.5%.
Repole added that he is open to acquiring even more and that he was “extremely excited about the possibilities.” This suggests that the billionaire believes Churchill Downs to be a lucrative opportunity, despite its suboptimal stock performance.
Repole, who is no stranger to investing in racehorses and gaming companies, added:
Churchill has tremendous assets, led by what I believe is the global crown jewel of horse racing, the Kentucky Derby. Last year’s Derby peaked at 24.4 million viewers. To me, that’s a major proof point of how BIG this sport can become.
Mike Repole
Repole also noted that he believes that taking a meaningful ownership stake in Churchill Downs positions him in the perfect spot to support the company’s value creation, while benefiting the horse racing sector as a whole.
Repole’s comments did not prompt an immediate spike in Churchill Downs’ share price, although the stock does seem to have improved slightly, standing at $79.31 as of the time of this writing. Analysts believe that further investments could have a positive impact on the company’s share performance.
Experts believe that it is up to Churchill Downs to capitalize on Repole’s trust in its business if it is to improve the performance of its stock.
Other News Involving the Billionaire and Churchill Downs
Earlier this year, Repole set up a big lawsuit, arguing that overlapping leadership across multiple horse racing bodies concentrated power and raised antitrust and transparency concerns. Back then, he described this action as a “last-ditch effort” to make sure horse racing changes for the better.
A few weeks ago, Churchill Downs and the New York Racing Association (NYRA) joined other horse racing companies in an attempt to get a federal court to dismiss a lawsuit claiming that computer-assisted wagering (CAW) operations get unfair advantages in pari-mutuel betting pools.