Barbara Phipps Janney
{{Short description|American socialite and racehorse owner (1911–1987)}}
{{Infobox person
| birth_name = Barbara Phipps
| birth_date = 1911
| birth_place = Roslyn, New York
| death_date = November 30, 1987
| death_place = Glyndon, Maryland
| burial_place = Reisterstown, Maryland
| occupation = Socialite and thoroughbred horse owner, breeder
| known_for = Owner of Ruffian
| spouse = Stuart Symington Janney Jr., married 1936
| mother = Gladys Mills Phipps
| father = Henry Carnegie Phipps
| relatives = Ogden Phipps (brother)
Henry Phipps, Jr. (grandfather)
Ogden Mills (grandfather)
| family = Phipps family
}}
Barbara Phipps Janney (1911– November 30, 1987) was an American socialite, sportsperson, and thoroughbred racehorse owner and breeder. A member of the Phipps family, she and her husband Stuart Symington Janney Jr. were best known for being the owners of the ill-fated Ruffian.
Biography
Barbara Phipps was born in Roslyn, New York in 1911, the daughter of Gladys Mills Phipps and Henry Carnegie Phipps.{{Cite news |date=1987-12-02 |title=Obituary for Barbara Phipps Janney |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-evening-sun-obituary-for-barbara-phi/114855313/ |access-date=2025-01-27 |work=The Evening Sun |pages=48}}{{Cite magazine |last=TIME |date=1936-06-08 |title=Milestones, Jun. 8, 1936 |url=https://time.com/archive/6755495/milestones-jun-8-1936/ |access-date=2025-01-27 |magazine=TIME |language=en}} Phipps grew up on Long Island,{{Cite web |title=The historic Henry Carnegie Phipps' Spring Hill terrace in Old Westbury to be restored by new owner {{!}} News {{!}} Roslyn Landmark Society |url=https://www.roslynlandmarks.org/news/the-historic-henry-carnegie-phipps-spring-hill-terrace-in-old-westbury-to-be-restored |access-date=2025-01-27 |website=www.roslynlandmarks.org}} and was educated in both New York and Europe. In July 1929, she made her debut as a debutante in New York.{{Cite news |last=Times |first=Special to The New York |date=1929-07-04 |title=DEBUTANTE DANCE FOR BARBARA PHIPPS; 250 Members of North Shore Colony Entertained at Her Parents' Home. A DINNER FOR 24 GUESTS Gardens and the Paths on Estate, Westbury House, Decorated With Electric Lights. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1929/07/04/archives/debutante-dance-for-barbara-phipps-250-members-of-north-shore.html |access-date=2025-01-27 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} As a youth, she was known for her proficiency as a tennis player and equestrienne.{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/stream/countrylife67gard/countrylife67gard_djvu.txt |title=Country life |date=1901 |publisher=Garden City, NY : Doubleday, Page |others=Internet Archive}}
On June 8, 1936, she married Stuart S. Janney Jr., a Baltimore attorney, amateur jockey and winner of the Maryland Hunt Cup.{{Cite news |date=1936-02-15 |title=BARBARA PHIPPS ENGAGED TO WED; Troth to Stuart S. Janney Jr. Announced by Her Parents at Palm Beach. HE IS BALTIMORE LAWYER Bride-Elect, a Member of Mills Family, Is Niece of Countess of Granard of London |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1936/02/15/archives/barbara-phipps-engaged-to-wed-troth-to-stuart-s-janney-jr-announced.html |access-date=2025-01-27 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite news |last=TS |first=Special to THl NW YoaK |date=1936-05-27 |title=BARBARA PHIPPS IS WED IN ROSLYNI; She Is Bride of StuartS.Janney Jr. in Setting of Dogwood Trees and Spring Flowers. VESTED CHOIR TAKES PART It Sings 'Lohengrin' Chorus -- Spencer Janney Serves as His Brother's Best Man. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1936/05/27/archives/barbara-phipps-is-wed-in-roslyni-she-is-bride-of-stuartsjanney-jr.html |access-date=2025-01-27 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} That year, they purchased the 400-acre Locust Hill Farm in Glyndon, Maryland, where they would keep horses for recreation, participating in steeplechase racing and fox hunting.{{Cite web |date=2023-09-07 |title=GLYNDON LEGEND HAS {{!}} Hunt Valley Life |url=https://huntvalleylife.town.news/g/timonium-md/n/213061/glyndon-legend-has |access-date=2025-01-27 |website=huntvalleylife.town.news |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Acton |first=Lucy |date=April 1988 |title=Stuart Janney May Have His First Derby Starter(s) |url=https://www.midatlantictb.com/archivepdf/APR1988_janneyderby.pdf |work=Maryland Horse |pages=16–21}}
= Horse racing and Locust Hill Farms =
File:Ruffian na torze Aqueduct Racetrack w Nowym Jorku.png
