Earle Mack, an active Thoroughbred breeding and racing enthusiast for more than 50 years, will announce an annual award named in honor of the late Ogden Mills Phipps. A dear friend of Mack, the award named in honor of Phipps will be announced during the annual Belmont Stakes Charity Celebration, hosted by the New York Racing Association and The Jockey Club at the Bryant Park Grill in New York City on June 8, 2017.
“[Phipps] transformed the Jockey Club and racing and breeding as we know it today,” Mack said. “He’s helped put the industry on a firm path that is dedicated to excellence.”
This event has been planned to benefit the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation, for which Phipps served as a board member from its inception. Beginning in 2018, the award will be presented by the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation to recognize longstanding dedication to equine health. Members of the Phipps family will attend the Belmont Stakes Charity Celebration and take part in the announcement.
The Phipps family will be the recipient of the inaugural Dinny Phipps Award. Phipps’ wife, Ande; daughter, Daisy Phipps Pulito; and son, Ogden Phipps II will be on hand to accept the award.
Mack, who commissioned the Odon Wagner Gallery and artist Gary Weisman to create a bronze sculpture to commemorate the new award, said the Phipps family is an obvious choice for the first honor.
“It’s a family of many generations that has stood for integrity and excellence,” Mack said. “Dinny may have never won the Triple Crown but he hit the trifecta of family, friendship, and universal respect. That’s his Triple Crown.
“Dinny and Earle have made huge contributions, personally and financially, to the Thoroughbred industry over the years,” said Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation Chairman Dell Hancock. “It was Mr. Mack’s gift of $100,000 after Dinny passed away last April that launched a sequence of other donations in his name, which eventually totaled $337,125. Now we will be able to honor Dinny further by presenting an annual award to an individual or organization whose service to the industry includes a connection to equine research.”
The venue features a Parisian-style garden setting located in the heart of New York’s famed Bryant Park and adjacent to the New York Public Library, one of the country’s greatest cultural architectural institutions. The charity celebration will also feature live jazz by performers from The Juilliard School.
“We deeply appreciate the ongoing support of the New York Racing Association, our individual and corporate donors and all the generous guests who attend this event each year,” said Nancy Kelly, vice president of development for Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation. “Their contributions enable us to fund vital research that enhances equine health and safety.”
Phipps, a prominent Thoroughbred owner and breeder, served as the chairman of The Jockey Club from February 1983 until he retired in August 2015. Phipps received numerous honors and awards for his dedication and commitment to the Thoroughbred industry. He passed away on April 6, 2016.
Earle Mack has owned Thoroughbreds since 1963 and has actively supported equine retirement initiatives. A member of The Jockey Club since 2012, he has also served as a board member at various times for the New York Racing Association, the New York State Thoroughbred Racing Capital Investment Fund, and the New York State Thoroughbred Breeding and Development Fund Corp. He was chairman of the New York State Racing Commission in the mid-1980s.
Learn more about the new award in honor of Ogden Mills Phipps here: