The World Equestrian Center has bought the Ocala Jockey Club in the northern part of Marion County. The purchase officially ends a search for a new owner that has spanned over two and a half years.
The Jockey Club property, which is located at 8720 W. County Road 318 in Reddick, features just shy of a thousand acres of land, and is billed as boasting a "rich history in hosting top equestrian events." The World Equestrian Center buying the Jockey Club has also spawned a new official name for the property: The World Equestrian Jockey Club.
The World Equestrian Center already comes equipped with quite the set of amenities. On top of its newest addition, the WEC also owns numerous arenas and expo centers, on top of the Grand Equestrian Hotel.
The Jockey Club's owners, Erik and Paula Nygaard, founded it in 2016. A few years later, they agreed a change was necessary. "The event and the property deserves to look to upgrades and a larger team than we are able to commit on our own for the long term,” Paula Nygaard wrote in a statement back in 2019. “This is why we believe that the property and the event will have an opportunity to be stronger with either strategic partners or with a new buyer who will be able to take the property further and faster than we are able to do on our own.”
