Phillip Dutton Joins West Point Thoroughbreds

Three-day eventing Olympic gold medalist rider Phillip Dutton has joined the West Point Thoroughbreds partnership group that owns grade I winner Ring Weekend. The 5-year-old son of Tapit  , trained by Graham Motion, is entered in the $250,000 Longines Dixie Stakes (gr. II) on the Preakness (gr. I) undercard May 21.

"Phillip and his wife Evie are close friends with Graham and Anita Motion," said West Point Thoroughbreds president Terry Finley. "At the Thoroughbred Makeover this past fall, Graham mentioned to my daughter Erin that Phillip really likes racing and would love to be involved with a horse like Ring Weekend.

"We made it happen and are honored to have such a well-respected, successful rider as a part of the West Point family. He's the Angel Cordero of the eventing world. Phillip has campaigned several Thoroughbreds at the highest levels of the sport and shares our commitment to providing retired racehorses with second careers," Finley said.

While Dutton said he spends a lot of time traveling and competeing, when he can he has enjoyed spending time at Motion's training stable at Fair Hill.

"It's really neat to be involved with a horse of this caliber trained by Graham," Dutton said. "I've worked with a number of Thoroughbreds over the year and this is a great opportunity to get to know more about racing." 

Ring Weekend was purchased by West Point Thoroughbreds and St. Elias Stable at the 2012 Keeneland September Yearling sale for $310,000. To date he has a record of 5-3-2 from 11 lifetime starts and earnings of $1,095,410. As a 3-year-old he captured the Tampa Bay Derby (gr. II), Saranac Stakes (gr. IIIT), and Hill Prince Stakes (gr. IIIT) before winning the Frank E. Kilroe Mile (gr. IT) at Santa Anita in March 2015.