Ocala's New Racetrack:
Florida Horse Country Fights for the Future of Racing

WHY OCALA — AND WHY NOW?

In one sense, building a racetrack in Ocala seems almost obvious. Marion County is filled with Thoroughbred farms, stallion operations, breaking and training facilities, veterinarians, farriers, bloodstock agents, transportation companies and nearly every other specialty required to produce a racehorse.

What it has lacked is a major permanent Thoroughbred racing venue.

That gap has become much more important because of the continuing political battle over decoupling in Florida.

Under Florida's traditional model, Thoroughbred racetracks receive valuable gambling privileges while also being required to conduct live racing. Gulfstream Park operates casino gambling as well as racing, while Tampa Bay Downs operates a cardroom alongside its racing program.

Decoupling would sever that relationship. A racetrack operator could potentially retain lucrative gaming operations without continuing to stage live Thoroughbred racing.

To horse breeders, owners, trainers and farm operators, that is not a minor regulatory change. Live racing creates the demand for locally bred horses and supports purses, breeders' awards, trainers, jockeys, grooms, veterinarians, feed suppliers, transportation businesses and thousands of other jobs tied to the sport.

Florida already saw other pari-mutuel sports dramatically reduced after the state allowed forms of gaming to become separated from live competition. Thoroughbred interests have therefore fought aggressively to preserve racing requirements.

A PERMIT WAITING FOR ITS MOMENT

The most intriguing part of the Ocala story actually began about 15 years ago.

Ocala Thoroughbred Racing, Inc. was established as a nonprofit organization affiliated with the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders' and Owners' Association. In 2011, FTBOA pursued conversion of a Quarter Horse racing permit into a special nonprofit Thoroughbred permit.

Florida law created the permit with an unusually specific purpose: live Thoroughbred racing whose net revenues would help support purses, breeders' and stallion awards, promotion of Florida Thoroughbred breeding and the care of retired racehorses.

The permit is especially valuable because it is tied to Marion County and belongs to Ocala Thoroughbred Racing, a wholly owned FTBOA subsidiary. It cannot simply be sold off like an ordinary commercial asset.

As Florida later eliminated numerous dormant pari-mutuel permits, the Ocala Thoroughbred permit survived.

Today, FTBOA describes it as Florida's only available Thoroughbred racing permit.

Florida's Thoroughbred industry has long centered much of its breeding and early training activity around Ocala and Marion County.

THE MEN WHO HELPED TURN THE IDEA INTO A PROJECT

Lonny Powell

FTBOA CEO and Executive Vice President Lonny Powell has been one of the central figures in protecting the permit and advocating for a permanent racing future in Marion County.

Powell publicly revealed the new-track initiative at the University of Arizona's Global Symposium on Racing in December 2025. He described the permit as an asset that had been preserved through years of changes to Florida's pari-mutuel laws and said the escalating decoupling fight made it increasingly important to prepare an alternative home for Florida racing.

Philip Levine

Former Miami Beach Mayor and businessman Philip Levine helped move the concept from an industry idea toward a development project.

According to Powell, Levine initially approached the FTBOA and then helped bring attorney and horse owner John Morgan into the discussions.

Levine's contribution is particularly relevant because his background is not primarily racing. He brought business and real-estate development experience to a project that will require land acquisition, infrastructure planning, financing, government approvals and the creation of a commercially sustainable entertainment destination.

John Morgan

One of the most recognizable names attached to the effort is Florida attorney John Morgan, founder of Morgan & Morgan.

Morgan is not simply a celebrity investor lending his name to the project. He is a Thoroughbred owner and breeder and has described Marion County as the natural place for Florida racing's future.

During 2026, Morgan presented FTBOA leadership with his vision for a business model capable of supporting strong purses and awards while reducing the industry's dependence on the decisions of existing racetrack owners.

Morgan became owner and chief executive of the Delaware entity established to advance the project.

