By Antony Beck
All these moving tributes to Marylou Whitney leave no doubt that she touched many, many lives. I cannot hope to give an adequate sense of how deeply she influenced my own–as a neighbor, counselor and friend. But I hope you will forgive me if I at least try.
Marylou belonged not only to a different generation, but in many ways to a different era. Her very name evokes a time of glamour that makes our own epoch seem rather colorless by comparison. Yet I cannot stress enough how firmly she remained ever rooted in the present. Rooted, that is, by a loyalty and generosity that transcended all barriers of age or origin. A generosity that comprised not just deep, genuine philanthropy, but also the countless quiet kindnesses that together achieved a no less decisive impact on many lives.
Decisive? Certainly. In my own case, I need only tell you how often Marylou would like to tease me that of all the matings she has supervised, none surpassed the one she instigated in my own engagement. For it was she who introduced me to my wife Angela; and she, as a result, who can be credited for the advent of our five wonderful children. Without Marylou, I'm not sure I would have become or remained as animated as I am by our work here at Gainesway.
As it was, no small part of the fulfillment I have found here can be traced to her abiding commitment to land once grazed by horses raised by her late husband Sonny. For her, as for me, it always felt as though the old and new reinforced each other. How we loved to see her and her husband John, also a very great friend, touring the farm on a golf cart on any day the weather was pleasant enough. This ritual became one of the highlights of her later years. And it had been the most natural thing in the world one day to find her presiding over the placement of headstones for the previously unmarked graves of champion Silver Spoon and her dam Silver Fog, in the cemetery that contains so many names synonymous with the Whitneys.
It will be easily understood, then, how unforgettable a privilege it was to be seated beside Marylou when Summer Bird–by her 2004 [Belmont] winner Birdstone–won the Belmont. I was able to tell her to close her eyes and reflect that neither Sonny, nor Harry Payne Whitney, had ever achieved what she had just done. And when that grand old lady opened those eyes, they were full of tears.
Given her love of the farm, there had never been any doubt that Birdstone would stand at Gainesway. But the affinity between our families extended far beyond horses. My children adored her. She was so kind to my mother especially, after we lost my father. And her beautiful nature defined so many places: Cady Hill, for instance, and Saratoga itself. How fitting that the place should fall respectfully quiet Saturday–because no midsummer sun could rival the sheer warmth of her character, a warmth that enabled so many different people to blossom.
Happily, whatever the challenges of health and age, Marylou retained her sharp mind and charm to the end. Even for a lady of advanced years, her loss is a terrible shock. Her passing is the one divide she cannot transcend. But Marylou will endure forever in the hearts of all of us who loved her.
Antony Beck is the president of Gainesway Farm.
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