By Brock Sheridan

Seven Florida-bred champion horses were honored for 10 divisions at the FTBOA’s annual Gala held on May 12 in Ocala Champions by the numbers are more impressive in 2024 than they were in 2023. The champions totaled 19 black-type stakes wins, including five graded stakes. Four champions are graded stakes winners, three are grade 2 winners and two champions became grade 3 winners in 2024. Two champions joined the Florida-bred millionaires list and five of the seven were by stallions currently – or recently – standing in Florida, an impressive stat for Florida stallions.

2024 Horse of the Year/3-Year old Champion Filly/Champion Female Sprinter

Mystic Lake

Mystic Lake was the embodiment of resiliency and determination in 2024, racing against the best of her division in her nine starts—all in stakes of which six were graded. She traveled to seven different tracks in five states and two countries while racing at distances from six furlongs to a mile-and-a-sixteenth on dirt, turf and synthetic from Jan. 13 through Dec. 21.

Her longest break was three months. After finishing fourth behind eventual Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna in Grade 1
Cotillion at Parx Racing in September she returned with vengeance in December to win the Listed Sugar Swirl at Gulfstream as the odds-on favorite.

Mystic Lake started the year at Tampa Bay Downs with a victory in the $75,000 Gasparilla and then returned to South Florida to finish fifth in the Grade 3 Herecomesthebride in one of only two starts on the year in which she did not finish first or second. She revisted Tampa to dominate fellow Florida-breds in the $100,000 Stonehedge Farm South Sophomore Fillies by three-and-a-half lengths before heading to Woodbine to finish second in theListed Star Shoot on April 27.

She was cataloged in the Fasig-Tipton May Digital Sale in early May but was a $370,000 RNA. The decision not to sell turned out to be a wise choice by the C2 Racing team as Mystic Lake was quickly sent to Pimlico where she led from from the start to score a four-and-a-half-length victory in the Grade 3 Miss Preakness three days later! Two months later, Joseph sent her to Aqueduct for the Grade 3 Victory Rideon July 4, but she was caught inside the final sixteenth and finished second. She logged another track and a graded-stakes victory on her resume in late August, winning the Grade 2 Charles Town Oaks by nearly six lengths.

Mystic Lake finished the year with five wins and two seconds from nine starts while topping all Florida-breds in 2024 with a bankroll of $838,908 for brothers Clint Cornett of Flower Mound, Tex., and Mark Cornett of Naples, Fla., who race in the name of C2 Racing LLC and Edwin and Stefanie Wilson of Stefania Farms. She was trained by Saffie A. Joseph Jr.

Bred in Florida by Peggy Costanzo, Mystic Lake is by Mo Town out of Salty Soul by Itsmyluckyday. She twice went through the auction ring at Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company, first in the 2022 October Yearling Sale where Tom McCrocklin took her for $3,500 out of the Summerfield consignment of Francis and Barbara Vanlangendonck. McCrocklin then pinhooked her through the OBS March Sale of 2023 where Turf Express Racing Partners purchased her for $130,000.

 

2-Year Old Champion Colt

Rated By Merit

When it came to Beyer Speed Figures in 2024, no 2-year-old in North America could measure up to the undefeated Rated by Merit. His 99 Beyer achieved in winning the $200,000 Affirmed division of the FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes at Gulfstream Park on Oct. 19, ranked as the top such number among all juveniles during the year. Rated by Merit covered seven furlongs that day in 1:22.55-which was just .09 of a second off the stakes record set by Soutache in the 2017 Affirmed.

Rated by Merit was, however, able to set the stakes mark a race earlier when he ran away from his seven rivals in the $100,000 FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes Dr. Fager in Sept. 7 at Gulfstream, winning by six-and-a-quarter lengths in 1:09.45 for six furlongs. He was assigned a 93 Beyer Speed Figure, which at the time was the third best number nationally among his fellow 2-year-olds.

Rated by Merit equaled the 93 number while becoming only the 11th colt or gelding to sweep the prestigious Florida Sire Stakes with a six-length victory in the $300,000 In Reality on Nov. 30 at Gulfstream, clocking the mile-and-a-sixteenth in 1:45.71 as the 1-5 favorite.

