The iconic jewels in the Triple Crown endure, even alongside changes – such as the pandemic-shuffled series of 2020, and, in recent years, the temporary re-locations of the Belmont Stakes and Preakness Stakes due to construction at historic Belmont Park and Pimlico Race Course, respectively. Likewise, the iconic Phipps Stable, one of the long-standing breeding and racing outfits considered racing royalty, has endured, even with some changes. Golden Tempo, a homebred for the Phipps Stable now under the leadership of Ogden Phipps II and sister Daisy Phipps-Pulito, in partnership with Vinnie and Teresa Viola’s St. Elias Stables, won the Kentucky Derby and now comes to the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga looking for another jewel. In the Derby, the colt carried the iconic black silks with cherry cap of the Phipps Stable, which has carried on even at a smaller scale and in some partnerships in recent years. :: DRF Belmont Stakes Packages: Save big on PPs, Clocker Reports, Betting Strategies, and more. The stable traces back to 1925, when Gladys Mills Phipps bought her first horse, and the program flourished under Ogden Phipps and his son Ogden Mills “Dinny” Phipps. Among the numerous champions campaigned in those years were unbeaten Personal Ensign, who went on to a blue hen broodmare career that is still influential today; and Easy Goer, the 1989 Belmont Stakes winner. Dinny Phipps and cousin Stuart Janney III bred and campaigned 2013 Kentucky Derby winner Orb, who carried the Janney family’s white and cherry silks previously worn by runners such as the immortal Ruffian. Dinny Phipps died in 2016, and his children Ogden Phipps II and Pulito took over the stable. “It was never an option not to,” Ogden Phipps said at the Kentucky Derby. “This is in our blood, and we love it. When we were looking for partners, the Violas and our family are very, very close. It was just a natural to try to do this together. And just super thankful that we have. It’s a family hobby, it’s a family passion, it’s a family business for us, and we love it.” However, the operation would have a new look for the new generation. “In the last 10 years, I think we made several changes,” Phipps-Pulito, the racing manager, said. “We don’t have as big of a broodmare band as when my grandfather was alive or when my father was alive. My grandfather probably had 40 broodmares. We keep between 16 and 20 now. And we brought in partners, and we’ve sold more horses at auction than we have ever in the past, and that’s to breed better stallions and get better fillies at the end of the day.” Partnering with the Violas, who hold interests in several major stallions, was part of that strategy. “I think the fact that we kept our broodmare band intact and continued to invest along the way, and obviously, partnering with the Violas where they allowed us to continue to breed to the great stallions out there, Curlin in [Golden Tempo’s] instance,” Ogden Phipps said. “That’s how we have been able to keep doing it and taking care of our girls.” The Violas have had their own share of success in racing, campaigning, either solo or in partnership, runners such as Eclipse Award champion turf horse Up to the Mark; 2015 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner Liam’s Map, a newly minted classic sire; 2017 Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming in a large group; and Grade 1 winners including Known Agenda and Sandman. The opportunity to both breed and race a colt such as Golden Tempo, and in partnership with a vaunted program, is still special. “It’s not lost on Teresa and I, the whole family, that the Phipps family have allowed us to participate in this sport with them,” Vinnie Viola said. “So Ogden and Daisy and the whole family that’s here, it’s not lost on us. And we deeply, deeply appreciate the opportunity to do special things like this.” In 2021, the Phipps Stable and the Violas, along with Mike Repole, a frequent partner with the latter, came to the 2021 Kentucky Derby with Dynamic One, who had been second in the Wood Memorial. The colt finished 18th. While the Phipps family has a long association with Shug McGaughey, who trained Easy Goer, Personal Ensign, Orb, and others, Dynamic One was trained by Todd Pletcher, who St. Elias and Repole frequently work with. The stable has continued to diversify. Golden Tempo went to the barn of Kentucky-based Cherie DeVaux, who began receiving Phipps horses only in recent years. “We sent her three or four horses, and she’s done a terrific job,” Phipps-Pulito said of starting out. “Cherie and I have known each other for a number of years; her husband” – bloodstock agent David Ingordo – “is a good friend of mine also. I have been watching the way she trains. She’s in Kentucky, I live in Kentucky, and I love the way she works with horses. I love the way she develops a horse. [St. Elias manager Monique Delk] and I had those talks about different horses we wanted to send to her, and we thought Golden Tempo would be a great match, and it was.” Golden Tempo, by classic sire Curlin, was produced by the Bernardini mare Carrumba, a Grade 3 winner in the Phipps colors. The family has been producing stars for the Phippses dating back to the mare Lady Pitt, foaled in 1963. Notable runners in Golden Tempo’s lineage include Hall of Famer Heavenly Prize; Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner Dancing Spree; and Grade 1 winners Bigger Picture, Dancing Forever, Fantastic Find, Finder’s Fee, Furlough, Good Reward, Instilled Regard, Oh What a Windfall, Persistently, and The Liberal Member. A branch of this family also is responsible for unbeaten 2022 Horse of the Year Flightline. DeVaux masterfully handled the big colt Golden Tempo, who she describes as a mentally straightforward horse who needed time to physically mature. After winning the Grade 3 Lecomte earlier this year, he continued steadily on the New Orleans trail toward the Kentucky Derby, finishing third in both the Grade 2 Risen Star and Grade 2 Louisiana Derby. He was primed for his late-running Derby victory, thrilling his extended human family. “For our family, this is something we have done together for many generations,” Ogden Phipps said. “I have five sisters and all of my sisters are here [at the Derby], and my nieces and nephews are here, my three kids are here, and I’m not sure I have ever seen them so excited as today. My kids and my nieces and nephews weren’t able to be here for Orb, but everybody is here today. We always thought about what this feeling would be like to be together and do it. [The reality] far surpasses it. The one person that is not here today, that I just want to recognize, is our mother, who’s back at home watching. We all got a chance to talk to her right after the race. We were here, obviously, with my dad 13 years ago, and really because of the two of them, we have kept this going. Very thankful we did.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? 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