Whitney Induction Brings Poignancy to Hall Ceremony

Balancing composure and emotion, National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame president John Hendrickson anchored this year's induction ceremony both personally and professionally, looking forward to a renovated Hall of Fame in 2020 and back at the accomplishments of his wife, Marylou Whitney, who died July 19 and was inducted as a member of the Hall of Fame Aug. 2 in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

In his usual role as master of ceremonies, retired race caller Tom Durkin called for a moment of silence in Whitney's memory in his opening remarks, an image of the late "Queen of Saratoga" dressed in her trademark pink, holding one of the roses named for her, appeared on the video screen. 

Returning to the podium, Hendrickson carried with him a rose in a small vase, one of the Marylou Whitney roses he commissioned in honor of his wife's 85th birthday in 2010. They grow in Congress Park near the Canfield Casino in downtown Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

"I'm carrying this so that she is with us in spirit," Hendrickson said. "She was dedicated to the horses and the people who love them, the unsung heroes and backstretch workers. Thank you for loving her. She loves the sport and you with all of her heart."  

The Hall of Fame ceremony continued an extended weekend celebration of Whitney's life, all events that had long been on the calendar at the Spa. On Aug. 1, the Birdstone Stakes, named for Whitney's homebred who won the 2004 Belmont Stakes (G1) and Travers Stakes (G1), was run at Saratoga Race Course. The Whitney Stakes (G1) will be run Aug. 3, which the New York Racing Association has named Marylou Whitney Day.

As for Friday's Hall of Fame ceremony, those honored included one contemporary horse, one contemporary jockey, two historic review horses, and 12 Pillars of the Turf, a category initiated in 2013 in order to recognize, as Durkin put it, the accomplishments of the "giants" of Thoroughbred racing. 

Joining Marylou Whitney as Pillar of the Turf inductees this year are owner/breeders Helen Hay Whitney, Warren Wright Sr., William S. Farish, James R. Keene, Christopher Chenery, Gladys Mills Phipps, Ogden Phipps, and John Hettinger; as well as racetrack executives Frank "Jimmy" Kilroe, James E. "Ted" Bassett III, and Richard Duchossois. 

Inducted in the Historic Review category were champion mares Waya and My Juliet. Contemporary inductees are jockey Craig Perret and three-time champion Royal Delta. 

Perret, who had been up for consideration in multiple years before getting elected, quipped, "I finally got in off the AE list."  

Uninterested and unsuccessful at school, he went to work on a farm in his early teens.

"My dad said, 'You don't want to do your homework? I'm going to send you to the farm.'

"It was the greatest college I could ever attend. I found the occupation I wanted to be in, and I wasn't lost in the world trying to figure out where to go next. There was only one thing on my mind: the racetrack and the people."  

Among the ceremony highlights was jockey Tony Black, who accepted on behalf of My Juliet, the horse he rode to wins in the 1976 Vosburgh Handicap (G2) and 1977 Michigan Mile and One Eighth Handicap (G2).  

An active jockey who rode most recently at Parx Racing July 22, Black will turn 68 next month. He received a hearty round of applause when he stepped on the stage. On hand was My Juliet's groom Jim Maloney, called out by Black as the "unsung hero" who didn't get much recognition during the mare's racing days.  

Obviously relishing the opportunity to talk about the mare he called the highlight of his career, he said he'd nicknamed her the "bionic filly."

"After her operation, when she got two screws in her cannon bone," he said, "she was at the pinnacle of her career."  

The three horses inducted this year were all mares, and three of the Pillars of the Turf are women represented in a new exhibit at the Museum called "Women in Racing."

Recalling his champion Royal Delta, trainer Bill Mott said, "After we won the (grade 1) Breeders' Cup (Ladies' Classic in 2011), I was crying like a baby leading her to the van on her way to the sale."

Mott didn't know that when Benjamin Leon's Besilu Stables landed Royal Delta for $8.5 million from the Chanteclair Farm consignment at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, the filly would be returned to him for training. Mott's phone rang a few days after that sale.

"He asked if I would take her back," said the trainer. "That wasn't a very tough decision."  

The pair teamed to win the following year's Ladies' Classic as well.

While celebrating racing's past, some speeches at the ceremony made pointed reference to very contemporary issues.

"My father spent 35 years doing what he loved at Akindale Farm," Bill Hettinger said. "His involvement with racing and breeding, and Fasig-Tipton, and the many friends he made over the years."

That focus shifted in John Hettinger's later years.

"He was devoted to worrying about the also-rans," said his son. "That's why Akindale Farm is now a rehabilitation facility."  

The day after U.S. representative Paul Tonko appeared at Saratoga to urge action on the Horseracing Integrity Act, Kate Tweedy Chenery referred to the Act's goals while she accepted induction on behalf of her grandfather Christopher.

"He would be thrilled that Colonial Downs is reopening and revitalizing the sport in Virginia," she said. "He was also devoted to equine safety, to regulating performance-enhancing drugs, and to better surfaces. He was all about the horse." 

Earlier at the ceremony, Hendrickson updated the audience on the fundraising for the new Hall of Fame and education center slated to open next year. Replacing the plaques that currently identify Hall of Fame members will be interactive video screens, allowing visitors to call up race replays and other information about inductees. Hendrickson said the museum has raised approximately half of the $20 million goal.  

"You've been to the Kentucky Derby Museum?" Durkin asked. "This will be the Kentucky Derby Museum on steroids."  

The two exhibits featuring the women, fillies, and mares integral to Thoroughbred racing; the plans for the new Hall of Fame; and the expansion of Hall of Fame categories all point to an institution that, in order to honor its history, is looking ahead. 

"We're so happy that, 106 years after his passing, James R. Keene got this recognition," said Keene Taylor, great-great-grandson of the inductee. "We're happy the Pillars of the Turf category was added to recognize (the accomplishments) of the people who don't ride or train or run."