CORRECTION: Suits make Marion County, Fla., horse development's future unsure.

Publication: Ocala Star-Banner (Ocala, Florida)

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COPYRIGHT 2005 Ocala Star-Banner

Byline: Ryan Conley

Jan. 30--The Ocala Star-Banner, Fla., has moved a correction for the story slugged OA-HORSE-20050130 filed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News for Jan. 30. The new version clarifies the nature of Ohio foreclosures against Daniel Case and corrects name of attorney David Baker and occupation of Randy Rogers.

Please delete the first version and use the new one.

Lawsuits leave Marion County, Fla., equine development with an uncertain future

By Ryan Conley

Ocala Star-Banner, Fla.

Jan. 30--OCALA, Fla. -- Peaceful scenes of horses casually grazing in grassy paddocks serve only to mask the bubbling legal turmoil enveloping Meadowbrook Farms of Ocala Jockey Club.

Once one of the most prominent equine communities located within the internationally renowned horse industry centered around Ocala, the sprawling development off County Road 318 near Reddick appears, at least on paper, to be hanging in the balance of the Marion County court system.

A real estate deal featuring seller Meadowbrook Farms Inc. and buyer Hyperion Training Center LLC made local and national headlines last May, with Hyperion touting a planned $22 million renovation of the multi-faceted community, including promises to turn the 660-acre property into a desired showcase destination for both horses and horsemen.

And a separate lease agreement between the principal parties on the property's once-popular Ocala Jockey Club restaurant seemed to ensure local dining enthusiasts a reopening in time for last Mother's Day.

Instead, the complex, which was originally developed in the early 1980s by completely separate entities, fell into dispute and sits mostly dormant, waiting for a series of ensuing lawsuits to be sorted out by attorneys and judges. And a variety of other unrelated real estate transactions and legal actions involving some of the parties may prove to help or hinder the process.

It didn't take long for the original $5.775 million purchase contract between Meadowbrook and Hyperion to become the center of a lawsuit, which was filed in October after a few months of settlement talk.

In its filing, Meadowbrook, which is headed by David LaCroix of the farm's founding family, claims the buyer breached terms of the contract by missing a stipulated payment of $278,000....

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