Wheatley Stable


Wheatley Stable was the nom de course for the thoroughbred horse racing partnership formed by Gladys Mills Phipps and her brother, Ogden Livingston Mills. The horses were raised at Claiborne Farm near Paris, Kentucky.

History

Over the years, Hall of Fame horse trainers Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons, Bill Winfrey and Eddie Neloy conditioned their horses. In February 1926, the stable recorded its first win and that year purchased the yearlings Diavolo and Dice from breeder Harry Payne Whitney. In 1927 Dice won four important stakes races but died unexpectedly. Nevertheless, his performance earned Wheatley Stable its first racing award when he was voted U.S. Champion 2-Year-Old Colt. Diavolo developed more slowly but in 1929 won as U.S. Champion Handicap Male Horse.
In 1928 Wheatley Stable horses debuted in the U.S. Triple Crown races. Between then and 1966 the stable entered seven Kentucky Derbys, seven Preakness Stakes, and eleven Belmont Stakes. They won the 1957 Preakness Stakes with Bold Ruler.
As part of a program honoring important horse racing tracks and racing stables, the Pennsylvania Railroad named its baggage car #5854 the "Wheatley Stable".
The Wheatley Stable bred and raised its horses at Claiborne Farm near Paris, Kentucky. Famously, in 1933 Wheatley Stable bred Seabiscuit but sold him early in his three-year-old season. They also bred Bold Bidder, U.S. Champion Handicap Male Horse for 1966 and the sire of Hall of Fame colt Spectacular Bid. Wheatley Stable bred and raced seven Champions of their own:
Some of Wheatley Stable's major wins include: