Breeder/Owner J.V.Shields Jr. Dies

Joseph V. Shields Jr., a longtime Thoroughbred breeder and owner, died Oct. 10 in Thomasville, Ga. The 80-year-old passed with his wife of 30 years, Maury, at his side.

Shields had a Wall Street career spanning 56 years. Shields with his brother, David, founded Shields & Company in 1982. In 2009, H.G. Wellington and Shields & Company merged to form Wellington Shields. Shields was chairman until his death.

Shields always had a passion for horses. He played polo as a teenager in Long Island, started the first polo team as an undergraduate of Georgetown University and continued to play at Meadowbrook in Long Island, where he met competitive and formidable player H. Allen Jerkens.

In 1982, when his polo days concluded, Shields turned his interest to breeding and racing Thoroughbreds, primarily using Jerkens to train for him and later, Jerkens' son Jimmy.

Shields biggest thrill came with homebred Wagon Limit, who defeated Skip Away in the 1998 Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes (G1). Shields also bred and raced grade 1 winner House Party and Passing Shot, and other graded stakes winners Foil, Silver Survivor, Any Limit, Classic Point, Limit Out, and Puzzlement. He loved walking the backstretch scratching noses and always seemed to have a pocket full of carrots.

Shields also served as trustee of the Boys Club of New York (1990-2018); a director of the New York Racing Association and vice chairman (1993-2008); a director of the Breeders' Cup (2001-08); a trustee of the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation; a trustee of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame; and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association.

He was a founding member of the National Thoroughbred Association and a member of The Jockey Club.

During his business career, Shields served on the board of Flowers Foods (1989-2018), a New York Stock Exchange company, as chairman of the board of trustees of the BBH Funds (1990-2015), a mutual fund group of Brown Brothers Harriman; as director of Small Firms Advisory Committee (1983-86); and on a NYSE board committee (1983-86). He received his B.S. in Finance and Economics from Georgetown University.

Shields is survived by his beloved wife, Maury; his brother and business partner of 36 years, David; his sister, Helen Guest; as well as 12 nieces and nephews, and 11 great nieces and nephews.

Memorials may be made to The Community Foundation of South Georgia Disaster Relief Fund. You may donate by mailing a check to Community Foundation of South Georgia, P.O. Box 2654, Thomasville, GA 31799 or make a donation online https://www.cfsga. net/donations.htm.