Ogden Mills (Dinny) Phipps, who has served as the chairman of The Jockey Club
for the past 32 years, announced Monday that he will resign his chairmanship,
effective August 8. The Jockey Club’s board of stewards will meet on that day,
following the annual meeting of the membership.
Phipps, 74, a prominent Thoroughbred owner and breeder, was elected to
membership in The Jockey Club on October 16, 1965. He became chairman February
10, 1983. His tenure as chairman is the longest in the history of the
organization, which was created in 1894. August Belmont served for approximately
30 years (January 24, 1895 until December 10, 1924).
“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
breeding and racing in the years ahead,” Phipps said. “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.”
Under Phipps’ leadership, the organization has earned widespread recognition
as an industry leader in the areas of medication reform, equine welfare, data
collection and dissemination, technology and marketing of the sport.
Among The Jockey Club’s accomplishments since 1983:
improve the efficiency and ease of registering Thoroughbreds, including the
introduction of DNA testing for parentage verification
commercial, for-profit subsidiaries and commercial partnerships, all of
which are designed to serve specific segments within the industry and now
account for more than 75 percent of The Jockey Club’s combined revenues
member racetracks, of the industry-owned database known as Equibase Company
Racing Association, a broad-based coalition charged with increasing the
popularity, welfare and integrity of Thoroughbred racing
with the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities to harmonize
rules pertaining to Thoroughbred breeding and racing worldwide
that IFHA member organizations could access race records as horses moved
among countries due to the globalization of racing
office for the sport of Thoroughbred racing, originally with Thoroughbred
Racing Communications in 1987 and, more recently, with NTRA and The Jockey
Club’s America’s Best Racing
& Company, on drug testing (1991) and sustainable growth of the sport
(2011), and the commitment of significant support to implement the
recommendations from each of them
In recent years, The Jockey Club has also created, funded or supported
wide-ranging industry initiatives such as the Thoroughbred Safety Committee, the
Equine Injury Database, the Racing Surfaces & Testing Lab, OwnerView, the
Thoroughbred Incentive Program, the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium,
the Racing Officials Accreditation Program, the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance,
and America’s Best Racing, and it has underwritten television programming for
racing telecasts on the NBC and FOX networks.
Under the chairmanship of Phipps, The Jockey Club also hosts the Round Table
Conference on Matters Pertaining to Racing, the Welfare and Safety of the
Racehorse Summit, and the Thoroughbred Owner Conference. Last week in New York
City, it co-hosted the 2015 Pan American Conference, attended by more than 300
industry representatives from 27 countries.
The Jockey Club board of stewards currently includes Phipps, Stuart S. Janney
III (vice chairman), Ian D. Highet (secretary-treasurer), Craig Fravel, John C.
Harris, William M. Lear Jr., Dr. Hiram C. Polk Jr., Stella Thayer, and Peter
Willmott.
A nominating committee will recommend candidates to succeed Phipps as
chairman. The committee consists of three members of The Jockey Club: Fravel
(committee chair), Willmott, and D.G. Van Clief Jr.
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