Harry Payne Whitney (April 29 1872 - October 26 1930) was an American businessman,
thoroughbredThe Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word "thoroughbred" is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...
horsebreeder, and member of the prominent
Whitney familyThe Whitney family is an American family notable for their social prominence, wealth, business enterprises and philanthropy, founded by John Whitney who came from London, England to Watertown, Massachusetts in 1635. There are a number of very prominent members of this family including inventor Eli...
.
Born in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
, he was the eldest son of the very wealthy businessman and
United States Secretary of the NavyThe United States Secretary of the Navy is the civilian head of the Department of the Navy. The position was a member of the President's Cabinet until 1947, when the Navy, Army, and newly created Air Force were placed in the Department of Defense and the Secretary of the Navy was placed under the...
,
William C. WhitneyWilliam Collins Whitney was an American political leader and financier and founder of the prominent Whitney family. He served as Secretary of the Navy in the first Cleveland administration from 1885 through 1889...
and brother to William Payne Whitney.
Harry Payne Whitney was sent to study at
Groton SchoolGroton School is a private, Episcopal, college preparatory boarding school located in Groton, Massachusetts, U.S. It enrolls approximately 350 boys and girls, from the eighth through twelfth grades. For decades Groton was a portal to power whose graduates trod a well-worn path to the State...
in
Groton, MassachusettsGroton is an affluent town located in northwestern Middlesex County, Massachusetts. The population of Groton was 9,547 at the 2000 census. It is home to two world renowned prep schools: Groton School, founded in 1884, and Lawrence Academy at Groton, founded in 1793...
then attended
Yale UniversityYale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut, and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States. Yale has produced many notable alumni, including five...
, graduating with a
law degreeA Law degree is the degree conferred on someone who successfully completes studies in law. However many law degrees are insufficient education for a license to practice law by the administrative body of that jurisdiction...
in 1894.
Harry Payne Whitney (April 29 1872 - October 26 1930) was an American businessman,
thoroughbredThe Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word "thoroughbred" is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...
horsebreeder, and member of the prominent
Whitney familyThe Whitney family is an American family notable for their social prominence, wealth, business enterprises and philanthropy, founded by John Whitney who came from London, England to Watertown, Massachusetts in 1635. There are a number of very prominent members of this family including inventor Eli...
.
Early years
Born in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
, he was the eldest son of the very wealthy businessman and
United States Secretary of the NavyThe United States Secretary of the Navy is the civilian head of the Department of the Navy. The position was a member of the President's Cabinet until 1947, when the Navy, Army, and newly created Air Force were placed in the Department of Defense and the Secretary of the Navy was placed under the...
,
William C. WhitneyWilliam Collins Whitney was an American political leader and financier and founder of the prominent Whitney family. He served as Secretary of the Navy in the first Cleveland administration from 1885 through 1889...
and brother to William Payne Whitney.
Harry Payne Whitney was sent to study at
Groton SchoolGroton School is a private, Episcopal, college preparatory boarding school located in Groton, Massachusetts, U.S. It enrolls approximately 350 boys and girls, from the eighth through twelfth grades. For decades Groton was a portal to power whose graduates trod a well-worn path to the State...
in
Groton, MassachusettsGroton is an affluent town located in northwestern Middlesex County, Massachusetts. The population of Groton was 9,547 at the 2000 census. It is home to two world renowned prep schools: Groton School, founded in 1884, and Lawrence Academy at Groton, founded in 1793...
then attended
Yale UniversityYale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut, and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States. Yale has produced many notable alumni, including five...
, graduating with a
law degreeA Law degree is the degree conferred on someone who successfully completes studies in law. However many law degrees are insufficient education for a license to practice law by the administrative body of that jurisdiction...
in 1894. He was a member of the
Skull and BonesSkull and Bones is a secret society at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. The society's alumni organization, which owns the society's real property and oversees the organization, is the Russell Trust Association, named for General William Huntington Russell, who co-founded Skull and Bones...
.
In 1904, H. P. Whitney inherited $24,000,000 from his father and in 1917 approximately $12,000,000 from his uncle,
Col. Oliver Hazard PayneOliver Hazard Payne was an American businessman, organizer of the American Tobacco trust, and assisted with the formation of U.S. Steel, and was affiliated with Standard Oil. He is considered one of the 100 wealthiest Americans, having left an enormous fortune..The son of businessman-politician...
. He married
Gertrude VanderbiltGertrude Vanderbilt Whitney was an American sculptor, art patron and collector, and founder in 1931 of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. She was a prominent social figure and hostess, who was born into the United States Vanderbilt family and married into the Whitney...
, a member of the wealthy
Vanderbilt familyThe Vanderbilt family is a significant international family with Dutch origins, who were highly prominent during the 1800s due to the family patriarch Cornelius Vanderbilt, the tenth wealthiest person in history, who created railroad and shipping empires...
with whom he had three children:
Flora Payne WhitneyFlora Payne Whitney, also known as Flora Whitney Miller , was a wealthy socialite, art collector, and patron of the arts...
