 In 1943, Rose bought land along State Highway 200, at $10 per acre, which became Rosemere Farm.The next year one of his horses, Gornil, won at Miami's Tropical Park, becoming the first Florida-raised thoroughbred to win a Florida race.Close on Rose's heels, entrepreneur Bonnie Heath set up his own thoroughbred farm, producing Needles, which in 1956 became the state's first native-bred winner of the Kentucky Derby.