The names of thoroughbreds like Artful, Tanya, Frizette, Jean Beraud, and Burgomaster, as well as renowned locations such as Saratoga Race Course and Belmont Park, resonate with significant historical importance.
William Collins Whitney extended a lineage of notable individuals tracing back to the colonial period, encompassing men and women who deeply ingrained the family’s name within society, the nation’s military, and its economy. Despite his comparatively brief involvement in horse racing compared to later generations, his influence left an indelible mark, including the aforementioned names and numerous others, establishing a sporting heritage that rendered the Eton blue and brown racing silks instantly recognizable in victor’s enclosures globally.
Ancestral Origins
The Whitney family’s beginnings in America trace back to the 17th century, when John and Elinor Whitney relocated from London to Watertown, Massachusetts, establishing a family line that would eventually become preeminent in thoroughbred racing.
Almost two hundred years subsequent, William Collins Whitney was born, the second among four children of James Scollay Whitney, a prominent business executive and political figure, and Laurinda Collins, whose lineage was involved in the Plymouth colony’s foundational governance. William pursued his studies at Yale University, subsequently undertaking legal education at Harvard, ultimately gaining admission to the New York bar in 1865.
In 1869, he wed Flora Payne, and together they raised five children, notably his eldest son, Harry Payne, and his middle child, William Payne, names well-known to enthusiasts of horse racing history. However, William Collins Whitney’s direct engagement with the sport was deferred, as he fulfilled other responsibilities prior to assuming the roles of breeder and owner.
Following in his father James’s footsteps, William immersed himself in politics, initially holding a position as a director of schools in New York City, before progressing to serve as the city’s corporation counsel, overseeing its legal matters. He later assumed the role of Secretary of the Navy during Grover Cleveland’s initial presidential term (1885-1889), where he played a pivotal role in modernizing the nation’s naval fleet, introducing advancements such as steel steamships and contemporary naval artillery.
Upon concluding his service in Washington, Whitney became a co-founder of the New York Loan and Improvement Company in 1890, a firm instrumental in developing the Washington Heights district of the city. He also participated in the campaign that secured Cleveland’s second presidential term, subsequently collaborating with his brother Henry Melville Whitney to establish the Dominion Coal Company and the Dominion Iron and Steel Company, both of which were later acquired by James Ross, the father of Commander James Kenneth Leveson Ross, renowned for campaigning Sir Barton, America’s inaugural Triple Crown champion.
After resolving his various business and political obligations, William Collins Whitney directed his attention to a prevalent athletic pursuit favored by gentlemen of his time: thoroughbred racing.
Acquiring Top Talent
During the final ten years of the 19th century, Whitney began leveraging his considerable wealth similarly to contemporaries such as James R. Keene, John E. Madden, and August Belmont II: for the purpose of breeding and acquiring elite Thoroughbreds. Although his engagement with the sport spanned a relatively brief period, it was sufficient to exert a profound influence.
His foray into racing commenced with his role as a foundational member of The Jockey Club, instituted in 1894, alongside Belmont, Keene, and approximately twenty-four other individuals. Whitney officially registered his racing colors, Eton blue adorned with a brown cap, and embarked on an extensive acquisition campaign that would ultimately involve purchasing horses valued at a million dollars. Furthermore, he constructed facilities capable of housing up to 84 horses and a mile-long training track on his Westbury property in Nassau County, and appointed Sidney Paget, brother of Whitney’s son-in-law Almeric Hugh Paget, as his dedicated racing manager.
Initially, to inaugurate his racing endeavors, he acquired ten horses and campaigned them under Paget’s name. In 1898, Whitney also recruited Sam Hildreth as his trainer. Hildreth, the offspring of a nomadic trainer primarily active in the Midwest, was raised amidst Thoroughbreds and the sport, spent time working as a blacksmith, before transitioning to owning and conditioning racehorses. His initial success in the Eastern region was not in New York, given his horses’ perceived inadequacy for that circuit, but rather in New Jersey, where he competed on unregulated tracks. His accomplishments drew Whitney’s notice, leading to his engagement to train the developing Westbury Stable, which included its inaugural significant acquisition, the colt Jean Beraud.
