Mary Lightner is a licensed trainer based in Williston, Fla. and is from a well-regarded, longstanding family in the Thoroughbred industry.
The Lightner family owns and operates Oak Glen Farm, a broodmare farm in Williston concentrating on Florida-breds, and they break and train 20-30 yearlings each year at Oakridge Training Center in Morriston, Fla.
Lightner, and her father Mike Lightner, are active participants at Thoroughbred auctions and in the last few years have purchased such standouts as Grade 3-winner Island Commish and multiple graded stakes-winner Kathleen O.
Aware of growing interest and passion for Thoroughbred ownership, Lightner established Shooting Star Thoroughbreds, a syndicate focusing on Florida-breds by Florida-based stallions.
Engaging individuals with a curious interest in Thoroughbred racing, Shooting Star has attracted more than 100 new partners with affordable pricing to help make their dream of Thoroughbred ownership a reality.
Experiencing the thrill and excitement of ownership and the ability to share those moments in a racing community with other like-minded members is the cornerstone of Lightner’s vision for Shooting Star Thoroughbreds.
Formed in 2019, the syndicate had a 92% in-the-money strike rate in their first 12 starts, partly due to that year’s Florida-bred champion 2-year-old male, Chance It, winner of the FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes Dr. Fager and FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes In Reality that year.
They now stand Chance It at Journeyman Stud in Ocala.
She has shared her expertise as a speaker at a Tampa TOBA seminar and to a group during an FTBOA bus trip to Gulfstream Park.
