Who owns KY Derby winner Golden Tempo? St. Elias Stable, Phipps Stable

Ogden Phipps, speaking for the first time at Saturday night's Kentucky Derby news conference, pointed out people standing in the back of the room. His five sisters. His three childrens. Nieces and nephews. To his left sat another sister, Daisy Phipps Pulito.

It was a physical representation of what Phipps Stable always has been.

It's all in the family. Always.

Saturday night was Ogden and Daisy's crowning achievement, as their thoroughbred, Golden Tempo, won the Run for the Roses at Churchill Downs.

"We always really thought what this feeling would be like to be together and (win the Derby)," Ogden said. "It far surpasses it."

One key family member wasn't in attendance: family matriarch Andrea. She enjoyed Saturday's victory from home. Ogden said they talked to her "right after the race."

The feeling of glory in the Run for the Roses wasn't foreign for the Phipps. The late Ogden Mills Phipps — Andrea's husband, Daisy and Ogden's dad — guided Phipps Stable to a 2013 victory with Orb. The elder Ogden died three years later.

"Because of the two of them, we've kept this going," said the younger Ogden Phipps, referring to his parents. "Very thankful we did. It was never an option not to. This is in our blood, and we love it."

Phipps Stable wasn’t the lone winning owner Saturday. St. Elias Stable, helmed by Vincent Viola, also owns a piece of Golden Tempo. 

One of the world’s richest people — Forbes recently put his net worth at greater than $7 billion — Viola already had tasted success in the Run for the Roses. He was a part-owner of 2017 Derby winner Always Dreaming. He also owns the Florida Panthers, the 2024 and 2025 Stanley Cup champions.

In that sense, a cynic could say Saturday’s victory for Viola was an example of the rich getting richer. 

Those making that statement, of course, lose sight of one truth: a Derby win is priceless. 

"It's not lost on (my wife) Teresa and I and our whole family that the Phipps family has allowed us to participate in this and work with them," Vinnie said. "So Ogden, Daisy and the whole family that's here? It's not lost on us. And we deeply, deeply appreciate the opportunity to do special things like this."

Well before Daisy and Ogden begin running Phipps Stable — even before their father, affectionally known as "Dinny," in fact — their family was a brand name in the industry.

Dinny's grandmother was Mrs. Henry Carnegie Phipps; she founded Wheatley Stable in 1926. During her long ownership, she had seven Derby starter. But she never witnessed one of her thoroughbreds cross the line first.  

Yet she’ll always have a place in not just Derby history, but the annals of the sport: Wheatley Stable owned Bold Ruler. 

Secretariat's father. 

More than a century after Wheatley ran its first race, a direct line can be drawn to Saturday's outcome.

Staying in the game this long doesn't occur by happenstance, though. Ogden noted his family — his great-grandmother, his grandfather, his dad — shared two attributes.

They invested in "great fillies." And they cared for them, too.

"That gave us an incredible base to always be continuing to grow from," he said. "And we call them 'foundation mares.' I think we've been fortunate enough to have a bunch of them."

Carrumba, Golden Tempo's dam, has sealed a spot in that pantheon, he said.

Simply pouring money into breeding isn't the end-all, be-all anymore. Phipps Stable once was among the largest breeding operations in the sport. When their grandfather was alive, Daisy estimated the stable had nearly 40 broodmares when her grandfather was running the show.

They have half that many now.

"And we brought in partners, and we've sold more horses at auction than we have ever in the past," Daisy said. "And that's to breed to better stallions and get better fillies at the end of the day."

It was a winning strategy Saturday.

One that strengthened the legacy of a lineage with among deepest roots in the sport.

"It's a family hobby. It's a family passion," Ogden said.

"It's a family business for us, and we love it."

Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at [email protected] and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.