Among the top 15 Beyer Speed Figures produced by juveniles during the year, only Rated by Merit had more than one—and he had four. Twice he topped the national list including with the 92 achieved in his first career start on July 13 with a nearly 10-length romp against special weight maidens at Gulfstream—covering six furlongs in 1:10.05.

Owned and bred by Vincent and Teresa Viola’s St. Elias Stable, Rated by Merit is by Battalion Runner out of Banner Waving by Speightstown. Trained by Michael “Bo” Yates and ridden throughout the year by Jesus Rios, Rated by Merit earned $400,000.

 

2-Year Old Champion Filly

Nooni

Nooni began to turn heads long before her first start when she clocked an OBS record :20.20 quarter mile during the under tack show previewing the 2024 Ocala Breeders’ Sales March Sale. She continued in the spotlight days later when bloodstock agent Donato Lanni went to $1.8 million to purchase the daughter of Ocala Stud’s first crop sire Win Win Win for Zedan Racing Stable, topping the prestigious auction from the Ocala Stud consignment.

The bay filly continued to dazzle in her debut for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert in June—winning a five-furlong maiden special weight for fillies at Santa Anita Park by nine-and-a-half lengths as the 1-5 favorite. She was again a popular odds-on favorite in the Grade 3 Sorrento at Del Mar in August and she responded with a length-and-a-half score in the six-furlong contest.

In her next start, Nooni again broke on top in the Grade 1 FanDuel Racing Del Mar Debutante but was momentarily headed after a quarter mile in a blazing :21.50. But she fought back between horses to take a narrow lead in the turn before jockey Juan Hernandez was forced to check her past the quarter pole. She lost her momentum at the top of the stretch and finished fifth in her first career loss. Nooni came back strong to finish second to stablemate Non Compliant in the Grade 2 Oak Leaf on Oct. 5 at Santa Anita—giving Baffert confidence to enter her in the Grade 1 NetJets Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Del Mar on Nov. 1.

In the Juvenile Fillies, jockey Flavien Prat sent Nooni to the front with urgency from post seven then urged her through a rapid quarter mile in :22 flat. She extended her lead to four-and-a-half lengths as she continued the quick tempo with a :44.99 half mile and still had a clear lead through six furlongs in 1:10.03. But she could not maintain her speed in the stretch run of the mile-and-a-sixteenth contest, eventually finishing sixth.

Nooni finished off her season with a fifth in the Grade 2 Starlet at Los Alamitos Race Course on Dec. 7.

Out of Unanimity, by Union Rags, Nooni was bred in Florida by Ocala Stud, Joseph M. O’Farrell III, David O’Farrell, et al. and finished the year with two wins and a second in six starts while banking $212,400.

 

3-Year Old Champion Colt/Champion Male Sprinter

Bentornato

Bentornato finished the year as one of the nation’s top sprinters after being passed in the deep stretch and finish second to eventual Eclipse Award Champion Sprint Straighter No Chaser in the Cygames Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club on Nov. 2. The $340,000 second-place check also made him the 184st Florida-bred millionaire with a lifetime bankroll of $1,131,800.

A winner of the $100,000 Dr. Fager and $200,000 Affirmed divisions of the FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes as a 2-year-old, Bentornato began his sophomore year traveling overseas for the US$1.5 million Boutique Group Saudi Derby (G1) at King Abulaziz Racecourse in Riyadh where he finished third to Japanese superstar Forever Young (Jpn).

After a six-month break, he returned stateside to finished second in the $500,000 Robert Hilton Memorial at Charles Town then topped a Florida-bred trifecta in the Grade 2 Gallant Bob at Parx Racing, defeating Sunny Breeze in second with Buccherino third.

Bentornato never finished out of the top three in his four races in 2024 as he became the leading money-earner for his sire Valiant Minister, who stands in Florida at Bridlewood Farm. He is out of Her Special Way, by Put It Back and was bred by Tanma Corp.