The Phipps family enjoyed many connections to thoroughbred racing. Barbara Phipps Janney became involved with the horse industry at an early age, as the daughter of "The First Lady of the Turf".{{Cite news |last=Whitman |first=Alden |date=1970-10-20 |title=Mrs. H. C. Phipps, Leader in Horse Racing, Dies |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/10/20/archives/mrs-hc-phipps-leader-in-horse-racing-dies-wheatley-stable-owner-87.html |access-date=2025-01-27 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} Her grandfather Ogden Mills owned horse racing stables in both the United States and France. Her mother and uncle Ogden Livingston Mills led the Wheatley Stable,{{Cite web |title=Gladys Mills Phipps {{!}} National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame |url=https://www.racingmuseum.org/hall-of-fame/pillar/gladys-mills-phipps |access-date=2025-01-27 |website=www.racingmuseum.org}} a horse racing and breeding partnership known for breeding champion racehorses including Seabiscuit and Bold Ruler.{{Cite news |last=Goldberg |first=Ryan |date=2013-05-03 |title=2 Storied Lineages Share a Kentucky Derby Favorite |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/04/sports/04iht-srkdorb04.html |access-date=2025-01-27 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite book |last=Bowen |first=Edward L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W4G6EAAAQBAJ&dq=barbara+janney+racing&pg=PA294 |title=Legacies of the Turf: A Century of Great Thoroughbred Breeders |date=2023-05-01 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-4930-7941-4 |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Ogden Mills "Dinny" Phipps {{!}} National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame |url=https://www.racingmuseum.org/hall-of-fame/pillar/ogden-mills-dinny-phipps |access-date=2025-01-27 |website=www.racingmuseum.org}}
By the 1950s, Barbara and her husband began breeding racehorses on a small scale at Locust Hill, encouraged by Barbara's mother.{{Cite book |last=Toby |first=Milton C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JWjBWL_01zsC&dq=barbara+janney+racing&pg=PA36 |title=Ruffian: Thoroughbred Legends |date=2002 |publisher=Eclipse Press |isbn=978-1-58150-059-2 |language=en}} Barbara Phipps's family gave the couple their first three mares for their breeding operation, Bold Irish, Step Over and Vowed. One of their early success stories, the mare Shenanigans was born in 1963. She would found a dynasty of champions for the couple, whose progeny would include Icecapade, Private Terms and Ruffian.{{Cite news |last=Beyer |first=Andrew |date=May 1, 1988 |title=Private Terms Fate's Compensation for Ruffian |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1988/05/02/private-terms-fates-compensation-for-ruffian/5a1c54d7-7dbc-43dc-b62a-12d348ee8288/ |newspaper=The Washington Post}} Barbara and her husband Stuart Janney would go on to produce 19 homebred stakes winners with their Locust Hill Farms stable.
= Ruffian =
{{Main article|Ruffian (horse)}}
In 1975, Barbara and Stuart S. Janney's champion filly Ruffian was undefeated and a winner for the filly triple crown.{{Cite magazine |last=TIME |date=1975-06-02 |title=Sport: King Filly |url=https://time.com/archive/6846812/sport-king-filly/ |access-date=2025-01-27 |magazine=TIME |language=en}} Considered one of the world's most impressive racehorses, and the greatest filly in North American thoroughbred racing history,{{Cite web |last=Godfrey |first=Nicholas |date=2017-01-19 |title='As God is my judge, she might be better than Secretariat' |url=https://www.racingpost.com/news/features/series/as-god-is-my-judge-she-might-be-better-than-secretariat-acssG8x4ZEUZ/ |access-date=2025-01-27 |website=www.racingpost.com |language=en}} she was fatally injured during a match race against the champion colt Foolish Pleasure.{{Cite web |last=Hall |first=Tom |date=July 21, 2021 |title=Ruffian a Legend That Still 'Gives a Lovely Light' |url=https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/251736/ruffian-a-legend-that-still-gives-a-lovely-light |access-date=2025-01-27 |website=www.bloodhorse.com}}
= Personal life and death =
She and Stuart Janney had four children, including Stuart S. Janney III, who would follow his parents' interest in horse racing.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2024-10-09 |title=Report: Stuart Janney Dispersal Doesn't Mean He's Exiting Industry |url=https://paulickreport.com/news/people/report-stuart-janney-dispersal-doesnt-mean-hes-exiting-industry |access-date=2025-01-27 |website=Paulick Report {{!}} Latest news and commentary from the horse racing and equine world |language=en}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/274539/janney-to-be-honored-with-eclipse-award-of-merit |access-date=2025-01-27 |website=www.bloodhorse.com}} Alongside racing, Janney was known for her love of traditional field sports, including sports fishing and fox hunting, past times shared by many in the Phipps family.{{Cite web |title=The Right Blood: America's Aristocrats in Thoroughbred Racing - PDF Free Download |url=https://epdf.pub/the-right-blood-americas-aristocrats-in-thoroughbred-racing.html |access-date=2025-01-27 |website=epdf.pub |language=en}} Janney died at home in Glyndon, Maryland on November 30, 1987 at 76 years old.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xz5QAAAAYAAJ&q=%22Barbara+Phipps+Janney%22 |title=Barbara Phipps Janney |date=1988 |publisher=Chronicle of the Horse, Incorporated |others=Masters of Foxhounds Association of America |series=Issues 1–13 |volume=51 |pages=50 |language=en}}
References
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Category:Racehorse owners and breeders