Longtime Maryland breeder Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt and John Hay Whitney have been elected posthumously to the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame as Pillars of the Turf.
Vanderbilt and Whitney will be inducted into the Hall of Fame along with the racehorses Billy Kelly, Lava Man and former Maryland star Xtra Heat; jockeys Chris Antley and Vincent Powers; and Maryland-based trainer King Leatherbury on Aug. 7 at the Fasig-Tipton sales pavilion in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
The Pillars of the Turf category is designated to honor individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to thoroughbred racing at the highest national level.
Vanderbilt (1912-1999) took over the 600-acre Sagamore Farm in Glyndon at the age of 21 from his mother, registered his racing silks and purchased a 2-year-old named Discovery for $25,000.
Discovery, later a member of the Hall of Fame, began to emerge late in his 3-year-old season and was America's top handicapper the next two years, winning 27 races, including three consecutive runnings of both the Brooklyn and Whitney handicaps, and helping Vanderbilt become America's leading owner in 1935 with earnings of $303,605.
While still in his 20s, Vanderbilt purchased and took over management of Pimlico Race Course. He grouped major stakes races on the same day to create buzz for the track and brought added interest and visibility to the Preakness through events and marketing of Maryland's signature race.
In 1937, at the age of 24, Vanderbilt was elected to The Jockey Club. The next year, he brokered the famous match race between Seabiscuit and War Admiral in the Pimlico Special. In 1940, Vanderbilt took on the added duties of running Belmont Park, presiding over New York's transition from bookmakers to pari-mutuel betting.
Vanderbilt later campaigned champions Next Move, Bed o' Roses, Now What, Petrify and his most famous horse, Native Dancer. Vanderbilt bred all of those champions with the exception of Now What. Bed o' Roses and Native Dancer joined Discovery in the Hall of Fame. Native Dancer won 21 of 22 career starts and was a major star when racing first became prominent on television. Overall, Vanderbilt bred 77 stakes winners.
Whitney (1904-1982) inherited a control of Greentree Stable in 1944 with his sister, Joan Whitney Payson, and their previously separate racing and breeding endeavors were combined under the Greentree banner. The best horse Whitney ever owned was Tom Fool, who won all 10 of his races as a 4-year-old in 1953.