George DeBenedicty (born June 12, 1949) founde
Pegasus Realty & Associates, Inc.
in

Ocala, Florida Ocala ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Marion County within the northern region of Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city's population was 63,591, making it the 54th most populated city in Florida. Home to ...

, in 1982. Since then he has sold over $600 million of farms, training centers and acreages; becoming the leader in equine property sales. DeBenedicty owns and operates American Eagle Farm in Ocala, races his thoroughbred race horses on both the East and West coast, is very involved in

horse breeding Horse breeding is reproduction in horses, and particularly the human-directed process of selective breeding of animals, particularly purebred horses of a given breed. Planned matings can be used to produce specifically desired characteristics in ...

and is also involved in the hunter/jumper show circuit.

Early life

DeBenedicty was born and raised in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

. At age 16 he won the Hungarian

modern pentathlon The modern pentathlon is an Olympic sport consisting of fencing (one-touch épée), freestyle swimming, equestrian show jumping, pistol shooting, and cross country running. The event is inspired by the traditional pentathlon held during the anci ...

championships. When he turned 17 he began competing all across Europe; in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

, representing the Hungarian national team. He immigrated to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

at the age of 18. At age 19, he joined

The New York Athletic Club The New York Athletic Club is a private social club and athletic club in New York state. Founded in 1868, the club has approximately 8,600 members and two facilities: the City House, located at 180 Central Park South in Manhattan, and Travers ...

fencing Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, s ...

team. In 1969, he competed and made the final in

Martini & Rossi Martini & Rossi is an Italian multinational alcoholic beverage company primarily associated with the Martini brand of vermouth and also with sparkling wine (for example, Asti). It also produces the French vermouth, Noilly Prat. History The co ...

International Cup in NYC. During this time he had been accepted to

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

under a full fencing scholarship. In the 1971

NCAA Fencing Championships The NCAA Fencing Championships are awarded at the annual tournament held in March to determine the NCAA's national collegiate individual and team championships in fencing. Individual champions are determined by performance during the NCAA fencing ...

, he won both the individual épée and the team titles with NYU.

Career

DeBenedicty began his real estate career in 1976 joinin
Weichert Realtors
as a

real estate agent A real estate agent or real estate broker is a person who represents sellers or buyers of real estate or real property. While a broker may work independently, an agent usually works under a licensed broker to represent clients. Brokers and agen ...

Morristown, New Jersey Morristown () is a town and the county seat of Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. ...

. In 1978 DeBenedicty became office manager of Weichert Realtors in their office in Middletown. DeBenedicty moved to

, in 1981. Shortly after arriving there, DeBenedicty started his own real estate company calle
Pegasus Realty & Associates, Inc.
in 1982. He started getting further involved in the thoroughbred horse industry in 1985 when he first started breeding horses. He had many victories on the race track throughout the years. His greatest was winning the Crown Royal Stakes at

Churchill Downs Churchill Downs is a horse racing complex located on Central Avenue in south Louisville, Kentucky, United States, famed for hosting the annual Kentucky Derby. It officially opened in 1875 and was named for Samuel Churchill, whose family was ...

with his horse Broadway Beau, in 1996.

Personal life

DeBenedicty has been married to Karin Bell since 1990. They had a daughter named Victoria in October 1995.

References

External links

Ocala RanchesOcala Star-BannerDaily Racing Form
{{DEFAULTSORT:Debenedicty, George 1949 births Hungarian emigrants to the United States New York University alumni Living people Businesspeople from New York City Sportspeople from Budapest People from Ocala, Florida