Hello, Marylou

The chapter opens by summarizing the contributions of four-time Kentucky Oaks-winning owner Sonny Whitney to American racing before his death in 1992. It then turns to his widow, Marylou Whitney, who not long after her husband's death took up the cause of reviving the glories of the Whitney Stable by purchasing mares carrying the old Whitney bloodlines as the core of a revitalized breeding program. She was rewarded for her efforts when one of her purchases, Dear Birdie, produced Bird Town, who in 2003 made Whitney the first woman to both breed and own a Kentucky Oaks winner. Bird Town won the 2003 three-year-old filly championship and was followed in 2004 by her half brother Birdstone, winner of that year's Belmont Stakes and Travers Stakes. Named the "First Lady of the Oaks" in 2015 for her contributions to charities benefiting both women's and horses' health, she remained active in Thoroughbred racing and breeding until her death in 2019.