Columbus, OH – Harness racing Hall of Fame member Alan J. Leavitt, well known for breeding horses under the banner of Lana Lobell Farms and Walnut Hall Ltd., died May 6, 2024, in Lexington, Ky. He was 88.

Alan J. Leavitt – Mark Hall/USTA Photo.

Born in Baltimore, Md., Mr. Leavitt graduated from Harvard University in 1958. Although he had been deeply involved with Saddlebred and show horses at the time, in 1959 he entered the Standardbred breeding industry with fervor by establishing Lana Lobell Farms at his parents’ Hanover, Pa. property. Leavitt later expanded the enterprise to include locations at Bedminster, NJ, established in 1977, and Hamptonburgh, NY, in 1979.

Lana Lobell Farms was known for standing some of the top sires in the Standardbred sport, notably pacing stallion No Nukes p,3, T1:52.1 ($572,430) and trotting stallions Noble Victory, Speedy Crown and Speedy Somolli. Among the horses bred by Lana Lobell was 1987 and 1988 Horse of the Year Mack Lobell, considered by many as the greatest trotter of all time, and Garland Lobell, who became an influential trotting sire.

For many years, Leavitt was a major player when it came to syndicating stallions. His 1964 syndication of Noble Victory put him on the map when he put together a deal which valued the stallion at $1 million.

Lana Lobell Farms ceased operations in 1989. In the early 1990s, Leavitt married Margaret Jewett and began standing stallions and breeding horses under the banner of Walnut Hall Ltd. at Jewett’s Lexington, Ky., property that was once a part of her family’s historic Walnut Hall Farm. Leavitt brought the trotting sire Garland Lobell from Quebec to Walnut Hall Ltd. and there the stallion made his mark on the trotting breed. One of Leavitt’s top accomplishments as a breeder was mating Garland Lobell with the broodmare Amour Angus. The duo produced the successful full brothers Angus Hall 3,1:54.3 ($830,654), Conway Hall and Andover Hall 3,1:51.3 ($870,510).

Walnut Hall Ltd. also bred the top stakes filly Cameron Hall 4,1:53.4s ($1.816 million), who fetched a record-setting $1.1 million for racehorses at auction in 2001. In addition, Walnut Hall Ltd. bred 1999 Pacer of the Year Blissfull Hall p,3,1:49.2 ($1.468 million) and Cantab Hall, a stakes winner who became a leading trotting sire.
In 2008, Leavitt was elected to Harness Racing’s Living Hall of Fame.

Leavitt received numerous acknowledgements for his work in the harness racing industry. He was the recipient of the USHWA Proximity Award in 1981 and later received the President’s Award in 1983. Leavitt was also honored with back-to-back USHWA Breeder of the Year awards in 1987 and 1988. He served as a director of the USTA for 30 years, and a director of The Hambletonian Society for 40 years. He was also a former member of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, where he led an initiative to ban one-handed whipping at the state’s harness tracks.

He is survived by his wife, Margaret, and children Josephine Leavitt, Harris Leavitt, and David Leavitt.

Services will be private.