Marylou Whitney

The New York Race Track Chaplaincy of America, created in 1986, held a groundbreaking ceremony Mar. 28 for a multi-purpose building and chapel on the grounds of Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y. The 3,500-square foot facility (which Chaplaincy officials hope will open this fall) will be located just inside the Gate 6 entrance to Belmont Park and will include a chapel which will also function as a multi-purpose room, office space for the chaplaincy staff, and a classroom to be used as a learning center. Among those who participated in...

Winchell Thoroughbreds and L and N Racing's Echo Zulu (Gun Runner), tabbed a 'TDN Rising Star' following her 5 1/2-length debut victory at Saratoga July 15, will attempt to add to her freshman sire's growing list of graded stakes winners when she goes postward in the GI Spinaway S. at Saratoga Sunday. Her first-out effort earned her a 92 Beyer Speed Figure--the highest recorded figure for a 2-year-old filly this year. "The idea was always that she could be a Saratoga 2-year-old," said Winchell Thoroughbreds' racing and bloodstock advisor David...

Godolphin's once-beaten Maxfield (Street Sense), the impressive 3 1/4-length winner of Churchill's GII Stephen Foster S. when last seen June 26, tuned up for his next appearance in the Aug. 7 GI Whitney S. with a half-mile breeze over the Oklahoma training track Friday morning that was timed in :49.09 (14/46). Working in the company of stablemate Longpants Required (New Year's Day), the son of Velvety (Bernardini) covered his first two furlongs in :25.3 and was out five-eighths of a mile in 1:01.1 according to NYRA clockers. "I just wanted...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY - Four days short of two years after her death, Marylou Whitney managed to upstage Thursday's feel-good, season-opener at Saratoga Race Course. Pretty Birdie (Bird Song), bred and owned by Marylou Whitney Stables, struck just the right emotional note--bridging the past and the present--with her gate-to-wire victory in the 103rd running of the GIII Schuylerville S. "It's a little bittersweet. I wish she was here," Whitney's husband John Hendrickson said. "She would love this. Saratoga is open and she's won a race. Things are the way they...

Birdstone (Grindstone--Dear Birdie, by Storm Bird), who sired the winners of two-thirds of the 2009 Triple Crown with runners from his first crop to race, has been retired from stud duties at Gainesway. He will live out his days at Old Friends Retirement Center in Georgetown, KY. Bred by the late Marylou Whitney and trained by Nick Zito, the year-older half-brother to GI Kentucky Oaks winner Bird Town (Cape Town) won two of his three starts as a juvenile, including a 2 1/2-length success in the GI Champagne S. Eighth...

The Marylou Whitney Collection Auction online event has added 220 items from the philanthropist's estate. The newly released items will include a featured framed original painting by Whitney entitled "Snow Bird"; signed, circa 1966. The items will be added to the auction and available for bidding  at 9:00 am EST July 30 with bidding on all items in the collection ending at 11:59 pm EST on Whitney Day, Aug. 1. The Marylou Whitney Collection auction benefits the new building that will be the future home of the backstretch medical clinic...

The Marylou Whitney Collection Auction, benefitting The Saratoga Backstretch Clinic, will kick off at midnight, Monday, July 27 and continues through Saratoga's Whitney Day, Saturday, Aug. 1, at 11:59 pm. The auction benefits the new building that will be the future home of the backstretch medical clinic operated at Saratoga Race Course by Saratoga Hospital and the Backstretch Employee Service Team. Included among the personal remembrances of the philanthropic icon known as the 'Queen of Saratoga' is a 1992 Jaguar XJS Convertible in British Racing Green with tan leather interior,...

The Marylou Whitney Collection Auction, an online event featuring items owned by the late philanthropist, will benefit the new backstretch medical clinic operated at Saratoga Race Course by Saratoga Hospital and the Backstretch Employee Service Team. Among the offerings up for auction are a diamond choker necklace and a pristine 1985 red Jaguar XJ6, as well as couture ensembles and cocktail dresses by Bill Blass, Arnold Scassi, and Chanel; evening purses by Judith Lieber Couture and Chanel; fur coats; hats; vintage dresses; and designer scarves by Hermes and Tiffany. The...

The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame opened in 1959, and it was showing its age. With out-of-date plaques, no interactive exhibits and new technologies, it was a 20th-century museum in a 21st-century world. That, however, is about to change. An effort to modernize started when John Hendrickson was named the museum's president in 2017. He vowed to improve the facility and the fan experience. Some three years later, and after $12 million was poured into the project, future visitors will find a new, better and more modern...

Saratoga's 11-race card, dedicated to the late Marylou Whitney, generated an all-sources handle record of $31,835,863. That figure eclipsed the previous Whitney Day record of $30,153,138 set in 2017. The card featured three graded races, with Leinster (Majestic Warrior) setting a course record while winning the GIII Troy S., Covfefe (Into Mischief) outbattling Serengeti Empress (Alternation) in a dramatic renewal of the GI Longines Test S., and McKinzie (Street Sense) soaring home first in the GI Whitney S. On-track handle for the day was $7,078,192 and the paid attendance was...

Saturday's GI Whitney S. lost some of its appeal when two-time G1 Dubai World Cup hero Thunder Snow (Ire) (Helmet {Aus}) was scratched sick, depriving fans of a battle with 'TDN Rising Star' McKinzie (Street Sense) in the 'Win and You're In' qualifier for the GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita the first weekend in November. Though that clash is on hold for the next eight weeks, McKinzie upheld his end of the bargain, getting a thinking-man's ride from Hall of Famer Mike Smith before holding off a late...