OCALA, FL (352today.com) – It’s a thoroughbred farm where previous owners produced Classic winners, winners of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes, Breeders’ Cup winners and Eclipse Award winners or national champions, and the new owners have produced Classic winners, Breeders’ Cup winners and Eclipse Award winners.
Watching Park Farm, a 244.5-acre facility in Ocala formerly owned by Eddie and Angela Woods, was acquired by D&B Scanlon Holdings, LLC, for $6.5 million last August.
Eddie Woods, who retired in April 2025, and David Scanlon have both enjoyed tremendous success as 2-year-old consignors, and the sale means that the storied thoroughbred facility will remain just that, under the Scanlon banner, for years to come.
The right place at the right time
David Scanlon and his wife Blair King had been in the market for a place of their own, having been based at the Oak Ridge Training Center, in Morriston. However, with their continued success, which included the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Sierra Leone, who was also named champion 3-year-old male of 2024, it was time for them to act on one of their primary goals and buy their own facility.
“We got married here a few years ago, you kind of sit down and do your goals, and we had a really good run at Oak Ridge,” said Scanlon. “We were starting to get to that point where we had outgrown leasing.”
They tasked themselves with finding just the right place, and began looking at and visiting farms, but faced the challenge of locating the right combination of a facility with enough stalls and a price point that made sense for their business. Scanlon and King found themselves in an enviable position, having a growing business, but the facilities they encountered while looking for their ideal farm either wouldn’t allow them to expand their operation, or force them to cut back on the number of stalls they needed to run their business.
“We hadn’t really found that perfect fit yet,” said Scanlon. “Eddie had this under contract at the time, and then there were some rumblings that had gone through that some things weren’t happening. I see Eddie at the sales all the time, and we were talking, and in passing, I said ‘if anything ever happens, keep me in mind and give me a call.’ About a month later, at the April sale (the OBS 2025 Spring 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale), or somewhere around there, he said, ‘hey, let’s talk.'”
Scanlon and King met with the Woods’, went to their house, came up with a plan, and both parties agreed to go ahead with what would be a dream becoming a reality for Scanlon and King–a reality that would transform their lives.
“It was definitely one of those moments,” said Scanlon. “It’s your dream, and as they say, your dream should scare you. It was basically one of those moments, where Blair and I pushed our whole pile of chips in, we’re all in. If we’re going to do this, this is our dream facility, if we could ever imagine in our wildest dreams, what would be the perfect scenario, this was the perfect scenario for us. We were able to reach a deal with Eddie and Angela. They were great in all the things. It was nice to get the farm acquired, but Eddie and Angela were also good because they’ve been super supportive and they’ve given us a lot of their clients, and it’s been a huge help.”
Expansion and excellenceÂ
The Woodses had a great staff, and Scanlon and King were able to maintain most of the employees who had been working at the facility. Scanlon and King wanted to grow and expand their operation and were breaking and training about 130 horses at Oak Ridge at their high point. With their current situation at the new facility, they have more than 200 horses in their training program. There is ample room for turnout with nearly 50 paddocks and 200 stalls.
“It was nice on all fronts, it got to stay a training center, Eddie’s life’s work and his training center got to stay a training center,” said Scanlon. “The big thing for Blair and I is that we wanted to grow. We want to grow on all fronts, as far as our breaking and pinhooking business. The response has been fantastic. It would have been hard to do leasing with that number; it would’ve been a really rough time growing to that point, but this farm is made for that. This farm is made to do those kinds of numbers. with the amount of turnout, the stall space and barns and just how everything is situated and put together, you can actually do that, and you can do that efficiently here. Eddie really planned this to be able to do everything.”
A strong foundation
Scanlon’s father was Robert F. Scanlon, a thoroughbred trainer who enjoyed tremendous success as a two-year-old consignor, breaking and training the 2005 Preakness and Belmont Stakes winner Afleet Alex and 2006 Preakness winner Bernardini at their family farm in Williston. When his father became ill, David broke and trained the 2009 Belmont Stakes winner Rags to Riches. His resilience, determination and work ethic have helped pave the way to better opportunities, as he navigated the challenges of an industry and sport renowned for its vagaries.
