Belmont Stakes Won By Mo Donegal: Here's The Link To One Of The Largest Publicly Traded Consumer Goods Companies

Mo Donegal won the Belmont Stakes on Saturday, marking the third different horse to win a Triple Crown race in 2022. Here’s a look at who owns Mo Donegal and how it relates to the stock market.

What Happened: Favorite Mo Donegal won the Belmont Stakes by three lengths, beating second place finisher Nest. Rich Strike, which won the Kentucky Derby as a huge longshot, finished sixth in the race.

Mo Donegal is owned by Donegal Racing and Repole Stables. Nest is co-owned by Repole Stables.

Mo Donegal was sired by Uncle Mo, a two-year-old champion back in 2010 and the sire of 2016 Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist.

The win by Mo Donegal marked the first Belmont Stakes win for Repole Stables founder Mike Repole, a native New Yorker, in seven attempts.

“This is a dream I’ve had for 40 years,” Repole said of the win. “This is New York’s biggest race.”

Stock Market Connection: Repole is one of several horse owners who got his start through money earned from investments. Repole is the founder of Galceau (parent company of Smartwater and Vitaminwater) and BodyArmor, two drink companies that are now owned by The Coca-Cola Company KO.

Coca-Cola purchased Glaceau for $4.1 billion in 2007. The beverage giant acquired a 15% stake in BodyArmor before acquiring the remaining 85% in 2021 for an additional $5.6 billion.

The sale of his beverage brands helped Repole create a horse stable, fulfilling a love of sports and horse racing he had at a young age.

Along with ties to Coca-Cola, Repole was also the former Chairman of Pirate’s Booty, a snack food company that was bought by B&G Foods Inc BGS and later acquired by The Hershey Co HSY.

Mike Repole tried to win the Belmont seven times prior to today.

But when you are a poor Queens boy who grows up to sell one company for $4 billion and another company for $8 billion, failure isn't an option.

Love you, Mike. Thanks for taking me along for the ride. pic.twitter.com/VYeuB0hxLG
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) June 11, 2022