Above: Lily Livingston (1865-1945), who once owned and operated what was known as the Rancocas Stud Farm, was inducted into the Canadian Racing Hall of Fame on May 27. Left: The former Rancocas Stud Farm in the Jobs-town section of Springfield Township is now known as the Helis Stock Farm and has this gated entrance. Editor’s note: This article is an edited version of a story submitted courtesy of David A. Smith of Upper Freehold Township, Monmouth County, whose research into the property on Route 537, Jobstown, formerly known as the Rancocas Stud Farm, resulted in Lily Livingston’s (1865-1945) induction into the Canadian Racing Hall of Fame on May 27.
M ost of the time history sleeps quietly until someone scratches the surface and brings to life a story forgotten long ago.
For the last four years, DavidA. Smith has been researching the history of a farm near his home in Upper Freehold Township. In doing so, he uncovered the rich history of a Route 537 property in Jobstown and helped a woman who lived a hundred years ago earn recognition as a legend in the sport of horse racing.
Helis Stock Farm in the Jobstown section of Springfield Township, Burlington County, was once known as Rancocas Stud Farm and was owned by tobacco millionaire Pierre Lorillard.
Lorillard’s greatest antagonist was his brother, George, who owned Westbrook Stud Farm on Long Island, N.Y., and helped found Monmouth Park in Oceanport, Monmouth County.
When Lorillard was not going head to head with his brother, he shipped horses to race in England, and in 1881, Rancocas Stud Farm’s Iroquois became the first American horse to win the Epsom Derby.
Other than a brief period from 1885 to 1889 when he took a break from racing to build Tuxedo Park in New York, Lorillard’s cherry and black race colors represented the prominent racing establishment from 1873 to 1901.
Lorillard died in 1901 and willed Rancocas Stud Farm to Lily Livingston, whom he loved and knew would be the best person to care for the farm after he was gone.
At a time when women did not have the voting and legal rights of men, Livingston owned and operated a large group of race horses and one of the largest thoroughbred farms in the world.
When the moralist movement of the early 1900s succeeded in banning horse racing in many states, Livingston’s 1,200-acre farm became an economic burden.
Her farm manager, veterinarian John Carter, a University of Toronto graduate, recommended that she move her breeding operation to Canada, according to the Sept. 21, 1929, edition of the Toronto StarWeekly.
She purchased Pontiac Farms on the shores of Lake Ontario in Cobourg in 1908, and it quickly became “one of the finest breeding farms in Canada” and bore “comparison with the largest and most completely equipped thoroughbred nurseries of the continent,” according to the April 2, 1928, edition of the Daily Racing Form.
One of Livingston’s first goals when she started racing in Canada was to win the King’s Plate. The Ontario Jockey Club made various changes to the King’s Plate eligibility rules, one of which was that a starter had to be owned by a British subject.
Livingston spent more than 10 years trying to have this rule rescinded and remained passionate about having her name associated with a King’s Plate winner.
She decided to sell her best horses at public auction with the expectation that another owner would be able to win the race and note Pontiac Farms as the winning horse’s breeder.
In the 1915 King’s Plate race, Pontiac Farms-bred horses Tatartean and Fair Montague finished first and second, respectively.
In the 1918 King’s Plate, Pontiac Farmsbred Ladder of Light finished second and in 1919 Ladder of Light went on to win the King’s Plate.
Livingston held her own in a predominantly man’s game until 1927, when “the Queen of Canadian Turf laid down her crown” and gave up her race stable to focus on breeding, according to the June 4, 1927, edition of the Toronto Daily Star.
Pontiac Farms was the leading farm in Canada, with the most starters between 1925 and 1935, and second only to Seagram Stable in earnings of more than $260,000 and 291 wins, according to the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society.
When Livingston moved her breeding operations to Canada, she leased Rancocas Stud Farm to Harry Payne Whitney.
Whitney bred Regret, the first filly ever to win the Kentucky Derby, and also leased Brookdale Farm, which was in Lincroft, Monmouth County.
Horse racing made a comeback in the United States as a premier spectator sport in 1920, and Kansas oil man Harry Sinclair and famed thoroughbred trainer Sam Hildreth teamed up to buy Rancocas Stud Farm.
Their racing stable went on a tear, with their horses averaging more than $300,000 in earnings per year for the first half of the decade. Front-running Zev, winner of the Kentucky Derby, was voted horse of the year in 1923 and retired with more than $300,000 in lifetime earnings, surpassing Man o’War’s record.
More than 50,000 spectators showed up at Belmont Park in New York in 1923 to witness the race between Zev and English Derby winner Papyrus, which the former won by over five lengths.
The stable’s Grey Lag, known as the “iron gelding,” had a string of major victories that earned him Horse of the Year honors in 1921.
Both Zev and Grey Lag were acknowledged as Daily Racing Form Top 100 Horses of the Century.
With the passing of Hildreth in 1929 and the jailing of Sinclair due to his involvement with the Teapot Dome scandal, Rancocas Stud Farm was finished.
When the Garden State Park racetrack opened in Cherry Hill, Camden County, in 1942, Eugene Mori, a businessman from Vineland, purchased the property as an offsite training center for the racetrack.
A few years later, William Helis, an oilman from New Orleans, chose the farm to be the center of his racing and breeding empire and named the property Helis Stock Farm.
Known as the “Golden Greek,” Helis went on to spend vast sums of money on horses and the farm. He had bidding wars at horse auctions with Elizabeth Arden, the cosmetics mogul, and spent record amounts of money for yearlings in his quest to be the leading owner and breeder in racing.
Helis’ quest was cut short when he died in 1950, and his son, William Helis Jr., did not have the same passion for horse racing.
Today, the Estate of William Helis owns Helis Stock Farm, which Ed and Linda Lovenduski manage.
Through his research into the farm, Smith came to admire Livingston as a person who fought discrimination, demanded equality and devoted her entire life to the sport of thoroughbred racing.
He believed Livingston deserved induction into the Canadian Racing Hall of Fame, so he nominated her and sent his research to the hall’s managing director, Lou Cauz.
Sixty-six years after her death, Lily Livingston was inducted into the Canadian Racing Hall of Fame during a May 27 ceremony at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Canada.
“Finally recognized by her peers, she was memorialized with a few words stating simply that she has achieved greatness,” Smith said. “I was there with 30 or so very proud great-great-nieces and -nephews. I know in spirit Lily was there, too, with a big smile and her warm heart.”
Individuals who would like to find out more about Lily Livingston or Rancocas Stud Farm may contact Dave Smith by email at [email protected] or Richard Toone at the Springfield Township Historical Society at 609-261-3415.