Philip Joseph Dwyer (August 21, 1844 – June 9, 1917) was an American businessman from Brooklyn, New York and prominent owner of Thoroughbred racehorses and racetracks.
Along with his younger brother, Michael F. Dwyer, he made a fortune in the meat packing industry, supplying butcher shops, eating establishments and hotels.
[1] During the 1880s, the Dwyer brothers entered into a leasing arrangement for the Prospect Park Fair Grounds Trotting Track which they operated so successfully that they decided to build their own racing facility.
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.
In the early 1890s they came under severe criticism from a group of horse trainers who claimed the Dwyers routinely acted in their own self interests to the detriment of the competitors and the public.