Thoroughbred Horse Farming in Florida

Thoroughbred Horse Farming in Florida Alice Luthy Tym and James R. Anderson * In the western part of Marion County in north-central Florida, in the vicinity of Ocala, a major new industry has developed in recent years. The breeding and raising of Thoroughbred horses in the Ocala area actually was begun by Carl Rose in the 1930's. However, the industry remained small for many years, and only three Thoroughbred farms existed in 1956 when Needles, a Florida-bred horse, won the Kentucky Derby. By 1960 the Ocala Stud Farm, one of the three farms in existence in 1956 and the breeding place of Needles, emerged as a major commercial breeder of Thoroughbreds. Today, only a little more than Ì0 years after the first significant victory, Florida ranks third after Kentucky and California in the breeding of Thoroughbreds. Only in the Lexington (Bluegrass area) of Kentucky is there a greater local concentration of Thoroughbred production. In 1966 there were 75 Thoroughbred farms in the western part of Marion County (Fig. 1). These farms occupy in total nearly 27,000 acres and have a horse population of nearly 4,500. (1) The 1956 victory by Needles was followed by the Kentucky Derby victory of Carry Back in 1962. These two triumphs, plus the success of the Ocala Stud Farm in producing a sizeable number of stakes stars in a relatively few years, had served to give the Ocala area a favorable image as a rival of the Bluegrass and other Thoroughbred centers in California, Virginia, Maryland, and elsewhere. When Roman Brother was named the 1965 Horse of the Year by the Morning Telegraph and Daily Racing Form, thus ending Kelso's five-year reign, the Thoroughbred industry of Marion County was firmly established and recognized. These successes on the race track undoubtedly gave the necessary triggering impact or the initial impetus to the establishment of Thoroughbred production in Florida. A careful evaluation of responses given by managers and owners of Thoroughbred farms to a senes of questions used for obtaining information in this study clearly indicates, however, that several basic conditions were significant in accounting for the development of the industry. Climate was most frequently given as one of the contributing factors for establishing a Thoroughbred farm in central Florida. The mild winter temperatures allow horses to be outside throughout the year. This means especially favorable conditions for exercising and training horses. The training tracks are never frozen. Favorable winter temperatures also permit early foaling and, since all Thoroughbreds are given a January first birthday, the Florida horse has a two-or-more month advantage over those of Kentucky and the Eastern breeding centers. The early foaling permits earlier training and track workouts; this is particularly important, since two-year-old racing is stressed in the United States. By planting winter rye and oats, year-round grazing is available, thus reducing the volume of grain •Mrs. Tym was a Ford Foundation Fellow at the University of Florida, Gainesville, where she^ received her M.A. degree in 1966. Dr. Anderson is professor of Geography at the University of Florida. The paper was accepted for publication in December 1967. Vol. VII, 1967 51 G" SCALE 0 ! 2 ? 4 5 (^ ? -T- "V THOROUGHBREDµ? HORSE FARMS 'r ~? ..·' * STUDY AREA55 STUDY AREA MARION COUNTY, FLORIDA 1966 • THOROUGHBRED HORSE FARM MARION COUNTY Figure 1 52The Southeastern Geographer and hay necessary for feeding programs. An indirect but very significant climatic advantage is the possibility of year-round racing in the tourist and resort areas of Florida. Next to climate, the favorable combination of soil, topography, and vegetation was repeatedly cited by owners and managers as a major single reason for locating their Thoroughbred farms in this particular part of Florida. Evidence that an intangible aesthetic factor has played a role in the location of these farms in Florida is not hard to discern. Those owners who moved from the Kentucky Bluegrass region particularly liked the rolling hammock landscape with its large five oak shade trees; this landscape tended to duplicate in general appearance the Bluegrass region which has become so closely associated with the breeding and rearing of Thoroughbreds (Fig. 2). The Fellowship-Hague-Zuber soil association is...