Baird C. Brittingham, a former chairman and president of Delaware Park, died March 2 in a Baltimore hospital after suffering a stroke at his Kate’s Point Farm weekend home near Trappe, Md. The Wisconsin native was 77.
Brittingham served as president of Delaware Park starting in 1967 and was named chairman in 1975. Brittingham bred and/or raced alone and in partnership 10 stakes winners, including Maryland champion Taking Risks.
Taking Risks, who raced for Brittingham and Dan Lufkin in the name of Lakeville Stables, was voted 1994 Maryland champion older male after winning nine of 12 starts that year. He captured that year’s Philip H. Iselin (gr. I), Baltimore Budweiser Breeders’ Cup (gr. III), William Donald Schaefer, and Jennings Handicaps, plus the Maryland Million Classic Stakes in track-record time at Laurel.
Brittingham’s other stakes winners included homebreds Shark’s Jaws and Owned by All. In the Lakeville partnership, Brittingham also raced added-money winners Buffels, Eastover Faith, and Gotcha Cornered.
Brittingham, who starred at center on Yale University’s football team, served as president of Lumber Industries and founded the investment firm Brittingham Inc. His survivors include his wife, Bobbie, and her three children; a son, Baird Brittingham Jr.; and a daughter, Paget.