This colt, christened after the French painter, was sired by His Highness, the first horse to earn $100,000, and foaled by Carrie C., a daughter of the unbeaten Sensation. John Daly bred and owned him, and he had already achieved stakes-winning status when Paget acquired him for $40,000 during the summer of his two-year-old campaign.
By 1899, Jean Beraud secured victories in the Belmont and Withers Stakes at three years old, followed by the Brookdale Handicap in his four-year-old season. During this initial period, Whitney also procured the steeplechaser Shillelah, a well-regarded offspring of Duke of Magenta; regrettably, the gelding suffered a fall during a competition and necessitated euthanasia. Saratoga authorities would subsequently dedicate a steeplechase event in honor of Whitney’s deceased racehorse.
Despite entering the sport late in his life, Whitney swiftly broadened his investments beyond a limited number of horses in New York. He also dispatched promising contenders to England, aiming to triumph in the Epsom Derby. In pursuit of this objective, he leased the stakes winner Volodyovski from Lady Meux, achieving victory in the 1901 Derby with the colt, thereby becoming the second American to accomplish this feat, following Pierre Lorillard’s win with Iroquois two decades prior. Whitney would make another attempt the subsequent year with Intruder, a son of Meddler, bred at his La Belle Stud in Kentucky.
Within his privately published 1902 volume, “The Whitney Stud,” the erstwhile Secretary of the Navy meticulously detailed the extensive breeding stock he had amassed, which included a considerable collection of broodmares and the stallions Hamburg and Meddler. Hamburg, a celebrated Hall of Famer and prominent sire, had previously been the costliest juvenile ever sold in 1897, when John E. Madden transferred him to mining magnate Marcus Daly for $40,001. Following Daly’s passing in 1900, Whitney acquired the stallion at his stable’s liquidation sale for $60,000. He further secured the imported Meddler for $49,000, and among the progeny Meddler produced for the Eton blue and brown silks was Tanya, the second filly ever to claim victory in the Belmont Stakes, an achievement realized a year subsequent to Whitney’s demise in 1904.
Beyond his accomplished stakes winners and notable stallions, perhaps his most profound legacy in the sport lies in the iconic upstate racetrack that grew to be intrinsically linked with subsequent Whitney generations.
Saratoga’s Revival
Upon its inauguration in 1863, Saratoga Race Course counted John Morrissey, William Travers, Leonard Jerome, and others among its financial supporters, yet by 1891, Morrissey had departed, and intense rivalry from numerous other racing venues left the Spa struggling to attract both horses and wagerers. Gottfried Walbaum, notorious for New Jersey’s ill-famed Guttenberg racetrack, acquired a 90% stake in the track that same year, leading to the transformation of what was once a prestigious ground for affluent owners into a disreputable establishment. Concerned by its decline, Whitney, Richard T. Wilson, Andrew Miller, and their associates combined their resources to purchase Saratoga Race Course, aiming to restore its former grandeur.
During the subsequent years, the Spa’s revitalized management implemented enhancements to the racetrack and committed capital to its long-term viability, with Whitney’s prestige and influence closely associated with these efforts in his capacity as president. When his acquaintance August Belmont II sought to construct a new racing facility within the New York region, Whitney was one of the financiers who assisted in establishing Belmont Park, an additional undertaking that underscored his dedication to thoroughbred racing.
Despite his involvement in the sport spanning merely a few years, his financial commitments were extensive and profound, covering high-quality bloodstock, infrastructure, and various other aspects. This engagement also extended to his sons, Harry Payne and William Payne Whitney, both of whom developed a keen interest and made their own significant contributions to thoroughbred racing.
In 1904, a sudden end came to this patriarch’s period in racing due to a ruptured appendix and a consequent infection. A multifaceted individual, William Collins Whitney transitioned from an Ivy League-trained attorney to a prominent political figure, then to a shrewd businessman, and finally to a devoted supporter of equine sports, forging a lasting heritage with his Eton blue and brown colors that persisted far into the 21st century.