ENTER GILLIGAN RACING

By August 2026, the effort was being publicly advanced by Gilligan Racing LLC, which announced that it had entered into an exclusive agreement with Ocala Thoroughbred Racing involving the special permit.

That announcement was important. Instead of simply studying whether a new racetrack might someday make sense, the development team said it had begun identifying and evaluating actual potential sites in Marion County.

Gilligan Racing described its objective as the creation of a world-class Thoroughbred racing facility and a sustainable, first-class home for the next generation of Florida racing.

The organization has emphasized that the development is intended to benefit far more than bettors and racing fans. Its economic argument includes breeders, farms, trainers, owners, equine businesses, tourism, employment and the broader Marion County economy.

WINCHELL AND FALCONE ADD RACETRACK EXPERIENCE

The development team has also been working with prominent Thoroughbred owner and breeder Ron Winchell and racing and gaming executive Marc Falcone.

Their involvement adds something particularly important: direct experience with the economics and operation of modern horse racing and entertainment properties.

That expertise matters because the biggest challenge is not simply constructing an oval, grandstand and barns. The real test is creating an economic model capable of supporting competitive purses and year-after-year racing without eventually becoming dependent upon the very casino economics that created Florida's decoupling fight in the first place.

WHERE WILL IT BE?

As of October 2026, no final site has been publicly announced.

Gilligan Racing has confirmed that several potential locations in Marion County have been identified and are being actively evaluated.

That is an important distinction because occasional online speculation has attached particular Ocala-area properties to the project. At this stage, however, the development group itself has not publicly designated the winning parcel.

FTBOA officials have indicated that the location and facility design must work together. The property has to accommodate racing while also fitting the larger entertainment and economic model being developed for the project.

Any selected property will also have to work its way through the appropriate Marion County planning, zoning, infrastructure and approval processes.

WHAT WILL THE RACETRACK LOOK LIKE?

A finished master plan has not yet been released, but comments from those involved suggest that the vision is considerably broader than a traditional grandstand surrounding a dirt oval.

Powell has spoken about creating something that captures the park-like character and natural beauty of Marion County rather than attempting to duplicate a giant metropolitan racetrack such as Belmont Park.

Entertainment, tourism and other activities are expected to become important parts of the property.

That could prove critical to the project's survival. Modern racetracks increasingly need reasons for customers to visit even when racing is not underway. Restaurants, hospitality, special events, concerts, conventions, equestrian activities and other entertainment uses can turn a racetrack from a seasonal sporting facility into a year-round destination.

The concentration of horses, farms, training tracks and racing professionals surrounding Ocala is one of the strongest arguments for placing a new Florida racetrack in Marion County.

THE $64 MILLION QUESTION: WHAT WILL IT COST?

At this stage there is no publicly announced construction budget.

Any dollar figure presented as the official cost of the Ocala racetrack should therefore be treated cautiously unless it comes directly from Gilligan Racing, Ocala Thoroughbred Racing or the FTBOA.

The cost will depend heavily on the property eventually selected and on the scope of the final development. Land, road access, utilities, parking, track construction, drainage, barns, a paddock, grandstand and hospitality facilities could make even a relatively restrained modern racing complex a substantial development project.

If the finished property also incorporates major entertainment, hospitality, restaurant or mixed-use components, the investment could become considerably larger.

For now, the developers appear to be working backward from the economics: determine what business model can sustainably support racing, purses and breeder incentives, and then design a facility capable of making that model work.

WHEN WILL IT OPEN?

There is also no official opening date or construction completion date as of October 2026.

The project remains in site selection, business planning and stakeholder consultation.

Once a property is selected, developers will still face due diligence, design, financing, infrastructure planning, governmental approvals and construction.

FTBOA President Valerie Dailey has also made clear that portions of Florida's statutory framework may need to be addressed or rewritten to accommodate the new racing model.

In other words, this is a serious project — but Opening Day is not around the corner.

DOES THE RACETRACK HAVE A NAME?

Not yet, at least not one that has been formally announced to the public.

