Dell Hancock Accepts Dinny Phipps Award at Belmont Stakes Charity Celebration

Dell Hancock, longtime chairman of Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation, accepted the Dinny Phipps Award at the Belmont Stakes Charity Celebration, which was held June 9 at Tavern on the Green in New York City.

Phipps, a prominent Thoroughbred owner and breeder, served as the chairman of The Jockey Club from February 1983 until he retired in August 2015. He received numerous honors and awards through the years for his commitment to the Thoroughbred industry. For more than 30 years, Phipps served as a board member of Grayson.

Earle Mack, an active participant in Thoroughbred racing and breeding for more than five decades, created the award in 2017 in memory of Phipps to honor an individual or individuals who have demonstrated dedication to equine health. Previous winners of the Dinny Phipps Award are the Phipps family, Frank Stronach, John Oxley, and Michael Del Giudice.

“Our families have always shared a common bond and common dedication to the horse, and I think that is what has kept us striving in that same direction toward equine health over all those generations and years,” said Ogden Phipps II, who presented the award. “[Dell’s] work has resulted in innumerable contributions, not just to Grayson and the Thoroughbred industry, but the entire equine industry.”

Hancock joined the Grayson board in 1985 and was named chairman in 2004. She has been an active member of The Jockey Club for more than 25 years and served two terms on the board of stewards. She is currently a member of The Jockey Club’s Thoroughbred Safety Committee. Under Hancock’s leadership, Grayson has become the largest private funder of equine research. Since 2004, the year Hancock became chairman, Grayson has provided more than $21 million to fund 231 projects as well as an additional $480,000 to fund 30 career development awards.

“It was taught to my brothers, my sister, and me to give back to the horses who give us so much and give us such a lovely life,” said Hancock. “No one lived up to this mantra better than Dinny Phipps, which makes this recognition even more meaningful.”

The Belmont Stakes Charity Celebration is traditionally one of Grayson’s largest fundraisers. In addition to the presentation of the Dinny Phipps Award, this year’s event featured entertainment by Kentucky’s own Wolfpen Branch, a bluegrass band co-founded by Arthur Hancock IV.

Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation News Release
Photo courtesy of GJCRF