Rancocas Stable
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Rancocas Stable was an American thoroughbred horse racing stable and stud farm located in Jobstown, New Jersey. The stable was founded in the 1870s by the wealthy tobacco manufacturer Pierre Lorillard IV (1833-1901) who had a home in the town of Rancocas, now a part of Willingboro Township, New Jersey. Lorillard built his stable into one of the premier thoroughbred breeding and training operations in the United States. In 1881 Lorillard's horse "Iroquois" became the first American-owned and -bred horse to win a European classic race. Ridden by the champion English jockey, Fred Archer, "Iroquois" won the Epsom Derby then went on to also capture the St. Leger Stakes.
As part of a program honoring important horse racing tracks and racing stables, the Pennsylvania Railroad named its baggage car #5858 the "Rancocas Stable".
After Lorillard's passing, Rancocas Stable was purchased by Kansas oil industrialist Harry F. Sinclair who invested considerable funds to continue its success and making it one of the dominant racing stables in the United States during the 1920s. For Sinclair, trainer Sam Hildreth brought the stable victories in the Kentucky Derby and in three Belmont Stakes. Between 1923 and 1929 the stable had six horses compete in the Preakness Stakes but never managed a win. Two of the stable's colts, Grey Lag and Zev, are in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. Such was the fame of Rancocas Stable that the Pennsylvania Railroad named baggage car #5858 in its honor.
Among the jockeys who rode for Rancocas Stable were Hall of Famers Earl Sande and Laverne Fator. Sinclair's Rancocas Stable set the record as top money winner in a single season in 1923 that stood until 1941 when it was broken by Calumet Farm.
Personal problems culminating in a prison term for his part in what became known in American history as the Teapot Dome scandal (Sinclair sold US oil reserves to private interests for his own aggrandizement), forced Harry Sinclair to liquidate the farm in 1930-31.
The site presently operates as the Helis Stock Farm, and is run by Linda and Ed Lovenduski. The more than 2,000 acre farm includes a number of original Rancocas Stable-era buildings that can be seen from the roadside; including a round training barn with 1,100 windows enclosing a ½ mile track. The farm is located northeast of Jobstown along Monmouth Road (County Road 537) in Springfield Township, New Jersey.