Gilligan Racing LLC is the name of the development organization, while Ocala Thoroughbred Racing is the FTBOA subsidiary holding the racing permit.

Neither should automatically be assumed to be the eventual consumer-facing name of the racetrack.

For now, public announcements generally describe it simply as the proposed Marion County or Ocala Thoroughbred racing facility and entertainment complex.

THE ECONOMIC ARGUMENT

Marion County already has billions of dollars tied to horses and equine businesses. Local economic-development officials have estimated that the county's overall equine industry generates nearly $5 billion in economic activity, with the Thoroughbred sector alone accounting for more than $3.5 billion.

At the statewide level, FTBOA has estimated Florida's Thoroughbred industry contributes more than $3 billion to Florida's economy and supports tens of thousands of jobs.

Those numbers explain why the decoupling fight has become so intense.

If major racetracks eventually stop conducting live races, the effects do not stop at the track gate. A shrinking racing calendar reduces demand throughout the entire production chain.

A permanent Ocala track would attempt to reverse that relationship by putting the racing product closer to the farms and people who actually create it.

COULD OCALA REPLACE GULFSTREAM PARK?

That is one of the unavoidable questions surrounding the project.

Gulfstream Park remains Florida's internationally recognized racing venue, hosting major races including the Florida Derby and Pegasus World Cup. Its Hallandale Beach property, however, occupies extremely valuable South Florida real estate, and the industry's recurring decoupling disputes have fueled long-term uncertainty about the site's future.

FTBOA officials have openly discussed the need for Florida's horse industry to prepare for the possibility that Gulfstream might not always remain the permanent center of the state's racing business.

The proposed Ocala facility therefore serves two purposes.

It creates a possible new racing center in its own right — and it gives Florida horsemen a form of insurance should commercial decisions eventually remove racing from another part of the state.

A DIFFERENT KIND OF RACETRACK

There is another fascinating difference between this proposal and most modern racetrack developments.

The permit originated as a nonprofit Thoroughbred permit intended to benefit the racing and breeding industry itself.

That gives the project a fundamentally different philosophical starting point.

Rather than constructing racing merely as the legal prerequisite for another gambling operation, the Ocala concept is being designed around the idea that live Thoroughbred racing is the product worth preserving.

That does not mean the property can ignore commercial reality. Quite the opposite. Morgan and the development group have repeatedly emphasized that the racetrack needs diverse, sustainable sources of revenue.

But those revenues are being studied as a way of supporting racing instead of using racing merely as a doorway to some unrelated gaming privilege.

WHY THIS COULD CHANGE FLORIDA RACING

Ocala has spent generations producing horses for racetracks located somewhere else.

The Kentucky Derby winner can begin life on a Marion County farm. The future stakes horse can learn to break from a starting gate on an Ocala training track. Trainers, bloodstock agents and veterinarians can spend their entire careers in the region.

Then, when it is time to race, the horses leave.

A permanent Thoroughbred track would complete that circle.

It could give Florida-breds a home track within minutes of many of the farms where they were born and raised. It could give breeders and owners another reason to keep horses in Florida. It could introduce tourists and younger fans to racing while they are surrounded by one of the world's most concentrated Thoroughbred communities.

And perhaps most importantly, it could give Florida racing something it has increasingly lacked: control over its own future.

The recurring decoupling battles in Tallahassee have demonstrated how vulnerable an agricultural and sporting industry becomes when its survival depends upon whether a casino operator still wants to stage horse races.

The Ocala project represents an effort to flip that equation.

Instead of asking how racing can remain useful to a casino, the people behind the Marion County project are asking a different question:

How do you build a racetrack whose business exists because racing itself matters?

Nobody can yet say exactly where the starting gate will stand, what the grandstand will look like, how much the complex will cost or what name will appear above the entrance.

But after roughly 15 years of keeping one extraordinary racing permit alive, Florida's horsemen appear closer than ever to finding out.

And if the vision becomes reality, the place that has long called itself the Horse Capital of the World may finally become something else as well:

one of America's newest Thoroughbred racing capitals.