Thoroughbred owner and breeder Marylou Whitney, a noted philanthropist and socialite who added to her family’s legacy in horse racing, died Friday at her home in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. She was 93. Whitney is to be inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame as a “Pillar of the Turf” on Aug. 2. The induction ceremony is on the eve of the Grade 1 Whitney at Saratoga Race Course honoring her family, for which she annually presented the trophy. Whitney was beloved in the upstate New York town, where she was known as the “Queen of Saratoga.” New York Racing Association track announcer Larry Collmus made an announcement of her death during Friday’s program at Saratoga, and a moment of silence was observed. “That was one of the most difficult announcements I’ve ever had to make,” Collmus said afterward. Over the decades, the Whitney family helped revitalize Saratoga at times when wagering and attendance sagged, and in the 1970s, the family helped convince NYRA to keep the track open as a viable part of its racing calendar. Marylou Whitney, with her enthusiasm and dazzle, helped give the city its moniker of “the summer place to be,” inviting celebrity acquaintances to the town, hosting a gala, attending myriad events and fundraisers, and mingling at the track to put the spotlight on Saratoga. Her philanthropy encompassed backstretch workers, retired Thoroughbreds, and major institutions in the town of Saratoga, pursuits she shared with current husband John Hendrickson, the president of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. "An avid horsewoman and true lover of the sport, Mrs. Marylou Whitney was one of Thoroughbred racing's greatest ambassadors,” NYRA CEO and president Dave O'Rourke said in a statement issued Friday. “As owner of her eponymous stable, Marylou was a top breeder and a committed supporter of the Thoroughbred industry, who delivered some of the most memorable moments in New York racing. Marylou's passion for racing was only matched by her love for the city of Saratoga Springs and her support for the backstretch community. Her generosity was unparalleled and the list of her contributions is endless. Saratoga would not be the destination it is today without the esteemed leadership, dedication and support of Marylou. [Her] love of this sport and city will have a lasting impact on generations to come.” Whitney was born on Dec. 24, 1925, in Kansas City, Mo., and grew up riding saddle horses before later pursuing various crafts including actress, disc jockey, and cookbook author. In 1958, she married Cornelius Vanderbilt "Sonny" Whitney, from one of racing’s great dynasties as the son of Harry Payne Whitney and grandson of William C. Whitney. However, before C.V. Whitney died in 1992, he dispersed his bloodstock. Marylou Whitney used a piece of his estimated $100 million estate to aggressively pursue trying to buy back mares associated with the Whitney bloodlines to build her own breeding program. Her homebred program and boutique racing stable proved successful. According to Equibase statistics, through Thursday, runners under the Marylou Whitney Stables banner have earned more than $10 million. Among Whitney’s key acquisitions as she built her program was Dear Birdie, a Storm Bird mare out of C.V. Whitney's homebred multiple graded stakes winner Hush Dear. Dear Birdie produced 2003 Kentucky Oaks winner Bird Town, who also captured that season's Acorn Stakes and placed in two additional Grade 1 races to earn a divisional Eclipse Award. Meanwhile, in that fall of 2003, Dear Birdie’s son Birdstone won the first of his three career Grade 1 races in the Champagne Stakes. He went on to win the 2004 Belmont Stakes and Travers Stakes. “You know when someone passes and they say how great they were, in her case it’s absolutely true,” said Nick Zito, who trained both Bird Town and Birdstone. “She loved the horses. It was great for me to be associated with her. I’m so grateful I was a part of it. I can’t tell you how much I loved her. When I got into the Hall of Fame in 2005, she was sitting right there. I know she was looking at me and looking out for me. “She looked out for people,” Zito added. “You know how many times I would call her and John about someone in the hospital and she was there.” After Birdstone’s upset victory in the Belmont, which came at the expense of Triple Crown hopeful Smarty Jones, he won the Travers in darkness in a rainstorm, which Zito counts as a memorable day. “I don’t