George Isaacs, general manager of the historic Bridlewood Farm located in Ocala, was elected president of the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders' and Owners' Association at the board meeting that followed the Oct. 21 annual member meeting. Isaacs said he was grateful to be elected president by his fellow board members.
“I am honored and humbled to be elected by my peers to this important position. Being an active manager of a large Florida breeding operation, I hope to do my part in continuing to bolster the Florida breeding and racing industry, ” Isaacs said.
FTBOA board members Marilyn Campbell of Tyngsboro, Mass., and Joe O'Farrell III of Ocala extended their terms on the board while Jerry Campbell, of Tampa; Mike Hall of Parkersburg, W.Va., and Mary Lightner of Williston were named to the board for the first time. They will each serve a three-year term that will run until October 2025.
Leaving the board because of term limits as outlined in the FTBOA by-laws were Valerie Dailey, who served as FTBOA president from October 2021 through October 2022, and past presidents Brent Fernung and Phil Matthews, DVM. As past presidents, all remain on the board without voting privileges with as immediate past chair also continuing to serve on the executive committee.
The board also selected the remaining executive committee officers for 2022-'23 with Isaacs as president while George Russell, who owns Rustlewood Farm in Reddick, was named first vice president. Francis Vanlangendonck, who operates Summerfield in Morriston, was named second vice president; and O'Farrell will serve as treasurer. Nick de Meric, who operates de Meric Stables and Sales in Ocala, was elected as secretary.
Isaacs has a long history serving the Florida Thoroughbred industry as an FTBOA officer and serving five terms on the FTBOA board.
He became stallion manager at Arthur Appleton's Bridlewood Farm in Ocala in 1989 before becoming the general manager for Allen Paulson's Brookside South Farm in 1992. In 1996, Isaacs returned to Bridlewood as general manager and currently manages operations there with John and Leslie Malone, who purchased the farm in 2013.
During his tenure at Bridlewood, more than 100 Florida-bred stakes winners and 12 Grade 1 winners have been bred by the farm.
Isaacs is the chair of the Equine Studies Program at the College of Central Florida, is a Horse Farms Forever board member and an AdventHealth Ocala Foundation board member. Isaacs is the chair for the FTBOA Ocala Downtown Thoroughbred Walk of Fame committee and serves on the FTBOA Farmland Preservation Work Group.
Marilyn Campbell, along with her late husband Gil Campbell, established the 600-acre Stonehedge Farm South in Williston in 1988. Since then, the farm has been a perennial industry leader as the top producer of Florida-breds foals annually from 2016-'22. In 2021, Stonehedge was the second leading Florida-bred breeder by earnings with $2.5 million.
Stonehedge has bred 89 black type stakes winners including millionaires Blazing Sword and Marlin and graded stakes-winners Always Sunshine, Well Defined, Ivanavinalot and Me and Mr. C.
O'Farrell is an Ocala native and his passion for Thoroughbreds comes from growing up on the family farm, Ocala Stud, the oldest active Thoroughbred farm in the state. A graduate of Erskine College with a bachelor's degree in business administration with an emphasis in accounting, O'Farrell became a manager of Ocala Stud in 2004, managing the financial side of the farm.
Ocala Stud has been a perennial leading commercial breeder in Florida and has either solely or in partnership bred more than 100 stakes winners including Eclipse Award champion Musical Romance and graded stakes-winners Turbulent Descent, Tackleberry, Rigoletta, Gourmet Dinner and Shadowbdancing.
Jerry Campbell is a veteran banker and longtime Thoroughbred owner and breeder for more than 55 years. He is the chair/CEO of the bank holding company, New South Bancorp, Inc., in Tampa and was founder and has served as chair of HomeBancorop, Inc., and chair and CEO at Republic Bancorp since 1986.
Campbell is also a former officer and director of Frank Stronach's Magna Entertainment joining current FTBOA CEO Lonny Powell at the time.
Among the horses raced by Campbell are stakes-winners Crash Pad, Diamond Gate, Mont Ridge, Post It, Proud Ridge, Sea Legs, Terko Bates, Axe of Courage, I Match Too, This Cats on Fire, Wave Pool, Charlies Fire and Valley Loot. He currently has roughly two dozen horses in training, many of which are Florida-breds.
Mike Hall is the co-owner of the successful racing stable Breeze Easy with partner Sam Ross. Founded in 2016, Breeze Easy has rapidly established itself in Thoroughbred racing, breeding and sales and has campaigned graded stakes winners on both sides of the Atlantic and presented top quality offering at leading weanling and broodmare sales. In just a few years, Breeze Easy horses have visited the winner's circle at both Royal Ascot and the Breeders' Cup.
Mary Lightner is a licensed trainer from a well-regarded, longstanding Thoroughbred family. The Lightner family owns and operates their broodmare farm in Williston and they break and train 20-30 yearlings each year at Oakridge Training Center in Morriston.
Mary established Shooting Star Thoroughbreds, a racing syndicate, with the awareness that there is a growing interest and passion for Thoroughbred partnerships. Shoot Star Thoroughbreds has brought well over 100 new owners to the business.
Formed in 2019, Shooting Star Thoroughbreds campaigned Florida-bred champion 2-year-old Chance It, a dual winner of the FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes. Chance It currently stands at Journeyman Stallions in Ocala.
Other returning FTBOA board members include Fred Brei, T. Paul Bulmahn, Laurine Fuller-Vargas, Bobby Jones, Milan Kosanovich and Dr. Fred Yutani. Lonny Powell enters his 11th year at the Association helm as the CEO and executive vice president.
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