| INDUSTRY |
John Nerud
| OCALA |
Nerud’s house, 100 yards from the cemetery, was not spared. “They were going to demolish it,” Roy said. “Last April, we had a meeting, and what they agreed to do was to make that area part of an estate, and instead of tearing down the house, try to sell it. I asked for the price, but they said it’s not for sale.” Talk about mixed signals. “So far, I’ve been very happy with the developers,” Roy said. “We preserved the cemetery. We’re trying to save the house. I want to preserve it because of one guy, John Nerud. He was one of a group of gentlemen that were important in bringing Thoroughbred training and breeding into Florida. I’m from New England. I get excited if I see a sign saying, ‘George Washington slept here.’ He started the Breeders’ Cup. He trained champions. You have to try to save it for future generations.” Roy thinks Nerud’s house could be converted into a bed and breakfast. He’s cautiously optimistic the house will be saved. But even if it is, he has this gnawing question: “Being a horseman, an owner and a breeder, I’m wondering how many other places have been demolished in Ocala because of development.” Lynne Boutte knows one way to slow development: “My farm’s in a very unique area up here. It’s not for sale.” Gail Rice put it this way: “It’s about money and money talks; but what’s important is peaceful living and having this land to raise our horses. Without green, what do you have?”
CHRISTOPHER DUNCAN From Olympic athlete to racehorse trainer in Ocala
U
nlike most Thoroughbred horsemen in Ocala, 46-year-old trainer Christopher Duncan isn’t deeply rooted in his profession. He is, however, deeply confident he will be. He even wrote a self-published book about it: Mind Shift. Just in his second full year of training, Duncan is a former Jamaican Olympic track star and real estate dealer in Virginia, all the while never ignoring a passion for Thoroughbreds, which he’d experienced in his native Jamaica as a child. “I wanted to be a jockey in Jamaica, but I was too big,” he said. A near fatal 1997 car accident in Washington, D.C., rearranged his thinking and his life. “A young lady ran a red light,” he said. “I needed emergency surgery. My left lung collapsed. They cut me out with no drugs. They stuck a tube in. The doctor said, ‘If you move, you die.’ I said, ‘God, if you bring me through this, I’m going to serve you.’ It hurt. There’s not a word to describe it. It burned like pepper. I said, ‘God, help me.’ I couldn’t do it myself. God brought me through that. I needed something bigger and stronger. I lost 50, 60 pounds. I couldn’t do a push-up when I got out. That’s when my journey began. That was the turning point of my life.” He began writing down his ideas and thoughts. He moved from Virginia to Ocala. “For the good weather and the horses,” he said. He found a new career in the medical transportation business—a business his wife continues in. He published his book in 2011. Then, he finally confronted his passion for horses: “I said, ‘You know what, I’m going to train horses.’” He purchased a cheap mare, Adonai Bless, and won his first race in her first start for him when she captured an $8,000 claimer at Tampa Bay Downs on November 20, 2020. “It was a great moment,” he said.
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She didn’t give him any more, losing two subsequent starts badly and was retired to become a broodmare. He races 12 horses now at Tampa Bay Downs and at Gulfstream Park. Through early January, he has six wins, one second and one third from 54 starts with earnings of $86,425. “I love it,” he said. “It’s good, and it’s going to get better. It’s a passion. It’s something I want to do. If you do something and enjoy it, it’s not work.” Drawing on his experience in track and field, he trains his horses for endurance. He has the full support of his wife and their four children. His long-range goal is to win a Gr. 1 or Gr. 2 stakes. He is fully confident he will. “List is just to keep working,” he said. “It’s about the mind. You can’t do anything without thinking. I have to believe I’m going to be successful. If I don’t, it will never happen.” When it does, he knows whom to thank. “It’s God,” he said. “He gets the credit for it. My goal is to be of service.”