BY CYNTHIA MCFARLAND

It’s a common assumption that someone who chooses a career in the Thoroughbred industry grew up with horses.

That was definitely not the case with Tom McCrocklin.

“Nowhere in my pedigree is there a horse; I had zero horse contact growing up,” the longtime trainer, pinhooker and juvenile consignor admitted. 

Raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, McCrocklin graduated from Louisiana State University in 1982 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration.

After college, he took a job in Lafayette, Louisiana, home of Evangeline Downs. He quickly got into the habit of going to the races on Friday and Saturday nights.

“I knew nothing about horses, but I was so fascinated with it as a fan that I looked into how to get into horseracing,” McCrocklin said. “Racing got me first. Horses got me later.” 

McCrocklin was serious about finding a way to participate in the industry. When he discovered that Louisiana Tech had an animal science program where you could specialize in horses, he decided to go back to college.

“I spent another three years in school at Louisiana Tech and graduated in 1986 with a bachelor’s of science in animal science specializing in equine,” McCrocklin said. “I wanted to be a horse trainer. To this day, I don’t know why I wanted to do this, but I always did.”

McCrocklin quickly figured out that having two degrees wasn’t going to land him a job in the horse business, but friendships from school turned out to be helpful.

“One of my classmates was Mark Toothaker who manages the stallions at Spendthrift Farm and we’re still close friends to this day,” he said. “Another classmate was Sarah Dunham whose father Bob Dunham was a trainer at Aqueduct. She got me a job working at Aqueduct. So, I left Louisiana and went to New York City.”

McCrocklin soon found himself out of the classroom and working at the track, learning as he went.

“I wanted to learn and I wanted to be taught,” he said. “I still feel that way every day. I don’t have a problem saying, ‘I don’t know.’ I shed my ego at the gate every day.” 

McCrocklin had been working at Aqueduct for two years—first as a groom, then as a foreman—when he received an intriguing offer.

Charles Matses of Boston had read an article in the Blood-Horse about Louisiana Tech’s horse program.

“He was frustrated with the trainers he’d been dealing with and reached out to the school and said he’d like to interview one of their graduates. They gave him my name. He flew me from New York to Boston and interviewed me,” McCrocklin said, noting that Matses owned a commercial construction business and did a lot of work with the late Gil Campbell of Stonehedge Farm in Florida. 

“Charlie hired me as his private trainer at Rockingham Park. I moved to Boston and opened up a stable with all his horses,” McCrocklin said. “Back then it was year-round racing and I was training horses in Boston in January. It was a tough acclimation for a southern boy.”

He spent eight years at the track training for Matses.

“At the end of the day, I never felt that was going to be home for me and I wasn’t making enough money to justify the amount of work I was doing, which is a typical horse trainer plight,” McCrocklin said.

It was time for the Cajun boy to head back south.

“In the early ‘90s I moved to Ocala without a job. I mistakenly thought that with two college degrees and having spent eight years at the track, I had a resumé someone would want,” McCrocklin said. “I thought I could be a farm manager or farm trainer but quickly found all those positions were taken. I went to work as a groom for Lisa McGreevy and lived in her spare bedroom.” 

He rubbed horses at McGreevy’s farm and hustled to find extra work on the side—mowing paddocks, anything he could find to make money.

As often happens, an old connection paid off. An owner he knew from New York heard McCrocklin was in Ocala and offered to send him a yearling to break and train.

“I knew how to train but not break because all the horses I had at the track were already broke. But I told him send him on. That horse ended up going to New York and winning first time out,” said McCrocklin who leased stalls at a farm in Citra for his fledgling business.

As his business grew, in 2002 McCrocklin moved his operation to Hawkins Ridge in northwestern Marion County and is still based there.

Many people who only know McCrocklin from the juvenile sales don’t realize he didn’t start out in that part of the business.

Back when he struggled to make his mark as a young trainer, he couldn’t help but notice that 2-year-old pinhookers/consignors in Ocala were among the most successful horsemen in the area.

“I knew how to prepare a horse and train it for the racetrack, but not how to prepare one for a training sale,” he said. “Around 2010, I started selling 2-year-olds. I kept plugging away at it and finally progressed to the point where I know how to do it.”

It’s an understatement to say that McCrocklin knows his game.

Routinely among the top consignors at juvenile sales, he sells at every Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company auction and at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sale. 

Tom McCrocklin currently ranks sixth on the 2026 list of leading 2-year-old consignors at North American sales, having sold 68 head for $12,696,500 for an average of $186,713. He ranked fifth in 2025. 

To date, the highest-priced juvenile McCrocklin has sold was the sale topper at the 2024 OBS Spring Sale. That Tiz the Law filly out of Moonlight Sky brought a final bid of $1.9 million from Donato Lanni, agent for Michael Lund Peterson.

A daughter of Army Mule, Ground Support is now a graded stakes winner of $264,412.

“This was a nice filly. I had Ground Support for Champion Equine, and I met Michael Sucher through Lisa McGreevy,” McCrocklin said.

McCrocklin just bought eight yearlings at the 2026 Fasig-Tipton July sale.

“These were all bought to pinhook and are all designed to go to a 2-year-old in training sale,” he said. “Some are mine; some are partnerships. I have a group of people who support that. We had a great year last year and are looking to follow up on that success.”

Among those yearling purchases is a Florida-bred colt by Ocala Stud’s successful freshman sire Roadster out of a winning American Freedom mare. Roadster’s first foals are 2-year-olds of 2026.

“I am a big believer in Roadster; he’s off to a good start,” said McCrocklin of the son of Quality Road. “He’s had multiple maidens winning on dirt and turf. I think he’s got a bright future.”

McCrocklin appreciates the opportunity as a Florida breeder to benefit from horses he’s bred even after they’ve sold.

Miss Vyvyanne, a Florida-bred daughter of Rainbow Heir, falls into that category. A graded-stakes winner with current earnings of $504,971 from 12 wins in 25 starts, the 6-year-old mare is owned by Ralph Murray and Calstar Farm, Inc.

He’s also the breeder and owner of stakes-winning Chicken Dance, a 3-year-old by Neolithic, who stands at Pleasant Acres Stallions. The Florida-bred gelding has won five of his eight starts to date, including the $95,750 Not Surprising Stakes at Gulfstream on June 6, for current earnings of $164,250.

McCrocklin has six horses running in 2026, all Florida-breds. In addition to Chicken Dinner, his racing stable includes Viable Asset, a 3-year-old Neolithic filly with earnings of $60,650, who has won three of four starts thus far. Another of his runners is homebred Pike, a 3-year-old gelding by Stonehedge Farm South stallions Cajun Breeze, who has been on the board in five of six starts.

“I am all horse racing all the time,” said McCrocklin, 67. “I buy, I sell, I employ, I breed, I pay stud fees. I am a big supporter of the game and it’s been great to me.”

A divorced father of one daughter and grandfather of two grandkids, McCrocklin is beyond grateful for the connections he’s forged in the horse industry through the years.

“I’ve been blessed. This industry has provided me a wonderful life,” he said. “I have met a lot of good people and have had great experiences and memories. I see myself as self-made, but not self-taught, because I’ve learned from so many trainers and owners in the business.”