High Flying Dreams Landed Tom Equels in the Heart of Ocala Horse Country

When it comes to tradition, the Thoroughbred industry is steeped in history. New faces and updated pedigrees continue to join the sport, but modern horsemen still value the lessons learned from owners and breeders of the past.

Florida’s relatively young, but vibrant, history as a Thoroughbred breeding and training center captivated Tom Equels from his first introduction to Ocala.

That initial sighting in 1984 took place from 2,500 feet.

Equels, a pilot, instructor pilot and co-owner of Tamiami Jet Center was headed to North Florida on business when he flew over Marion County and zeroed in on a prominent Thoroughbred farm passing below.

“I saw the racetrack and a grass airstrip. The aeronautical chart called it Cashel Stud. Dropping down low level to take a closer look, I thought it was beautiful,” recalls Equels.

On that morning, Equels didn’t realize that one day he would own the very land he’d just buzzed over—including the training track beneath his plane’s wings.

Built from scratch

Equels would later come to know and cherish the legend that was Cashel Stud.

The farm was founded by John Hartigan, a 10th generation Irish horseman who came to the U.S. in the late 1940s and moved to Ocala where he managed the iconic Tartan Farms from 1960 to 1975.

John and his wife Sandy had two sons, Brian and Kevin. The family became key players in Florida’s Thoroughbred industry.

In the early 70s, Hartigan bought acreage on South Highway 475 in Ocala to begin building his own farm, which he named Cashel Stud. He continued to buy adjoining land as it became available until his farm totaled about 1,000 acres.

Hartigan built eight barns on the property and in the late 1970s built the racetrack that Equels later saw from the skies.

Perhaps the most famous horse bred at Cashel Stud was Mac Diarmida,  1978 Eclipse Champion Male Turf Horse. After his race career, Mac Diarmida returned to Cashel to join the stallion roster and stood there for 13 years. The farm’s main focus was breeding to sell, whether as yearlings or 2-year-olds in training.

Tragically, John and Sandy Hartigan were killed in a plane crash on the farm on April 11, 1986. Brian and Kevin Hartigan continued their family's farm and equine business for many years. Brian sold out his interest to Kevin around 2000, but sadly, Kevin passed in 2019.

Early days

Equels hails from western Pennsylvania, but his father was stationed at the Navy base in Key West. Tom was just six weeks old when his mother took him to the Keys, where he lived until age three. After the Navy, his family returned to Pennsylvania, which was home until the summer he was 13.

“My family moved to Titusville, Florida; I’ve been a Floridian ever since,” says Equels.

Fascinated with flight, he joined the U.S. Army at age 18, determined to become a pilot. He did just that and learned to fly AH-1G Cobra gunships, the single-engine attack helicopter first introduced during the Vietnam War.

Equels flew over 300 combat missions in Vietnam and was awarded a Purple Heart, a Bronze Star, two Distinguished Flying Crosses and 15 Air Medals. After Vietnam, he stayed in the miliary for several years, adding instructor pilot to his accomplishments as a combat pilot.

A Summa Cum Laude graduate, Equels earned his Bachelors of Science and Master of Science while in the Army. Equels then attended Florida State University College of Law, graduating with High Honors and became a practicing lawyer at internationally prominent Greenberg, Traurig and Askew. He later started his own practice, establishing the Equels Law Firm in 1990, with offices in Miami and Orlando.

He co-owned Tamiami Jet Center, an aviation fixed base operator and flight school at Tamiami Airport, now known as Kendall Executive Airport in Miami.

Marion County magic

Equels has loved horses and ridden since childhood. His horseback adventures continued into adulthood and fortunately, his wife, Laura, their children and grandchildren, all enjoy the horses and the farm.

For many years, Equels bred and owned both Paso Finos and Thoroughbreds. As his law practice thrived, riding remained a down-to-earth pleasure and escape. But Equels also took it seriously. He became an award-winning rider in USEF competitions, with Equels-bred Paso Finos winning a rich harvest of national and international championship honors.

“We still have Hidalgo, a two-time national champion. He’s a homozygous pinto breeding stallion, but I ride him almost every weekend,” says Equels, who stopped showing a few years ago.

While living in Orlando, Equels knew Ocala would be ideal for a weekend farm. Proximity to the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway and Florida Horse Park opened fabulous access to great riding opportunities. Recalling his flight over Cashel Stud about a decade earlier, he knew just where he wanted to buy land.

In 1995, Equels bought 11 acres contiguous to the Greenway and near Cashel Stud.

When Equels met his neighbor Kevin Hartigan, the two men hit it off, and discovered they shared a passion for restoring old muscle cars.

“I had the deepest respect for Kevin, may he rest in peace, and learned about his father and the history of Cashel Stud through him,” says Equels.

Equels began buying acreage contiguous to the Greenway over a period of years.

In 1997, Equels bought his first Thoroughbred racehorses and fittingly paid Kevin Hartigan to use his training track.

“Kevin was kind enough to offer friendly racing advice too,” says Equels. “When it came to racing, Kevin was a master horseman.”