think there’ll be a more memorable Travers than that,” Zito said. “It’s certainly in the top five all time.” Dear Birdie, who was named the 2004 Broodmare of the Year, counted several other stakes horses among her descendants as she became a foundation mare for Whitney. Most notable among those is Bird Town’s son Bird Song, who won the Grade 2 Alysheba Stakes in 2017 as a homebred. Dear Birdie’s family tree is also responsible for stakes winners Gorgeous Bird and Marion's Bird, graded stakes placed Bird Maker, Mountain Bird, Mountain Town, Ninth Client, Pow Wow Wow, and Quality Bird, and stakes-placed Cheechako and So Long Birdie. Birdstone, the sire of classic winners Mine That Bird and Summer Bird, and Bird Song, who entered stud in 2018, both stand at Gainesway Farm, which has a long history with the Whitney family. The farm encompasses the former Greentree Stud and C.V. Whitney property, and Marylou Whitney continued to keep her broodmares and young stock there. “I enjoy visiting Birdstone at Gainesway Farm,” Whitney told the New York Racing Association last year in a series celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Belmont Stakes. “Gainesway used to be mine. They treat me as if it is still mine. [Gainesway president Antony Beck] is terrific with the horses and he has wonderful help. I think Gainesway is one of the most beautiful farms in the world. They keep it better than we ever did. It is glorious, so I am as happy as a lark there. When I see Birdstone, I think of the day he beat Smarty Jones, the most glorious day of my life.” Even as she battled health issues in recent years, Whitney remained active in breeding and racing. Her most recent stakes victory came just last month as Hard Legacy won the Grade 3 Regret Stakes on June 15 at Churchill Downs. The filly is a third-generation homebred, out of the graded stakes-placed Birdstone mare Stone Legacy. She is one of several horses Whitney placed with Norm Casse, who went out on his own in early 2018 after serving as the top assistant for his father, Mark Casse. “It just means so much to me, because when I went out on my own, there wasn't a whole lot of support,” Norm Casse said after saddling Mischievous Bird to a win at Gulfstream Park earlier this year with the owner in attendance. “I think people thought I'd have a barnful of horses, and that was not the case. Marylou and John really were the first owners to call and say, 'Hey, we're going to get behind you.’ ” Whitney, who was elected to The Jockey Club in 2011, was one of the founding members of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, and a major contributor to the opening of the Secretariat Center at the Kentucky Horse Park, which retrains and rehomes retired racehorses. She has also done substantial charitable work with backstretch workers. "The backstretch workers are the sport's unsung heroes,” Whitney said while accepting her 2010 Eclipse Award of Merit, one of the sport’s highest honors. “These wonderful people work long hours in dangerous situations while often living in poor conditions. All of us should try more to improve their lives and advance their dignity.” Twelve years ago, Whitney and Hendrickson helped create the Backstretch Appreciation program, which offers nightly events for the backstretch workers at Saratoga. Nick Caras, the program director for Racetrack Chaplaincy New York, remembers the first movie night held when that program began in 2007. “There was torrential rain and [Whitney] and John got out of the car,” Caras recalled. “There was no press there, and they walked under the tent and proceeded to watch the movie with us for 20 minutes, 30 minutes. Nobody knew they were there, it wasn’t a publicity stunt. They sat with us to watch a move at 9:30 at night having just come from a previous function. The water was up to our ankles and it didn’t matter. “She poured out her heart and soul,” Caras continued, “and really cared about the backstretch people, always would ask, ‘Are they doing okay with this, are they doing okay with that, what are the dormitories like, are they improving, do they get to speak to their families? What can we do to help?’” Whitney’s philanthropic work in Saratoga Springs also extended to founding the National Museum of Dance and influencing the creation of the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. Whitney is survived by Hendrickson and her five children, Marian Louise, Frank, Henry, Heather, and Cornelia. – additional reporting by David Grening