Whitney family

Beginning with William Collins Whitney, an extremely wealthy businessman who was the breeder of twenty-six stakes winners, the Whitney name became synonymous with thoroughbred horse racing in the United States. Their horses won ever major race in the United States including multiple wins at the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes. Members of the family also maintained stables and breeding facilities in Newmarket, Suffolk County in the United Kingdom where they won important races including the prestigious Epsom Derby.

A number of Whitney family members were important financiers and business owners, statesmen, philanthropists, and owners of thoroughbred racing operations under various names including Greentree Farm in Lexington, Kentucky. Today, Whitney family members remain involved with horse racing, notably in 2004 when Marylou Whitney apologized on national television for denying Smarty Jones the U.S. Triple Crown after her colt Birdstone won the Belmont Stakes.

Joan Whitney Payson, an avid sportsperson, was the first owner of the New York Mets Major League Baseball team from its founding in 1962 until her death in 1975.

• Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney (1899-1992)
• Dorothy Payne Whitney (1887-1968)
• Harry Payne Whitney (1872-1930)
• Joan Whitney Payson (1903-1975)
• John Hay Whitney (1905-1982)
• Payne Whitney (1876-1927)
• William Collins Whitney (1841-1904)

By marriage:

• Betsey Cushing Roosevelt Whitney (1908-1998)
• Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875-1942)

See also: John Hay Whitney/family

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