About five years later, Equels bought the land on which the track stands.

All told, Equels ended up owning right at 200 acres, including 160 acres of the iconic Cashel Stud. The sweet irony is that he now owns the very 5/8-mile racetrack he first saw from the air.

Equels Racing Center

The training facility that was once the heartbeat of Cashel Stud is now Equels Racing Center. In addition to the track, the facility has three training barns with a total of 80 stalls.

“We took the time and spent quite a bit of money resurfacing the track to make it as close to the Tampa Bay Downs’ surface as possible,” says Equels. “I hired the consultant who did the work at Tampa Bay to come up and tell me what needed to be done, then paid to have it done and have tried to keep it in good condition ever since. It was, and is, a great training surface.”

Equels leases to both out-of-state trainers bringing horses down from northern states, and local horsemen who specialize in breaking and training.

Another benefit for trainers is the fact that the training center backs up to the Cross Florida Greenway, which offers over 300 miles of trails for horseback riders, hikers and mountain bikers.

“This track has consistently produced winners from the John Hartigan champ Mac Diarmida, to dozens of other stakes winners that followed. From when the Hartigans had it, to now, this track has consistently produced winners,” says Equels.

“We have a really high-quality track and year after year some new champion completes preliminary track training here,” he notes. “For example, both Cogburn and Structor began their championship careers here, as did Equels-bred stakes winner Rainbow’s Pride. It is a great track, and it produces winners. I think that’s why trainers come back year after year.”

Equels says some of the “old school” trainers, including John Hartigan, took advantage of hacking their horses along the Greenway trails.

“Horses need exposure to new things, not just riding on the racetrack,” he  says. “If you can take your horses out in company and jog along a four-mile trail, that’s a great feature to have. If you can make the ride not feel like work, but rather fun, that’s good for the horses and freshens them up.”

Equels Racing Center fills up every October and by the end of April most of the trainers are gone. Equels’ own horses are in residence and train there until he passes them on to his racetrack trainer Tim Hamm.

“I still run few Thoroughbreds every year and they get their early training on the track with Uriel Ortega, one of the trainers who rents from me,” says Equels, who took three of his horses to Tampa in partnership with Tim Hamm for the 2025/2026 winter meet.

“In 15 races, these horses were in the money every race, including six wins and six seconds. This was the best meet I’ve ever had,” says Equels. “Two of them, Band A Rang and Rainbow’s Pride, got new owners. Little Thunder, who scored two wins and a second in allowance company, I still have. In his last race, he was just a few hundredths of a second off the Tampa track record for six furlongs.”

Rainbow’s Pride recently won the Spangled Jimmy Handicap (Black Type) at Century Mile in Alberta, Canada. Three weeks earlier the gelding won the Journal Handicap (black type) at the same racetrack. Rainbow’s Pride is by Uncaptured, Canada’s Horse of the Year in his prime, and out of Equels’ mare, Circular Rainbow.

“I was very happy that a horse I bred won the first two stakes races to open the Summer 2026 meet at Century Mile in Canada. His new owners are ecstatic,” says Equels. “I named him Rainbow’s Pride because as a young colt his dam, Circular Rainbow, beamed with pride at her little boy. Now that Rainbow’s Pride is dominating every stakes race the Edmonton track has yet to offer, I’m sure his Canadian sire, Uncaptured, shares in her pride as well. Thanks to FTBOA export awards, I still get a breeders’ award every time he wins a stakes race.”

Horse Park Lane

Equels designated a 77-acre portion of the western part of the farm property for development as exclusive equestrian properties, which he named Horse Park Lane.

“For people who love to ride, this area is like waterfront property,” says Equels.

Horse Park Lane was established in 10- to 13-acre lots, with a total of seven lots, which highlight the beauty and the convenient accessibility of the Greenway’s miles of trails and the Florida Horse Park’s equine infrastructure.

"This is the kind of property that reminds you why Ocala is known as the Horse Capital of the World. Horse Park Lane gave more people the opportunity to become stewards of an exceptional piece of horse country, and it's been wonderful watching each farm take shape while preserving the beauty and character that made the property so special in the first place." says Valerie Dailey, broker and owner of Showcase Properties of Central Florida. 

“Thanks to Valerie and Showcase Properties, this development project was very successful. The buyers are putting up lovely houses and stables,” says Equels. “What I love about this location is that you have the ability to just get on your horse and ride for hours without seeing the same thing twice.”

Looking forward

In recent years, Equels has happily put more focus on the horses.

In October 2024, his first novel, The Horseman’s Tale, was published by Trafalgar Square Books. Although it’s fiction, Equels wove some of his own horses into the story of a Vietnam-era veteran dealing with PTSD and more.

In addition to his racehorse interests, Equels still relishes the opportunity to ride the scenic Greenway trails on one of his Pasos, as he has for over three decades. On horseback and surrounded by the beauty of one of Florida’s best forest preserves, he finds it easy to savor the present moment accompanied by the gentle echo of hoofbeats.