“When you’re younger, you probably take things for granted. I would say at the moment, when I was in the with the family, at the moment, I thought [the Williston family farm] was the biggest place in the world,” said Scanlon. “That was our first family farm. When my dad passed, I kind of regrouped. We started back from scratch, I had to start back over myself, and went to Oak Ridge, I literally started back that first year with 30 horses. We just worked it back from there. It was really a good experience for me to kind of work it back. I think when you do that, you really appreciate it. I learned from dad, from the ground up, 30 to 50, to 130. You’re in that position where things are going well and ask what’s next.”
Turning a dream into realityÂ
Scanlon and King had been together for a decade before getting married. King’s a little bit more of the visionary, and it was she who had the belief they would be able to see the dream come to fruition, said Scanlon.
“There’s two of you instead of one, and you have a partner in crime doing this,” said Scanlon. “I think that was the motivating factor too, getting married and having two of us who’re in this and to do this together. The size of this place, if it was just me, it would be difficult, but with us being a team and being two of us, it makes it much more manageable. It took my wife being a little bit more of a cheerleader. I always say, she said, ‘hey listen, we need a five-year plan. This was in our five-year plan, and we made it happen, and we made it happen in three. That was her doing.”
Having a Breeders’ Cup Classic winner like Sierra Leone was great, but the purchase of the farm, taking ownership and moving the operation to the new environs carries a depth of emotions that Scanlon and King are still processing.
“The sale hasn’t even sunk in yet,” said Scanlon. “It’s like some days I come out here, and it’s unbelievable. We watch the sunrises come over the backstretch in the morning. I don’t know if I envisioned it being this good. The way [Eddie Woods] designed this and everything. We’ve talked and I’ve seen pictures, this was just a field, a watermelon field, he built the track and designed it all himself.”
No place like homeÂ
The facility has a more than 20-year history. Eddie Woods’ program has produced more than 90 stakes winners, among them the 2008 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Big Brown; the 2012 Belmont Stakes winner Union Rags; the 2020 Kentucky Derby winner Authentic; the 2017 female turf champion Lady Eli; the 2007 Champion Sprinter Midnight Lute; Spring in the Air, the 2012 Champion 2-year-old filly in Canada; Bayern, the 2014 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner; 2024 2-year-old champion Citizen Bull; and 2024 older male champion and 2023 Preakness winner National Treasure. Left Bank, the champion 2002 older male horse is also an Eddie Woods graduate.
Scanlon has seen the transformation of the area, and how it’s evolved over the years, and is thrilled to be able to keep a prominent area farm a thoroughbred operation.
“My family moved here. My dad was a trainer in New York, and we all grew up in Ohio,” said Scanlon. “I’ve lived in Marion and Levy Counties for the past 30 years. I live over in Golden Hills, and to watch how the town has changed around the World Equestrian Center, I remember coming here when I was young, we would come here for the winter, it’s always been an equestrian spot, and to see how the WEC has set the bar even higher, has elevated that, and to be part of that too, it’s always nice to be saving farmland, and this is going to remain a farm. I love the location. We’re right down the road on 40, just far enough to be in the country, but just close enough to whatever you need.”
Prominent namesÂ
Scanlon and King have a deep roster of clients, many of the top names in the industry, with Coolmore, Godolphin, Qatar Racing, Calumet and Don Alberto, adding Starlight Racing and Summer Wind Farm among others. They also have the full brother of 2022 Horse of the Year Flightline at the facility.
“We have all of those Peter Brant and Coolmore horses, every year they reload,” said Scanlon. “We have three of the top five yearling prices here this year. We’re really lucky to get those owners to put those kind of horses in our barn. We’ve been really lucky to get some really nice horses that they entrust you with, my wife and I, we’ve been really lucky to buy a few, really nice pinhook horses, like Just a Touch (who ran Jan. 17 at the Fair Grounds in the Louisiana Stakes), he was one of our stars. It’s nice to see when you can buy them when they’re young and you sell them and they go on and do great things.”
The ideal place to train horses
The facility also features a number of amenities including a pool, Aquatred, Vitafloor stall, equine vibration therapy, walking machines, a mile dirt track, a seven-furlong turf track, 11 round pens, a jog oval pen and a big field that is used for jogging. However, for Scanlon and King there’s nothing more satisfying than seeing the horses who graduate from their program go on to become stakes winners at the racetrack.
“When you do this for a living, those are the accolades you like, the [win photos] are what actually go on the wall, that’s your resume,” said Scanlon. “Those horses that go on to do great things. That’s what I’m hoping for and what we’re here to do, is to get horses to win big races.”