Stronach Receives Dinny Phipps Award

By Bob Curran Jr.

In a brief ceremony high above the iconic Bryant Park in New York City the night of June 7, Thoroughbred owner and breeder Frank Stronach was presented with the second annual Dinny Phipps Award for his longstanding dedication to equine health.

The presentation highlighted the Belmont Stakes Charity Celebration, a fund-raising event benefiting the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation. It was held at the Bryant Park Grill for a third consecutive year.

The award, created by ambassador Earle I. Mack, is named for Ogden Mills "Dinny" Phipps, the longtime chairman of The Jockey Club who died in April 2016. Phipps' wife, Ande, and Stuart S. Janney III, the current chairman of The Jockey Club, presented the bronze sculpture to Stronach.

"Dinny was a great person, and I'm honored to receive an award that carries his name, " Stronach said. "He would only do things that were good for horse racing. We got closer through the years, and we all miss him. He made great contributions to racing. I've made some, and I hope to make more."

Stronach created the Adena Springs Retirement program and has organized aftercare and retirement programs at his racetracks. He has won 12 Eclipse Awards and 18 Sovereign Awards as an owner and breeder.

In his acceptance remarks Stronach talked about the need to get younger people involved in the sport and the need to get different factions in the industry "to sit down to (figure out ways) to improve the sport."

The Phipps family was honored with the inaugural award a year ago.

About 175 people attended the event. Tom Durkin, the retired New York Racing Association announcer, served as master of ceremonies.

Mack, himself a longtime Thoroughbred owner and breeder, commissioned the Toronto-based Odon Wagner Gallery and artist Gary Weisman to produce the bronze sculpture that is presented to the honoree each year.

Janney, in remarks prior to the award presentation, thanked Mack for creating the award, as well as his longstanding support of the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation and the Man O' War Project, a research study at Columbia University to determine the effectiveness of equine-assisted therapy to treat veterans who suffer from PTSD.

Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation is the nation's leading source of private funding for equine medical research that benefits all breeds of horses. The foundation has provided $26 million to fund 358 projects at 43 universities since 1983. Additional information about the foundation is available at grayson-jockeyclub.org.