ELKTON, Md.--Jack S. “Jay” Griswold as the new Chair of the Fair Hill Foundation and William T. “Will” Phipps II as the new Board President were voted in unanimously by the Board of Directors on Jan. 27.

Founding President, Samuel Slater, will remain involved as Chairman Emeritus., and Timothy Gardner, M.D. and George I. E. Harris were each elected Vice Chair, Kathleen M. Anderson, DVM, was elected Vice Chair and Treasurer, and Nancy R. Simpers was elected Vice Chair and Secretary.

Top steeplechase rider, Charles C. “Charlie” Fenwick, Jr., was elected to the Board of Directors at the same meeting.

As an amateur steeplechase jockey, Fenwick is just the second American rider to win the English Grand National when Ben Nevis II pulled a 40-1 upset in 1980.

Fenwick trained a top stable on the circuit in the 1980s and 1990s, winning an Eclipse Award with Inlander in 1987.

 

BEYOND riding and training, Fenwick has been an officer with the National Steeplechase Foundation and is chair of the Shawan Downs Races in Maryland.

The entire Fenwick family has been synonymous with thoroughbred racing, steeplechasing, and fox hunting in Maryland for four generations.

Jay Griswold has been Vice President of the foundation since 2017.

A lifelong horseman and fox hunter with a distinguished career in the business world and in community service, Griswold is an accomplished amateur steeplechase jockey, riding in a record 16 runnings of the Maryland Hunt Cup, finishing second four times, and losing by just a nose at age 43 in 1982.

He won the 1996 Hunt Cup as an owner with Hello Hal.

A graduate of Princeton with an MBA from Wharton School of Finance, Griswold is a former partner in Alex. Brown & Sons, a former senior advisor of its affiliate, Brown Investment Advisotry, and former Chair of Brown Realty Advisors.

He is currently a partner in Black Oak Associates, a Mid-Atlantic real estate investment firm.

Griswold is Chair Emeritus of the Maryland Historical Society and former Interim President and Chair Emeritus of the Board of Visitors and Governors of Washington College in Chestertown, Md.

He is currently serving as Chair of the Proud Past*Infinite Future campaign for Fair Hill.

He and his wife, Toni, operate Wit’s End Farm in the Green Spring Valley where he continues to own and train steeplechase horses and hunt regularly.

A 1995 graduate of Washington College, Will Phipps manages operations for Brookledge Horse Transport, an international shipping company with offices in Oley, Pa., Lexington, Ky., Ocala, Fla., and Chicago.

Prior to his current position, Phipps worked as East Coast trainer for Bill Mott and trained for George Steinbrenner and Live Oak Plantation in Kentucky.

He has been involved in show jumping, thoroughbred racing, and steeplechasing for many years.

In addition to his work at Fair Hill, he is a member of the Board of Directors of the Race Track Chaplaincy of America, headquartered in Elmont, N.Y., and serving Belmont Park, Aqueduct Racetrack and Saratoga Race Course.

Samuel Slater is retired CEO of HCP Sports.

Timothy Gardner, M.D., is a retired cardiac surgeon affiliated with Christiana Care and UPenn Medicine and a member of the U.S. Eventing Hall of Fame with his wife, Nina.

He also serves as Vice Chair of theProud Past*Infinite Future campaign for Fair Hill.

George I.E. Harris is Director of Taylor Harris Insurance, a leading international company specializing in all types of equine risk.

Kathleen Anderson, DVM, is owner of Equine Veterinary Care at the Fair Hill Training Center.

Nancy Rothwell Simpers is a member of the Board of Directors of the Fair Hill Races, an Associate Real Estate Broker with Berkshire Hathaway Fox and Roach and owner of Welsh Idyll Farm.

Also re-elected to second terms were Joseph Clancy, Editor of the Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred, and George Mahoney, Jr., CEO of Monumental Paving & Excavating, Inc.