TDN Q&A: Ogden Phipps II

You certainly know the given name Ogden and the surname Phipps, but you may not know much about this particular Odgen Phipps. Ogden Phipps II is the 40-year-old son of Odgen Mills (Dinny) Phipps, who passed away in April of 2016. This Phipps shares the same traits that made his father, grandfather and great grandmother such integral parts of the sport, a love of the game and a willingness to step up and lead. Phipps II recently accepted a position on the NYRA Board.

Phipps was a recent guest on the TDN's podcast, presented by Taylor Made. Excerpts from that podcast appear below.

TDN: Of the great American racing families and stables, the Mellons, the Vanderbilts, the original Calumet Farm, Greentree, almost all have gone by the wayside. One of the few exceptions is the Phipps Stable. What is different about the Phipps family that, generation after generation, it keeps going?

OP: I have some ideas what the answer is and some of it is because it is a family operation. I use that term to encompass not only my immediate family, but also the way we think of the people we have surrounded ourselves with, like Shug McGaughey and Claiborne Farm and others. These are all people we grew up with that we consider part of our family. It's been a core group of individuals. To us, this is what we do. It's created wonderful memories for our family and moments that have brought us all together. Those are things that are very important to us and something that has been instilled in us ever since any of us can remember. The idea that we would not have that is something that drives us to continue to try to breed great race horses, try to be successful on the racetrack and share it as a family. After our father left us, the idea that we would disband the stable was, quite frankly, never a consideration.

TDN: At the 2016 Keeneland September Sale, we saw something from the Phipps Stable that was quite out of the ordinary. The Phipps team purchased two yearlings. One, Fly So High (Malibu Moon), was a $675,000 purchase and recently won the GII Davona Dale S. After so many years of relying exclusively on homebreds, why the change in strategy?

OP: Obviously, as a stable we are known for not entering the sales ring that often as buyers. That's really not the case, however. If you go back through our great broodmare lines and successes both on the racetrack and in the breeding shed, there have actually been a few purchases. You can go back to a mare called Dorine (Arg), who was purchased by my grandfather. She was the dam of Grecian Banner, who produced Personal Ensign and we all know what a great race mare she was and what a great broodmare she was. You can also go back to a mare he bought named Our Country Place, who was the dam of Country Hideaway. Country Hideaway produced Matlacha Pass, who is the dam of Point of Entry and Pine Island. There has been a history of our, periodically, buying fillies or, in those two cases, broodmares, and it worked out well for us. My sister Daisy had been leading the effort to think about our adding some new blood to our broodmare line. Two years ago, we decided to do that and went to Keeneland and bought what we thought were two pretty nice yearlings. Fly So High has turned out to be a very good horse to this point in her career. Our idea was to buy really well bred fillies that we thought were good athletes that could do something on the racetrack. But the real idea was that they would be great broodmares for us down the line. This is something you see us continue to do periodically but it will never be the hallmark of what we do. We will continue to focus on our broodmare band and our homebreds, but we also feel that from time to time you need to inject some new blood.

TDN: In 2013, Orb won the GI Kentucky Derby for the partnership of Stuart Janney III and the Phipps Stable. Going all the way to your grandmother's Wheatley Stable, the Phipps family has enjoyed so much success on the racetrack, but the Derby had remained an elusive prize. What did that win mean to everybody involved, particularly your father?

OP: My father wasn't always the most expressive when it came to what the Derby meant to him or, quite frankly, whether it was even the most important race to him to win. His attitude toward the Derby changed after he won the Derby. Winning it was really special, especially when we were able to win with our cousin Stuart, who is not just family but a close friend. It was also important to win it with Shug and with Claiborne, which is where both the Janney and Phipps horses are. It couldn't have been more special. The outpouring from the industry and the accolades that my father received after the Derby were overwhelming. He wound up with a new appreciation for just what it meant. The Kentucky Derby is our Super Bowl and is played on our biggest stage. You want to be there on the first Saturday in May. I hope that wasn't our last, but if it was, it was really a great one.

TDN: Not only have members of your family been top owners, they have always been industry leaders. Your father was the chairman of the Jockey Club. So it was notable that you joined the NYRA board. Do you intend to follow in your father's footsteps when it comes to taking on major industry roles?

OP: Whether or not I'm going to be an industry leader…that's not necessarily the way I look at it. My goal is to support and do the things I think are right in sport that I have a passion and love for, as well as a major economic investment in. There are clearly things I'd like to see done in the sport that I think very smart people have already been working on and are making great progress with. I'm going to continue to support those initiatives to the best of my ability. If that ends up being a voice that makes an impact, that would be great. At the end of the day, what I really would like to see accomplished are efforts that continue to move this sport forward. I will speak out for initiatives that I think are important for horsemen and equine athletes.