He is a two-time graduate of Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company, having sold for $45,000 to Pro Racing Stable out of the Stuart Morris consignment at the 2022 October Yearling Sale. Champion Equine was the under-bidder on Bentornato at the 2023 OBS March Sale, but after being turned back by his original buyer, the dark bay ridging went to Champion for $170,000 out of the Golden Rock Thoroughbreds consignment.

Gustavo Delgado of Leon King Stable Corp. owns Bentornato.

 

Champion Older Female

Spirit Wind

Spirit Wind began 2024 under new ownership and racing from a new barn after being purchased privately from breeder Jacks or Better Farm Inc. by Myron Miller’s Miller Racing LLC and turned over to trainer Saffie Joseph Jr.

A handsome dark bay daughter by Double Diamond Farm’s Bahamian Squall, Spirit Wind is out of the multiple stakes-producing Florida-bred mare Sacred Psalm, by Awesome of Course and had lived up to her pedigree as a multiple stakes winner as a 3-year-old and a graded stakes winner at age 4 while still racing for Jacks or Better.

She would continue with that reliable form in 2024, adding to her graded stakes-winning credentials while winning three of eight starts, all in stakes, at seven different tracks.

In her first start for her new connections, Spirit Wind led most of the way before finishing a courageous third, beaten less than a length in the Grade 3 Hurricane Bertie at Gulfstream Park in March before traveling to Churchill Downs for the Grade 1 Derby City Distaff on the Kentucky Derby undercard on May 4. After leading throughout, she faltered late to finish sixth but bounced back strong three weeks later at Lone Star Park, winning the $100,000 Memorial Day Sprint by three-and-a-half lengths while producing a career-best 97 Beyer Speed Figure during a stalking trip.

At trip to Saratoga Race Course in July was next where despite stumbling at the start, she recovered quickly to lead at every point of call and score in the Grade 2 Honorable Miss Handicap.

She had an off night and finished out of the money in the $500,000 Pink Ribbon at Charles Town Races in later August but proved her character in her next start against Grade 2 fillies and mares, finishing second in the Thoroughbred Club of America going seven furlongs at Keeneland in October.

Joseph returned Spirit Wind to Churchill Downs where she finished third in the $295,000 Dream Supreme then finished the year on top with a three-quarters of a length score in the $150,000 Poinsettia at Oaklawn Park.

 

Champion Older Male/Champion Male Turf Horse

Forever Souper

Forever Souper’s started 2024 winning stakes against Florida-breds, ended the year facing graded stakes company and endured some rugged trips in between. He set a new track record, produced Beyer Speed Figures of 90 or better in seven of eight starts at six different tracks over turf and synthetic. He was the post time favorite six times while never finishing out of the top four with five wins and two thirds, all while banking $340,247.

Trained by Michael Trombetta, Forever Souper became the sixth Live Oak Plantation homebred to earn an FTBOA Champion Older Male title—following Sultry Song (1992), Revved Up (2005), Miesque’s Approval (2006) and World Approval (2016-17)]; and sixth to be named FTBOA Champion Turf Male joining Miesque’s Approval (2006), World Approval (2015-17) and March to the Arch (2020).

Forever Souper began the year against Florida-breds, winning the $95,000 Sunshine Turf at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 21 and the ESMARK Turf Classic on Florida Cup Day at Tampa Bay Downs on March 24.

His trouble began in April on the Laurel Park turf when he was stuck behind a wall of horses in the stretch of the $99,000 Henry S. Clark before altering course to finish third behind winner Dataman. A month later on the Monmouth Park grass, he once more found himself in tight quarters in the stretch of $110,000 Cliff Hanger, again finishing third as Dataman had clear sailing on the outside to win.

But the persistent Forever Souper won his next three with authority, beginning with his return to the Laurel Park turf in July where he dominated the $96,000 Prince George’s County with a four-and-a-half-length triumph.

Trombetta then shifted him to the synthetic at Presque Isle Downs where he took the $79,000 Avery Whisman in August and set a new track record in the $150,000 Presque Isle Mile, covering a mile-and-sixteenth in 1:41.23.

Forever Souper ended the year going nine furlongs on the synthetic main track at Woodbine, finishing fourth, but only three lengths behind winner Wicked Django in the Grade 2 HPIbet Autumn.

 

Champion Female Turf Horse

Dancing N Dixie

Although her only victory of 2024 came in the Listed Tepin at Churchill Downs in June, Dancing N Dixie may have provided the most tumult and thrills among the Florida-bred champions with her come from out of the clouds running style and her silvery gray or roan coat.

Owned by Gary Barber, Jackie Ventura’s Rocky Top Stables and Chris Moore’s LEMB Stables, Dancing N Dixie chased, bumped, circled and ran down some of the best 3-year-old turf fillies in her class racing at five different tracks in six graded stakes while finishing in the top three in five of nine starts.

The year started with little promise and a lot of trouble for Dancing N Dixie as trainer Mark Casse saddle her for the $125,000 Ginger Brew (Listed) at Gulfstream Park, a one-mile turf test for 3-year-old fillies. Sent to the post at odds of 59-1, her low expectations met misfortune from the start as she was brushed by her inside rival leaving the starting gate and was far back in last heading into the clubhouse turn. She began passing horses around the far turn and was full of run turning for home but was contained behind a wall of horses. After zig-zagging in the stretch, she never found a clear path until very late, advancing to finish sixth.

Her next stop was in the Grade 3 Florida Oaks at Tampa Bay Downs in March where she rallied from last of 11 and more than nine lengths back to finish third, just a length behind winner Waskesiu.

She next traveled to Keeneland for the Grade 2 Appalachian where jockey Jose Ortiz had her last of 12 at the top of the stretch before charging down the outside to finish, third, less than a length behind winner Buchu. Staying in Kentucky for the Grade 2 Edgewood presented by TwinSpires at Churchill Downs on the Kentucky Derby undercard on May 3, Dancing N Dixie and Ortiz again made a furious late run for home only to again finish in the show spot.

She remained at Churchill for the $233,000 Tepin on June 29, and this time, Ortiz kept her somewhat closer to the pace, but seven lengths back heading into the turn. Dancing N Dixie continued in seventh in deep stretch before Ortiz roused her to the front with her animated late kick to score by a neck.

Casse tried stretching her out to a mile-and-three-sixteenth in the Grade 2 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Oaks Invitational, but she could not get past odds-on favorite Cinderella’s Dream, again finishing third.

She did not take to the undulating turf at Kentucky Downs, finishing eighth in the $1.533 million Dueling Grounds Oaks and never found her best in the last two races of the year, finishing out of the money in the Grade 2 Bank of America Valley View at Keeneland and in the Grade 2 Mrs. Revere at Churchill Downs.

 

Leading Freshman Sire/Leading Juvenile Sire

Win Win Win

Win Win Win is the 2024 leading Florida Freshman and leading Juvenile Sire by progeny earnings with $797,233. He is the first Florida stallion to hold both titles in the same year since Girvin two years earlier and going back to 1991, joins Kantharos (2014), Wildcat Heir (2009), Exchange Rate (2005) and End Sweep (1998) among those achieving the Freshman and Juvenile titles simultaneously.

In 2024, Win Win Win had 10 winners from 27 starters with two stakes winners who produced three stakes victories, one graded.

However, months before his first offspring hit the racetrack, Win Win Win made headlines when his daughter out of the Union Rags mare Unanimity dropped the gavel at $1.8 million at Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company, topping their prestigious 2024 March Sale of Two-Year-Olds in Training. Amr Zedan purchased the Florida-bred filly in the name of his Zedan Racing Stables after she worked a record quarter mile in :20.20 during the under tack show.

Later named Nooni and sent to Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert in Southern California, the bay filly dominated a Santa Anita maiden special weight by nine-and-a-half lengths in her debut in July, becoming the first winner for her sire. She then won the Grade 3 Sorrento at Del Mar in August as the first stakes winner for Win Win Win and later finished second in the Grade 2 Oak Leaf around two turns. Nooni became the first to represent her sire in the Breeders’ Cup with a start in the Grade 1 NetJets Juvenile Fillies—a race she led during the first six furlongs before fading to sixth.

