BY CYNTHIA MCFARLAND

It’s no surprise that Hal Hatch feels at home on a horse. He’s been there every day for the last 50 years.

The lifelong horseman made a career out of what he loves most. His Florida operation Halcyon Hammock is all about racehorses—prepping and consigning for juvenile sales and training for the racetrack.

Common sense, consistency, and good horsemanship have kept Hatch in the game for decades.

Halcyon Hammock trains client horses headed directly for the racetrack and also trains, preps and consigns for 2-year-olds sales. Some years, it’s a 50/50 split, but that can vary. The farm breaks and trains 20 to 40 yearlings a year.

Since Hatch started selling at Ocala Breeders’ Sales in 1990, he’s rarely had a consignment anywhere else. 

“In the early days at OBS when I first started pinhooking, we rode them under tack from the barn and sat on them in the line waiting for our turn to breeze,” he recalled. “A lot of us breezed our own horses in their everyday tack and exercise saddles.”

When Hatch first began selling 2-year-olds, he always consigned to the OBS March and April sales, but as he notes, times have changed.

“The way sales are structured now, good horses can be found in March, April and June sales. June isn’t the ‘leftover’ sale anymore,” Hatch said. “You can buy the same kind of horse at any of these sales anymore. It’s just where the horse fits and when they’re going to be ready.”

Among Halcyon Hammock’s high-selling horses are the Twirling Candy filly out of Sambuca Classica who brought $630,000 at the 2015 OBS March sale; the Uncle Mo colt out of Being Anna who sold for $725,000 at 2015 OBS March; the Union Rags colt out of Delightfully So who sold for $900,000 at 2017 OBS March; and the Cairo Prince filly out of Nippy who brought $575,000 at the 2022 OBS Spring sale. 

Hatch partners on some horses, but also pinhooks and sells his own. In 2027 he should have about 20 2-year-olds to consign.

Like many consignors, Hatch likes young sires, but that’s not all he buys. He’s recently bought yearlings by Vekoma, Jackie’s Warrior, Golden Pal, Gunite, McKinzie, Elite Power, etc.

When shopping for yearlings, he pays attention to where they were bred but doesn’t necessarily start with pedigree. 

“Generally, it’s the physical; that’s what’s carried me and works for my training program,” he said. “It does help if the state has a good program working for them. Florida-breds have been notable. A good Florida-bred has been able to compete anywhere in the country and people recognize that.”

Although he has a full crew, including exercise riders, mornings still find Hatch galloping some of the young horses himself.

“I do it because I enjoy it; I like to be on the back of a horse,” he said.

If anyone knows what a good horse feels like, it’s Hatch. 

Halcyon Hammock has broken and trained hundreds of winners, including multiple graded stakes-winning millionaires Starship Jubilee and Power Squeeze. 

Starship Jubilee was Sovereign Award Champion Turf Female in 2017, 2018 and 2019 and Florida-bred Champion Turf Female in 2019 and 2020. Bred in Florida by William P. Sorren, she won the Sovereign Award as 2019 Horse of the Year and was the Florida-bred Horse of the Year in 2020.

Over a five-year racing career, the Florida-bred Indy Wind mare won graded stakes from Gulfstream Park and Tampa Bay to Saratoga and Woodbine. In 39 starts, Starship Jubilee found the winner’s circle 19 times and earned $2,093,069 racing for Bonnie Baskin and Adam Corndorf’s Blue Haven Farm.

Halcyon Hammock sold Power Squeeze to buyer Lea Farms for $90,000 at the 2023 OBS Spring sale. The Union Rags filly became a multiple graded stakes winner of $1,027,150, with the 2024 Alabama Stakes (G1) among her six wins.

“These two mares alone are horses people search all their life for, and they both started here,” Hatch said.

Other multiple graded stakes winners trained at Halcyon Hammock include Florida-bred Flamethrowintexan, a Way West (Fr) gelding who earned a $806,017 for owner Grasshopper Stable; and Sharp Lisa, the Dixieland Band filly who earned $658,100 racing for Paul Reddam and Suarez Racing, Inc.

Halcyon Hammock also sold graded stakes winners Stormcast ($328,553); Pricedtoperfection ($327,005); Pamina ($198,072); and graded stakes-placed winner Identity Politics ($301,373), to mention only a few.

Halcyon Hammock sale graduates from the 2025 OBS March sale include Cuda Cutie who sold for $180,000. The Aurelius Maximus filly is already a stakes-placed winner of $169,040 for owner Terry L. Stephens.

Classic Move, a Florida-bred filly by Classic Empire, sold for $57,000 last March and is now a stakes-placed winner of $115,238 for owners Blue Crevalle Racing, Rocky Top Stable (Ventura), Ventura, James and Quintessential Racing Florida LLC.

As history has proven, Hatch has good luck with fillies.  

“The girls like me,” he laughed. “Horses are herd animals but they like people and look forward to the attention we give them.”

When it comes to horses who go on to great success, like Starship Jubilee and Power Squeeze, Hatch says he knew that they were nice horses as they were coming along, although they weren’t “blazing fast” as babies. 

“I’m preparing horses for what lies ahead,” he said. “Sometimes they have to get to the racetrack to finish their development and some of them excel and elevate.”

Hatch points out that a horse’s personality and intelligence definitely play a role in how they perform at the track.

“Fillies who stay calm, take a nap, don’t get upset, do their job and are happy about it, seem to do better about withstanding the pressures of training and racing. There is a way to bring them into those habits at the farm,” he said. “And if they don’t stay in the feed tub, you’ve got no racehorse. A happy horse will eat.”

Hatch is also proud of the young people who have gotten a leg up in the business working with him, such as Brittany Dallaire of Envision Equine.

“Hal put me on my first racehorse and sold my first racehorse for me several years later. He taught me so much—how to think like a horse and always to be one step ahead—little tricks that have helped me so much as a rider,” said Dallaire, who started her own bloodstock agency, Envision Equine, in 2012. “Hal is a tremendous horseman that I have loads of respect for. I owe a lot of my success to him.”

Even when he’s not working with Thoroughbreds, Hatch is focused on fast horses. Barrel racing has been a passion since childhood and he always has a horse or two he’s training or competing on. He appreciates that it challenges him in a different way than racehorses.

“I have one really good barrel horse now, a Quarter Horse gelding, and compete once or twice a month, mostly local,” Hatch said. “From time to time I’ll head out to a bigger venue, like at World Equestrian Center.” 

When he’s not with the horses, Hatch enjoys boating and wakeboarding on the Suwannee River.

“I’ve never made money doing anything but horses and I’m still in the game. Longevity in this business equals success,” said Hatch, 57. “The fact that I’ve been able to maintain this farm for over 35 years has been a mark of achievement. I’ve treaded water, kept my head above water and had to snorkel sometimes, but I’m still here. I’ve been a shot taker—and well-rewarded for it—in a sport that can be volatile. 

“All I ever wanted to do was horses and it truly has been a fulfilling, very satisfying life,” Hatch said. “It’s not ‘work,’ it’s fun. I spend my days playing with horses. What could be better?”