Marylou Whitney

Len Green will be honored by the New York Race Track Chaplaincy with the Marylou Whitney Award at its Annual Fundraising Brunch Aug. 14, the organization announced Thursday. Founder of The Green Group, a CPA firm specializing in the Thoroughbred industry, Green also works with son Jon who manages D.J. Stables, the owners of Eclipse winners Jaywalk (Cross Traffic) and Wonder Wheel (Into Mischief). "Len and his late wife Lois have silently, although generously, supported an increasing number of NY Chaplaincy vital initiatives and events over the course of the...

Nancy Underwood has been named executive director of the Backstretch Employee Service Team. Underwood succeeds Paul Ruchames, who retired in December after 14 years leading the organization. Founded in 1989, BEST is a non-profit organization devoted to supporting the health and well-being of the backstretch community living and working at Saratoga Race Course and Belmont Park. BEST provides on-site counseling and primary healthcare services, access to health insurance, and case management assistance. Much of this work is accomplished by the dedicated BEST staff located at Belmont Park and Saratoga Race...

It's been more than four years since Saratoga socialite Marylou Whitney passed away, but thanks to her husband John Hendrickson and trainer Norm Casse, her memory is never far away when it comes to the Saratoga season. Marylou Whitney Stables, now operated by Hendrickson, won with its first starter at the meet when homebred Empire Island (Classic Empire) won the day's sixth race by three-quarters of a length over Lady Moscato (Quality Road). A six-furlong maiden race for 2-year-old fillies that was run at six furlongs, it had a purse...

Sunday evening dinners have always been a hit among the many backstretch appreciation events that go on throughout the Saratoga race meet, but this summer the affair has become an ever bigger attraction now that Morrissey's Lounge and Bistro at the Adelphi Hotel is catering the weekly celebration. Every Sunday just before 6 p.m., upbeat music and savory smells reach Union Avenue as a crowd gathers at the Marylou Whitney Pavilion. With dozens of volunteers on hand, the vast smorgasbord of food remains open until 8:30 so that workers who...

The New York Racing Association, Inc. joined Assemblymember Carrie Woerner, philanthropist John Hendrickson and representatives from Saratoga Hospital, the Backstretch Employee Service Team and the New York Thoroughbred Horseman's Association for a ribbon-cutting to celebrate the opening of the new Saratoga Backstretch Clinic at historic Saratoga Race Course on Tuesday. The Saratoga Backstretch Clinic will allow Saratoga Hospital and BEST to expand on the existing healthcare services offered to members of NYRA's backstretch community. Located just inside Gate 16, the backstretch clinic was constructed over the past year to replace...

Officials from the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) will welcome Assemblymember Carrie Woerner, philanthropist John Hendrickson and representatives from Saratoga Hospital and the Backstretch Employee Service Team (BEST) for a ribbon-cutting to celebrate the opening of the new Saratoga Backstretch Clinic next Tuesday, July 11, the organization said in a release Friday. The new clinic will allow Saratoga Hospital and BEST to expand on the existing healthcare services offered to members of NYRA's backstretch community. The modern healthcare clinic was constructed over the past year to replace a doublewide...

Andy Serling, the longtime New York Racing Association television analyst and handicapper, was honored at a Wednesday morning brunch by the New York Race Track Chaplaincy for his ongoing support of the backstretch community at the organization's 15th annual fund-raising brunch at Saratoga National Golf Club in Saratoga Springs, New York. "Anyone who has been around our sport knows that the backstretch community is the lifeblood of our sport," he said. "I greatly admire all those people who dedicate their lives to the care of Thoroughbreds and I'm immensely grateful...

Officials at NYRA Cares and Backstretch Employee Service Team (B.E.S.T.) announced that a new healthcare clinic will be built at Saratoga Race Course and is due to open in 2023. As a tribute to his late wife, Marylou Whitney, philanthropist John Hendrickson is funding construction of the new clinic, which will replace a double wide trailer that has housed on-site healthcare services at the track. The new clinic will provide a dramatically improved experience for those receiving primary and emergency healthcare services at Saratoga Race Course, which will be provided...

The New York Race Track Chaplaincy of America, created in 1986, held a groundbreaking ceremony Mar. 28 for a multi-purpose building and chapel on the grounds of Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y. The 3,500-square foot facility (which Chaplaincy officials hope will open this fall) will be located just inside the Gate 6 entrance to Belmont Park and will include a chapel which will also function as a multi-purpose room, office space for the chaplaincy staff, and a classroom to be used as a learning center. Among those who participated in...

Winchell Thoroughbreds and L and N Racing's Echo Zulu (Gun Runner), tabbed a 'TDN Rising Star' following her 5 1/2-length debut victory at Saratoga July 15, will attempt to add to her freshman sire's growing list of graded stakes winners when she goes postward in the GI Spinaway S. at Saratoga Sunday. Her first-out effort earned her a 92 Beyer Speed Figure--the highest recorded figure for a 2-year-old filly this year. "The idea was always that she could be a Saratoga 2-year-old," said Winchell Thoroughbreds' racing and bloodstock advisor David...

Godolphin's once-beaten Maxfield (Street Sense), the impressive 3 1/4-length winner of Churchill's GII Stephen Foster S. when last seen June 26, tuned up for his next appearance in the Aug. 7 GI Whitney S. with a half-mile breeze over the Oklahoma training track Friday morning that was timed in :49.09 (14/46). Working in the company of stablemate Longpants Required (New Year's Day), the son of Velvety (Bernardini) covered his first two furlongs in :25.3 and was out five-eighths of a mile in 1:01.1 according to NYRA clockers. "I just wanted...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY - Four days short of two years after her death, Marylou Whitney managed to upstage Thursday's feel-good, season-opener at Saratoga Race Course. Pretty Birdie (Bird Song), bred and owned by Marylou Whitney Stables, struck just the right emotional note--bridging the past and the present--with her gate-to-wire victory in the 103rd running of the GIII Schuylerville S. "It's a little bittersweet. I wish she was here," Whitney's husband John Hendrickson said. "She would love this. Saratoga is open and she's won a race. Things are the way they...