Nooni finished the year with two wins and a second in six starts with earnings of $212,400.

Win N Your In, the leading money earner for Win Win Win, had a far different start to her career as a $12,000 purchase by Troy Weston in 2023 at the OBS Winter Mixed Sale. She remained in Florida for her freshman year, finishing third in her first start at Gulfstream Park in June. After Win N Your In broke her maiden in her next start, she won the $95,000 Sharp Susan but was upset as the odds-on favorite, finishing third in the $100,000 Desert Vixen, the first leg of the filly division of the FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes. Win N Your In took the $200,000 Susan’s Girl, the second leg of the Florida Sire Stakes division for fillies and finished the year with $218,233 from winning half of her six starts with two thirds.

The two fillies tied in points for Florida-bred 2-year-old filly honors in the FTBOA Chase to the Championship, but Nooni took the tiebreaker with $176,000 in graded earnings.

Classically bred in Florida by Charlotte Weber’s Live Oak Stud and raced by in the black, white and red colors of her Live Oak Plantation, Win Win Win is by Hat Trick (Jpn) out of the Smarty Jones mare Miss Smarty Pants. He is a half-brother to Grade 3 Noble Damsel-winner Unbridled Humor, the dam of Grade 2-placed, stakes-winner Comedy Town and stakes-placed runners Wild Medagliad’oro and Wild and Funny.

Trained by Michael J. Trombetta, Win Win Win set a track record at Tampa Bay Downs in the 2019 Pasco, covering seven furlongs in 1:20.89. He was then third in the Lamholm South Tampa Bay Derby (G3), second in the Toyota Blue Grass (G2) and ninth in the Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (G1). He finished his 3-year-old year winning the $100,000 Manila on the turf at Belmont Park and retired a year later after winning the Grade 1 Forego presented by America’s Best Racing in his last start. He won five of 12 lifetime starts with three seconds and a third while banking $601,600.

Win Win Win stands at Ocala Stud.

 

Stallion of the Year

Khozan

2012 bay horse by Distorted Humor – Delta Princess, by A.P. Indy

Khozan was the leading Florida sire by progeny earnings for the fifth consecutive year in 2024 with $5,679,578. He surpasses the previous mark of four leading Florida sire titles since 1991 held by Montbrook in 2002, 2003, 2008 and 2009 and Wildcat Heir in 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2013. He was the leading sire in Florida with progeny earnings of $6,294,608 in 2023, $4,513,950 in 2022, $3,671,794 in 2021 and $3,521,813 in 2020.

In 2024 Khozan was represented by 218 starters, 118 winners (54%) and three stakes winners of five black type stakes with one graded-stakes winner.

R Harper Rose, a winner of the Susan’s Girl division of the FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes as a 2-year-old in 2023, graduated to graded stakes-winner in 2024 with a two-lengths score in the Grade 3 Forward Gal at Gulfstream Park. Trained by Saffie Joseph Jr., R Haper Rose also finished second in the $102,000 Any Limit at Gulfstream in her next start. Bred in Florida by the late Sally J. Anderson, R Harper Rose is out of True Bliss, by Yes It’s True and finished 2024 with one win and a second in five starts while banking $123,680 for owners Rich Averill and his Averill Racing LLC and Jayson Werth’s Two Eight Racing LLC.

Khozan’s leading money earner in 2024 with $144,897 was Wildwood Bye, who raced for Wiliam Stiritz and was trained by Scott Becker. In 2024, Wildwood Bye posted a record of two wins, a second and a third from eight starts with her best effort against stakes horses coming when fourth in the $200,000 Dig A Diamond at Oaklawn Park. A bay filly out of Wave Bye Bye, by Congrats, Wildwood Bye was bred in Florida by Brent and Crystal Fernung.

