As Churchill Stock Climbs, IMRglobal Suffers

Churchill Downs stock reset its 52-week high twice in two consecutive trading days. On Friday, the Louisville, Ky.-based racing conglomerate broke the $30 mark for the first time since July 1999. The stock (Nasdaq: CHDN) closed at $30.37, up 7.3% from the day before. Trading picked up even more steam Monday.

The volume of shares that changed hands rose 42% from Friday to 97,500 shares, and the stock reached another high at $30.62. The activity is not tied to any recent news. Churchill Downs is coming off a successful fall meet that set a record total handle of $160.5 million.

The stock market has not been so kind to IMRglobal, the e-commerce programming business founded by top Thoroughbred owner Satish Sanan. On Monday, IMRglobal (Nasdaq:IMRS) hit a new 52-week low of $3.37. The stock has tracked steadily downward since June, but just in the past four days has lost 43% of its value. IMRglobal's declines are a carbon copy of the tech-heavy Nasdaq market, which also lost steadily June.

Stock troubles have affected Sanan's Thoroughbred investment in the past. A cash crunch caused by the tumble of IMRglobal stock from a 52-week high of $32.62 to a low of $7.75 for Sanan to sell 14 horses at the 1999 Keeneland November breeding stock sale. At Keeneland's July select yearling sale, Sanan was the leading buyer with purchases totaling $14.44 million. He bought three of the top 10 selling horses including a daughter of Mr. Prospector- Molly Girl that topped the sale at $3.6 million.