By Joe Bianca
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY–When the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame revealed its 2019 inductees, one name stood out even amongst a slew of legendary ones in the Pillars of the Turf category: Marylou Whitney. That induction took on even greater and solemn significance in light of the recent passing of the “Queen of Saratoga,” and an emotional tribute to Whitney by her husband and museum president John Hendrickson was the most memorable moment of a star-studded induction ceremony Friday morning at the Fasig-Tipton Sales Pavilion in Saratoga Springs.
After a moment of silence was observed for Whitney in the packed house, Hendrickson started his opening remarks by saying simply, “This is gonna be a hard day.” Gathering himself, he went on to talk about the upcoming renovations to the museum, scheduled to be finished by the summer of 2020. A goal of $20 million in donations was set for the new immersive and interactive exhibits, of which approximately half has been raised so far. Hendrickson said, “By the end, I believe we will have the best sports Hall of Fame in the world,” and master of ceremonies Tom Durkin added, “This place is gonna be jumping. This is the most exciting thing to happen to the museum since we laid the cornerstone in 1955.”
Soon after, Whitney was inducted into the Pillars of the Turf, and Hendrickson once again took the stage to pay tribute to his late wife. Holding a Marylou Whitney Rose, the flower named in her honor, Hendrickson spoke briefly but eloquently: “She said the sport of horse racing gave her the most incredible life, and she was extremely grateful. I want to thank all of you for loving Marylou. She loved the sport, and all of you, with her entire heart. So let us not cry because it's over. Let us smile because it happened. God bless you, and God bless Marylou.”
Will Farish was the first living Pillar of the Turf to be inducted Friday, and before the speech, Durkin asked him to take off his suit jacket and put on the Hall of Fame blazer. “Brooks Brothers makes nice jackets, but this one's gonna have to go,” he quipped. “It has been both the horses and the people that enriched our lives,” Farish said. He talked particularly fondly of the many partnerships he's had along the way, specifically with his “dear friend Watts Humphrey, which continues today.” He also reminisced about A.P. Indy and talked about the current Lane's End stallion roster, saying, “The future of the farm is extremely bright.”
The first equine inductee of the day was the remarkable 17-time stakes winner My Juliet, with regular rider Tony Black accepting on her behalf with a heartfelt speech. After giving credit to the mare's groom, Jim Maloney, for his work, Black said, “She came in an era of the women's rights movement, which was just starting to get strong in the 1970s. She was never intimidated by gender. She beat the boys, and she beat the girls.”
Comparing her to television's Bionic Man, he added, “We called her the bionic filly, because after they put two screws in her cannon bone, that's when she reached the pinnacle of her career.” Black went on to talk about wanting to visit My Juliet before she died at age 29, to “just put my hands down her neck one more time, and say, 'Julie, you did so much for me. I love you.'” He never got that chance, however, and he closed by saying, “That taught me to tell someone their real value when they're here, not just when they're gone. I didn't get to see her one last time, but wherever you are, thank you so much.”
Jockey Craig Perret, a winner of over 4,400 races in his career, was the lone contemporary human inductee, and he gave an entertaining and emotional speech that included harkening back to when he first got into racing, and out of school. “My foundation came from my father, he knew my passion for the horses,” Perret said. “He also knew I was getting real bad in school, and he'd find me at the racetrack on lunch breaks. He said, 'You don't want to do your schoolwork?' He sent me to the farm, where I learned the horses and everything about them and loved it. Then, I wasn't lost in the world figuring out where I was going next. I had one thing on my mind: the racetrack.”
Perret talked about the feeling of accomplishment he got after winning the Kentucky Derby aboard Unbridled in 1990, a feeling matched only one more time in his life, when he got the news he would be enshrined in the Hall of Fame. “After I won the Derby, I thought, 'My goals have been reached. I'm done,'” he said. “I wasn't done riding, but I thought, 'I don't need nothin' from this game now.' Until another thing come along. I finally got in off the also-eligible list, and look where I'm at now.” He also mentioned the one moment that sticks with him after all of his years as a jockey: “When they said 'riders up,' it was just me and the horse for the next 10 minutes. I was the only one who could make this happen.”
The most recently relevant inductee was three-time champion Royal Delta, whose honor was accepted by owner Benjamin Leon and trainer Bill Mott. Mott recalled the end of the filly's 3-year-old season, when days after her triumph in the 2011 Breeders' Cup Ladies Classic, she was set to be sold by owner Palides Investments at Keeneland November, with Leon eventually signing the ticket for a massive $8.5 million. “I was crying like a baby leading her to the van to the sale after the Breeders' Cup. I was so lucky to meet Mr. Leon [at Keeneland], and he gave me a call a couple days later, and asked if I would take her back. That was not a very tough decision.”
Other highlights from the morning included Shug McGaughey telling a handful of entertaining stories about Ogden Phipps when accepting his longtime owner's posthumous Pillar of the Turf honor, and similarly funny anecdotes from Stuart Janney about his grandmother Gladys Mills Phipps. The other two living Pillar of the Turf inductees also captivated the audience with their speeches, Arlington Park developer Dick Duchossois and Keeneland icon Ted Bassett, who closed out the festivities by saying simply, “I never, ever dreamed, or thought, or wished that I would be standing here on this wonderful day. I'm deeply honored, pleasantly surprised and forever grateful for this honor.”
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