Khozan was also represented by Venezuelan champion 2-year-old filly Bella Del Nilo. Out of Moon of the Nile, by Malibu Moon, Bella Del Nilo was bred in Florida by CESA Farm, and won three Listed stakes in Venezuela in 2024 including the Clasico Comparacion, the Clasico Ciudad de Caracas and the Clasico Egar Ganteaume—all at Rinconada Racecourse in Caracas.

Florida-bred Lure Him In added to his stakes credentials in 2024 with a head victory in the $95,000 Sunshine Classic at Gulfstream Park for owner Double B Racing Stables and trainer Herman Wilensky. A 2017 gelding out of Alluring Lady, by Indygo Shiner, Lure Him In was bred in Florida by Stonehedge LLC. Later in 2024, Double B sold a share in Lure Him In to C2 Racing Stable, Paul Braverman, Timothy Pinch and Mach 1 Stables for whom he finished fourth in both the Grade 3 Ghostzapper at Gulfstram and Grade 3 Steve Sexton Mile at Lone Star Park. Lure Him In finished the year with earnings of 117,535 from one win, one second and a third from eight starts.

Khozan is by Distorted Humor out of Delta Princess, by A.P. Indy and is a half-brother to champion Royal Delta. He was purchased for
$1 million out of the 2014 Fasig-Tipton Florida March Sale where he was consigned by Hartley / DeRenzo Thoroughbreds and was undefeated in two starts, winning maiden special weight and a $75,000 optional claiming by 12 ¾ lengths, both at Gulfstream Park. He entered stud in 2016 at Journeyman Stud and in 2019 was the leading freshman sire and was the leading juvenile sire in 2020 and 2023. He currently stands at Ocala Stud as property of a syndicate.

 

Broodmare of the Year

Points of Grace

Points of Grace, dam of Grade 1 winning Arthur’s Ride, is the 2024 Florida Broodmare of the Year as selected the FTBOA board of directors.

The Whitney winner, Arthur’s Ride by Tapit, is the second Grade 1 offspring out of Points of Grace. Her Exchange Rate daughter Victory to Victory won the 2016 Grade 1 Natalma Stakes enroute to champion 2-year-old filly honors in Canada that year.

The mare produced Alittleloveandluck by Arrogate, winner of the 2022 Ginger Brew at Gulfstream. Points of Grace’s filly Genetics, a full-sister to Arthur’s Ride, brought $525,000 from Glassman Racing, owner of the Whitney winner, at the 2022 Keeneland September sale. She produced stakes-placed Double Blessed, a daughter of Treasure Beach bred by Helen and Joe Barbazon.

The 2005 chestnut mare was born in Kentucky to breeder Gary Falter, Cindy Falter and The Thoroughbred Corp and is owned by Joseph and Helen Barbazon.

By Point Given, Points of Grace is out of the English-raced mare Fateful, also dam of Fatefully, a dual black-type winner in England, and herself dam of the Grade 1 Nassau winner Favourable Terms, and third dam of three of stakes winners, including Berneuil, twice successful in group sprints in France.

Points of Grace took the Grade 2 Dance Smartly on turf and River Memories, which earned her champion turf mare in Canada in 2009 under the Live Oak Plantation silks.

Points of Grace has had six winners from seven foals. Her stakes winners account for three of Point Given’s 29 black-type winners as a broodmare sire. The mare was bred to Verifying, standing at Pleasant Acres Stallions this year.

 

Leading Trainer of Florida-breds

Saffie A. Joseph Jr.

By Black-Type Wins, Wins and Earnings

Saffie Joseph Jr. reigned among trainers of Florida-breds in 2024 as the leader by black-type wins with 10, including four in graded stakes; total wins (83) and earnings ($3,446,942).

Among the Florida-bred graded stakes-winners that raced from his base at Palm Meadows Training Center in Boynton Beach, Fla, were Mystic Lake, the Florida-bred Horse of the Year, Champion 3-Year-Old Filly and Champion Female Sprinter; Florida-bred Champion Older Female Spirit Wind, and R Harper Rose. Florida-breds Comedy Town and Mish were also among his Florida-bred stakes-winners in 2024.

