Marylou Whitney

Marie Louise "Marylou" Whitney (née Schroeder; December 24, 1925 – July 19, 2019) was an American socialite and philanthropist.

A prominent owner and breeder of thoroughbred racehorses, Whitney was notable for "reigning for decades as the social queen of the Saratoga and Lexington racing seasons".

Marylou Schroeder was born in Kansas City, Missouri, the daughter of Marie Jean and Harry Schroeder, a bank officer and accountant.

In 1948, she married Frank Hosford, the heir to the John Deere fortune.

They had four children together: Marion Louise "M'Lou", Frank "Hobbs", Henry "Hank", and Heather.

After they divorced, Marylou married C.V. Whitney in 1958.

They had one daughter, Cornelia.

Whitney dispersed his stock in the 1980s, not wanting to burden his wife with the business.

After C.V. Whitney's death, Marylou spent a substantial amount of time and money trying to buy back "Whitney Mares".

She purchased Dear Birdie, who proved to be the foundation for "Marylou Whitney Stables".

C.V. Whitney died in 1992, leaving Marylou with an estate estimated at $100 million.

In October 1997, Marylou married John Hendrickson, a (then) 32-year-old tennis champion and former aide to Governor Wally Hickel of Alaska, who was nearly 40 years her junior.

Hendrickson proposed to Marylou at Buckingham Palace in England.

C.V. Whitney and his family were a major force in thoroughbred horse racing and have had more stakes winners than any other family in the history of racing in the United States.

The building was dedicated in Lexington, Kentucky, in December 2001 by officials from the University of Kentucky and the McDowell Cancer Foundation.

The Marylou Whitney and John Hendrickson Cancer Facility for Women is 45465 sqft and opened in 2002.

It provides multidisciplinary ambulatory care for women suffering from breast cancer, gynecologic cancers, and lung, hematologic, gastrointestinal and urologic cancers.

In 2003, she was honored by the New York Turf Writers with the Ogden Phipps Award (Top Breeder).

Whitney was one of the founding members of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation and was the major contributor to the Secretariat Center at the Kentucky Horse Park, where the Marylou Whitney Barn is stationed.

She believed in finding retired racehorses new careers and loving homes once their racing careers ended.

Attached to each Jockey Club registration paper of every horse she bred was a message indicating how to contact her if one of her horses was in need of a home.

Dear Birdie was named Broodmare of the Year in 2004.

She is the dam of Birdstone and champion Bird Town.

Marylou Whitney Stables bred, raced and stands Birdstone, the 2004 Belmont Stakes and Travers Stakes winner.

When her colt Birdstone beat Smarty Jones in the 2004 Belmont Stakes, denying Smarty Jones the Triple Crown, she was apologetic.

Birdstone produced two classic winners in his first crop: 2009 Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird and eventual 2009 Three Year Old Champion Summer Bird.

In 2009, when there was a suggestion that an owner could enter another horse to block the filly Rachel Alexandra from running in the Preakness Stakes, Whitney said that if needed, she would withdraw her own horse to make room for the filly.

Whitney was awarded the Eclipse Award of Merit in 2010, one of the thoroughbred industry's highest honors.

As Whitney was accepting the Eclipse Award of Merit, she was also honored by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Cuomo's mother, Matilda, presented Whitney with a citation proclaiming her officially "the Queen of Saratoga."

This was the first citation Governor Cuomo had given.

In 2011, Whitney was elected to The Jockey Club.

No other stallion has sired two classic winners in his first crop since the late 19th century.

Whitney also bred and raced champion filly Bird Town, who holds the record for the fastest Kentucky Oaks in history.

Whitney is the only woman to breed and race a Kentucky Oaks winner.

Marylou Whitney was voted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 2019 as one of its esteemed Pillars of the Turf.

Whitney donated and fundraised for several medical institutions.

Over $44 million was raised for the building and establishment of the Markey Cancer Center in Lexington, Kentucky.

As one of the founders, Whitney was a fund raiser and made many television appearances on its behalf.

Whitney and John Hendrickson donated $2.5 million for the Marylou Whitney and John Hendrickson Cancer Facility for Women at the University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center.