Harry Payne Whitney
1872 - 1930
The stamp affixed on Thoroughbred racing by William Collins Whitney and his son Harry Payne Whitney remains indelible. It was W. C. Whitney who poured funding into revitalization of Saratoga, the charming old Victorian race track still operating in upstate New York. Secretary of the Navy under Grover Cleveland and founder of the New York utilities giant now known as Con Ed, W. C. Whitney was racing's leading owner three times before his death in 1904. Son Harry Payne Whitney, already a race horse owner and international polo figure, thereafter increased his own stable. He established handsome farms in New Jersey and in Lexington and led America's owners and breeders lists a total of seventeen times. He bred 192 stakes winners, a record until surpassed by Canadian E. P. Taylor of Windfields Farm. Harry Payne Whitney had a profound influence on Kentucky racing when he sent Regret from the East to the Kentucky Derby in 1915. The champion filly's victory in the Derby helped transform the race from a regional affair into an event of national acclaim.
Marker can be reached from the intersection of East Main Street (U.S. 60) and Midland Avenue (U.S. 60), on the right when traveling west.
Courtesy hmdb.org