C2 Racing Stable LLC’s and Stefania Farms LLC’s Mystic Lake, who races for brothers Mark and Clint Cornett’s C2 Racing Stable LLC and Stefania Farms LLC, the nom de course of Edwin and Stefanie Wilson, was a four-time stakes winner during the year. She won the Charles Town Classic (G2), the Miss Preakness (G3) at Pimlico, the Sugar Swirl (Listed) at Gulfstream Park and $100,000 Stonehedge Farm South Sophomore Fillies at Tampa Bay Downs.

Bred in Florida by Peggy Costanzo, Mystic Lake led all Florida-breds during the year with earnings of $838,908 from five wins in nine starts. In her first start of 2025, she became a millionaire with a victory in the Inside Information presented by MyRacehorse.com (G2) at Gulfstream.

After Spirit Wind defeated two Joseph trainees in the Sugar Swirl in December of 2023, he convinced his owner Myron Miller to purchase the swift filly from breeder Jacks or Better Farms Inc. In her first start for the Joseph and Miller, the daughter of Double Diamond Farm’s Bahamian Squall finished third in the Hurricane Bertie (G3) at Gulfstream and later in the year won the Memorial Day Sprint at Lone Star Park and the Honorable Miss (G2) at Saratoga Race Course. She also finished second in the Thoroughbred Club of America (G2) at Keeneland and finished the year third in the Dream Supreme (Listed) at Churchill Downs.

R Harper Rose, a stakes-winner during her 2-year-old year for Joseph and owners Rich Averill and his Averill Racing LLC and Jayson Werth’s Two Eight Racing LLC, elevated her game to graded stakes-winner by scoring in the Forward Gal (G3) at Gulfstream in 2024.

After being claimed by Ten Twenty Racing and Joseph for $25,000 in March, Comedy Town went on to take the Smile Sprint (Listed) and Benny the Bull at Gulfstream Park and was third in the Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix (G2) at Keeneland – earning $197,550 to finish of the year for the new connections.

Another Florida-bred star who raced in the blue and orange colors of C2 Racing was Mish, winner of the $100,000 NYRA Bets Sprint on Florida Cup Day, March 30 at Tampa Bay Downs.

 

Joseph M. O’Farrell Memorial Award, Presented by Ocala Breeders’ Sales

Tom McCrocklin

Summerfield

The 2024 Joseph M. O’Farrell Memorial Award is presented by Ocala Breeders’ Sales to consignors Tom McCrocklin and to Summerfield owned by Francis and Barbara  Vanlangendonck who sold Grade 2-winning Florida-bred stakes winner Mystic Lake.

Summerfield sold Mystic Lake as a yearling to Tom McCrocklin out of the 2022 Ocala Breeders Sales October Sale for $3,500. McCrocklin then prepped Mystic Lake for the 2023 Ocala Breeders Sales March 2-year-olds-in-training sale where she sold to Turf Express Racing Partners for $130,000.

Bred by Peggy Costanzo,  Mystic Lake won the Charles Town Classic (G2), Miss Preakness (G3), Sugar Swirl (Listed), Stonehedge Farm South Sophomore Fillies and Gasparilla. Raced by C2 Racing Stable LLC & Stefania Farms LLC, Mystic Lake went on to become the leading money earning Florida-bred of 2024 with earnings of nearly $839,000.

As of Jan. 25, 2025, she joined the Florida-bred millionaires list with $1,033.352 in earnings after a win the Inside Information (G2). She is also 2024 champion 3-year-old filly and champion female sprinter.

The honor is presented annually by Ocala Breeders’ Sale to the consigner(s) of the year’s best Florida-bred racehorse offered at an OBS auction. The award is named after Joseph M. O’Farrell, who was part of the nine man syndicate that established Ocala Stud in 1956.

O’Farrell was also a pioneer in establishing public Thoroughbred auctions in Florida and a founding member of OBS.

This is the first Joseph M. O’ Farrell Memorial award for McCrocklin and the fourth for Summerfield who also won in 2014, 2016 and 2021.

