When it comes to Thoroughbred breeders in the Southeast, Florida continues to be the dominating force. But that has not dissuaded breeders in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee to participate in the industry. Success is a relative thing, depending on perspective, and for breeders of the Southeast, it comes in many different guises.

The Florida Thoroughbred breeding industry was kick-started when Florida-bred Needles won the 1956 Kentucky Derby and was subsequently retired to stand in the Sunshine State. Since that time, the state has maintained its dominance as the leader in the Southeast and has risen to national prominence.

Florida has many advantages over the other states in the Southeast. It has the climate, good soil, and water that make for good pasture, a strong equine services network, and a centrally contained industry located in the Ocala/Marion County area.

Making their homes in Florida have been such nationally recognized breeders as Ocala Stud Farms, Tartan Farms, Harbor View Farm, Waldemar Farm, and Hooper Farms. These operations have produced national champions, have been honored as leading breeders, and have laid the foundation for today's thriving breeding industry. While Ocala Stud Farms remains the oldest active Florida operation, many new names and faces have stepped in to continue the legacy.

The strength of the Florida breeding industry can be seen by the appearance of breeders from the state on recent national standings of Thoroughbred racing's leading breeders. The state is represented by such breeders as the region's top-ranked breeder, Harry T. Mangurian Jr., and also his Mockingbird Farm, along with Farnsworth Farms, John Franks, and Arthur I. Appleton's Bridlewood Farm.

Here are the leading breeders of the Southeast, arranged roughly according to the size of their states' industries. Statistics are based on a 12-month period from October 1, 2000, through September 30, 2001.

Florida

In 2000, for the second consecutive year, Harry T. Mangurian Jr., owner of Mockingbird Farm, was the leading breeder by North American earnings. It is no surprise that Mangurian has been honored as the Florida breeder of the year four times, in 1992 and 1998-2000. He has twice been named the national breeder of the year by the Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Association, in 1998 and in 2000.

Mangurian is a member of the Jockey Club and the Calder Race Course Hall of Fame. He is vice president of the Ocala Breeders' Sales Co. and a director on the board of the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders' and Owners' Association.

With his wife, Dottie, Mangurian established Mockingbird Farm in 1972. Since that time, he has bred and/or raced some 145 stakes winners. Most notably among that group is Gilded Time, a Mangurian-bred who won the 1992 Eclipse Award as champion two-year-old male.

The first horse to ever carry the Mockingbird silks was two-time Florida-bred Eclipse champion Desert Vixen, whom Mangurian purchased as a yearling. She was named champion three-year-old filly in 1973 and champion older mare in '74. At the same sale, Mangurian also purchased Desert Vixen's dam, Desert Trial, in foal to In Reality. The subsequent foal was Valid Appeal, who also became a stakes winner for Mangurian and one of the most influential sires in the Florida breeding industry. Now pensioned, Valid Appeal is Florida's all-time leading sire by progeny earnings with more than $45-million, as well as a leading broodmare sire and sire of sires.

In 1998, Mangurian began to register his foals under his farm name and thus created two entries on national leading breeders' lists. Shortly thereafter, he began to disperse his Thoroughbred holdings, with the 2001 juvenile sales concluding his public offerings. Today, Mangurian still maintains a racing stable, but the 1,100-acre Mockingbird Farm is for sale.

Mangurian/Mockingbird-bred runners continue to earn money on the racetrack. A lot of money. In the 12-month period that ended on September 30, Mangurian-bred runners bankrolled $7,590,562. Those horses bred under the Mockingbird name earned an additional $7,512,821.

From 261 Mangurian-bred starters, 170 were winners and 14 won stakes. Among them were Metropolitan Handicap (G1) winner Exciting Story, a Canadian champion as a two-year-old in 1999, and San Bernardino (G2) and Mervyn LeRoy (G2) Handicap winner Futural. From 279 starters bred in the name of Mockingbird, 159 were winners and 11 were stakes winners. They included Selene Stakes (Can-G1) winner Dark Ending. Mangurian races both Exciting Story and Dark Ending in his Mockingbird silks.

Another perennial leading Florida breeder is third-ranked Farnsworth Farms, which was established in 1962 by Michael Sherman and his father, Isidore. To date, Farnsworth and its various partners have bred some 180 Florida-bred stakes winners. Farnsworth has bred two Eclipse Award winners in Jewel Princess (1996 champion older female) and Beautiful Pleasure (1999 champion older female).

Farnsworth has bred four Florida-bred millionaires: Beautiful Pleasure ($2,734,078), Mecke ($2,470,550), Jewel Princess ($1,904,060), and Frisk Me Now ($1,727,707).

In 1996, Farnsworth was honored with an Eclipse Award as outstanding breeder. The operation was recognized as the Florida breeder of the year from 1994-'96.

Farnsworth has been a major stallion station throughout the years, standing such leading Florida sires as Baldski, Fortunate Prospect, Jeblar, Line in the Sand, and Robyn Dancer. The Farnsworth philosophy has always been to breed the farm's mares to the farm's stallions, a plan that continues to pay dividends at the racetrack.

During the time period considered for this article, Farnsworth had bred 326 starters, of which 184 were winners and 12 were stakes winners. Total purse money earned was $6,742,201.

Among the stakes winners are Abajo, winner of the Taylor's Special Handicap at Fair Grounds; Superduper Miss, who won the Light Hearted Stakes at Delaware Park; and Elektraline, winner of the Miss Spin Stakes, Late Bloomer Stakes, and My Juliet Stakes in 2001.

South Carolina

Othniel H. Wienges, the leading breeder from South Carolina for the period under review, and his family have been raising and racing Thoroughbreds since the late 1950s. Wienges, who often breeds and races in partnership with his wife, Callie, son John, and daughter-in-law Sarah, has bred 20 stakes winners.

His leading money earner is Big Rut, an eight-year-old gelding by Kokand who has won 17 of 68 starts, including seven stakes at Laurel Park, Delaware Park, and Timonium, and has earned $525,846.

Trainer Hamilton Smith, who is based at Laurel, manages the racing stable for Wienges, who prefers racing young horses. "We have about 18 in the stable right now, and they're all two- and three-year-olds," he said. "I like the potential of the young horses. And if they don't show us something quick, they move on."

Wienges, a third-generation South Carolina farmer, maintains a band of some 20 broodmares at his Singleton Plantation near St. Matthews. The 3,000-acre operation primarily produces cotton, soybeans, and pine trees. About 250 acres of the farm are devoted to the Thoroughbred operation. Wienges was introduced to Thoroughbred racing by trainers Max Hirsch and Woody Stephens, whom he took on hunting trips when they wintered their stables in South Carolina.

Wienges is a majority owner of the syndicated stallion Kokand, a 16-year-old son of Mr. Prospector who had long been the leading sire in South Carolina. Kokand has been moved from Camden Stud in South Carolina to stand at Tym Mar Farm in Pickaway, West Virginia, for the 2002 breeding season.

North Carolina

Leading North Carolina breeder Nancy C. Shuford established her Rock House Farm near Hickory in 1971. The 182-acre farm is named after