Phipps resigning as Jockey Club chairman

Ogden Mills “Dinny” Phipps, the highly influential owner and breeder, will step down as chairman of The Jockey Club on Aug. 8 after leading the organization for 32 years, the group announced Monday.

Phipps, 74, has been chairman of The Jockey Club since 1983, the longest tenure for a chairman at the organization. He has presided over the organization as it expanded from its traditional role of maintaining the stud book for the U.S. Thoroughbred industry to a massive, multifaceted business with a hand in nearly every aspect of the industry.

The expansion has transformed The Jockey Club into a technological leader in the racing industry, including its co-ownership of Equibase, the company that collects data on racing performances across the U.S., and the development of management software that is in use in nearly every racing office in the country.

In recent years, in part because of direction from Phipps, The Jockey Club also has become far more active in marketing and promoting the sport, at a time when racing has been struggling with perception problems, drops in betting figures, and foal-crop declines. The efforts have resulted in The Jockey Club paying for detailed analyses of the racing industry, along with providing funding and support for a variety of initiatives, including the live broadcast of Thoroughbred races on the Fox network and the establishment of databases tracking racehorse injuries.

Over the past five years, Phipps has strongly advocated for The Jockey Club to lead an effort to ban the race-day use of the anti-bleeding medication furosemide, which is legal to administer on race day in every North American racing jurisdiction but banned on race day in most other countries. That effort has led The Jockey Club to support federal legislation that would align all U.S. racing jurisdictions under one set of medication rules, an initiative that has alienated The Jockey Club from some other racing organizations, notably horsemen’s groups.

Phipps, whose daughter Daisy manages the Phipps racing and breeding operation, has had a variety of health problems in recent years.

“The Jockey Club has undergone many changes over the past 30 years, and we have built a solid foundation that will help grow and sustain Thoroughbred racing and breeding in the years ahead,” Phipps said in a statement. “Due to some ongoing health issues, I feel like this is a good time to pass the baton, and I want to express my gratitude to the members and the employees of The Jockey Club for their dedication to this sport over the past three decades.”

The Jockey Club’s board of stewards will meet Aug. 8 to consider the election of a new chairman. The current vice chairman is Stuart Janney III. The list of nominees will be selected by a three-person committee of stewards consisting of Craig Fravel, the president of the Breeders’ Cup; Peter Willmott; and D.G. Van Clief.

The following day, The Jockey Club will host its annual Round Table Conference on Matters Pertaining to Racing in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. The Jockey Club has used the event in recent years to announce its goals for the coming year, and it has typically invited speakers who reflect the organization’s political positions.

Phipps is the third generation of his family to be involved in racing and breeding, following in the footsteps of his father, Ogden, and his grandmother, Mrs. Henry Carnegie Phipps, who began the family’s involvement with the founding of Wheatley Stable in 1926. The family has been associated with some of the most influential breeding stock in the U.S., including foundation sire Bold Ruler and a litany of powerful female families.