 

Leading Owner

Live Oak Stud

Charlotte Weber’s Live Oak Plantation is named the leading owner of Florida-breds by earnings in 2024. Last year Charlotte Weber’s racing entity generated $1,683,452 dollars in earnings. Out of 147 starters, Live Oak Plantation posted 31 wins, 25 seconds and 18 thirds.

Florida-bred multiple stakes winner Forever Souper led the list with $342,785 in earnings. Other major contributors carrying the flagship black, white and red dotted silks are Crystal Quest, Bring Theband Home, Souper Quest and Victory Achieved.

In 2024, Live Oak Stud earned $2.686,484 as a breeder, posting three stakes winners and 64 wins. She previously was selected as Breeder of the Year in 2006, 2017, 2019, 2020 and 2021.

In 1968, Weber purchased what had previously been the Ocala-farm of P.A.B. Widener III. Renamed Live Oak Stud, the farm has grown from that original 1,000 acres to more than 4,500 acres. Live Oak Stud has produced outstanding Florida-breds including millionaires Miesque’s Approval (2006 Eclipse Award champion turf male), World Approval (2017 Eclipse Award champion turf male), Sultry Song and Revved Up, in addition to champions Awesome Slew, Solar Splendor and Brilliant Speed.

Win Approval, dam of four millionaires, was named the TOBA Broodmare of the Year in 2018, the first broodmare outside of Kentucky to be selected.

The award is the seventh leading owner honor for Charlotte Weber, as Live Oak Plantation, was previously honored in 2011, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020 and 2021.

 

Breeder of the Year

Stonehedge LLC

Marilyn Campbell’s Stonehedge LLC is the Florida Breeder of the Year for 2024 earning $2,929,004 from 93 wins, 67 seconds and 67 thirds from 601 starts.

Stonehedge LLC was represented by four stakes winners in 2024 including Dean Delivers, an earner of $325,850 while winning half of his eight starts with one third. By Stonehedge Farm South stallion Cajun Breeze, Dean Delivers rattled off four consecutive stakes wins in 2024 with victories in the $104,000 Mr. Prospector in May, the $125,250 Alopocas Run and $150,000 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash in July, and $100,000 Rumson in September.

The farm’s Fiona’s Magic carried the green and white Stonehedge colors in the prestigious Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) at Churchill Downs after her victories in the Davona Dales presented by FanDuel TV (G2) and a second in the Forward Gal (G3) and finished the year with earnings of $181,010.

Her Sunny Breeze, by Cajun Breeze, won the $99,000 Concern then finished third in the $75,000 Salvatore M. Dunda Sprint and next was second in the Grade 2 Gallant Bob. Sunny Breeze finished 2024 winning three of six starts with a second and a third while banking $198,830.

The late Gilbert G. Campbell and his wife Marilyn established the Williston-based Stonehedge Farm South in 1988 on John L. Greer’s Waldemar Farms, the birthplace of champion two-year-old colt  and 1975 Kentucky Derby winner Foolish Pleasure. In ensuing decades, Stonehedge has become a perennial leading Florida breeder and has been a Top 10 breeder by Florida-bred earnings since 1996.

The farm has produced outstanding Florida-breds including millionaire Marlin, Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby-winner Watch Me Go and dual Florida Sire Stakes winner and multiple graded stakes winner Blazing Sword, winner of the Grade 3 Widener Handicap. Their top race mares include Grade 3 Pimlico Breeders’ Cup Distaff Handicap winner Friel’s for Real, Grade 2 Bonnie Miss winner and dual Florida Sire Stakes winner Ivanavinalot, and Scandalous Act who swept the Florida Sire Stakes.

The farm ranks second in Florida Sire Stakes winners with 17.

Stonehedge Farm South currently stands Cajun Breeze owned by Campbell. Stonehedge LLC owns Khozan in partnership with Al Shaqab Racing. He has garnered 10 FTBOA champion stallion honors including leading stallion for five consecutive years.

This is the fifth time Stonehedge LLC has been honored as Breeder of the Year, previously in 1997, 2013, 2016, and 2023.