Following the 1904 death of Thomas Reilly, founding president of the Queens County Jockey Club, Philip Dwyer acquired a large shareholding of the company that owned and operated Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens.
On August 21, 1913, Philip Dwyer and fellow New Yorker James Butler acquired control of the Laurel Park Racecourse in Maryland and hired Matt Winn to manage the operation [REF].