(1897),
Cornelius Vanderbilt WhitneyCornelius Vanderbilt Whitney was an American businessman, film producer, writer, and government official, as well as the owner of a leading stable of thoroughbred racehorses....
(1899), and Barbara Whitney (1903).
As a sportsman
An avid sportman, he was a ten-goal
poloPolo is a team sport played on horseback in which the objective is to score goals against an opposing team. Players score by driving a small white plastic or wooden ball into the opposing team's goal using a long-handled mallet...
player. His love of the sport was inherited from his father who had been involved with polo when it was first organized in the United States in 1876 by
James Gordon Bennett, Jr.James Gordon Bennett, Jr. was publisher of the New York Herald, founded by his father, James Gordon Bennett, Sr.. He was generally known as Gordon Bennett to distinguish him from his father....
. H. P. Whitney organized the U. S. polo team that beat
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in 1909. As well, he was a board member of the Montauk Yacht Club and competed with his yacht "Vanitie" in the
America's CupThe America’s Cup is the most prestigious regatta and match race in the sport of sailing, and the oldest active trophy in international sport, predating the Modern Olympics by 45 years. The sport attracts top sailors and yacht designers because of its long history and prestige...
. Whitney also served on the board of directors of the
Long Island Motor ParkwayThe Long Island Motor Parkway , also known as the Vanderbilt Parkway and Motor Parkway, was the first roadway designed for automobile use only. It was privately built by William Kissam Vanderbilt with overpasses and bridges to remove intersections...
, built by his wife's cousin,
William Kissam Vanderbilt IIWilliam Kissam Vanderbilt II was a motor racing enthusiast and yachtsman and a member of the prominent United States Vanderbilt family....
.
Whitney also enjoyed
quailQuail is a collective name for several genera of mid-sized birds in the pheasant family Phasianidae. New World quails and buttonquails are not closely related but named for their similar appearance and behaviour....
hunting and purchased the 14,000 acre
Foshalee PlantationFoshalee Plantation was a large quail hunting plantation located in northern Leon County, Florida, United States.First called Incochee, it was purchased in 1824 by Hezekiah and Ann Graham Ponder. Hezekiah and Ann are buried in a cemetery near U.S. 319....
in northern
Leon County, FloridaLeon County is a county located in the state of Florida. Its population in July 2008 was estimated to be about 264,000. The principal place in Leon County is Tallahassee, the county seat and state capital. The county seat is home to two of Florida's major public universities, Florida A&M...
from Sydney E. Hutchinson from
Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia is the largest city in Pennsylvania and the sixth-most-populous city in the United States.In 2008, the population of the city proper was estimated to be over 1.4 million, while the metropolitan area's population of 5.8 million made it the country's fifth-largest...
.
Thoroughbred horse racing
Harry Payne Whitney was a major figure in thoroughbred horse racing. He inherited a large stable from his father (including the great
FillyA filly is a young female horse too young to be called a mare. There are several specific definitions in use.*In most cases filly is a female horse under the age of four years old....
ArtfulArtful was born at the Westbury Stable at Old Westbury on Long Island into a family of racing royalty begun in 1898 by William Collins Whitney. The Whitney family remain to this day a leading name in the sport of Thoroughbred horse racing....
and her sire
HamburgHamburg was an American Thoroughbred race horse bred in Kentucky by James E. Kittson, brother to Norman W. Kittson who had been partners in Erdenheim Stud. His sire was the great Hanover by another great, Hindoo....
, and in 1915 established a
horse breedingHorse breeding is reproduction in horses, and particularly the human-directed process of selective breeding of animals, particularly purebred horses of a given breed. While feral and wild horses breed successfully without human assistance, planned matings can be used to produce specifically desired...
farm in
Lexington, KentuckyLexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 65th largest in the United States. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...
where he developed the American polo pony by breeding
American Quarter HorseThe American Quarter Horse is an American breed of horse that excels at sprinting short distances. Its name came from its ability to outdistance other breeds of horses in races of a quarter mile or less, where some individuals have been clocked at speeds up to 55 mph...
stallions with his thoroughbred mares. He was thoroughbred racing's leading owner of the year in the United States on eight occasions and the breeder of almost two hundred stakes race winners, first led by Hamburg and then led by his great sire
BroomstickBroomstick was a Thoroughbred race horse born and bred at the famous McGrathiana Stud in Kentucky, but more importantly, he was one of the great sires of American racing. Out of another great sire, the Hall of Famer Ben Brush, Broomstick went on after his racing career to produce champion after...
by
Ben BrushBen Brush was a high class Thoroughbred racehorse and sire who won the Kentucky Derby. He was bay stallion by Bramble his dam Roseville by Reform...
. His
KentuckyThe Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. Kentucky is a Southern state situated in the Upland South, although the state is infrequently placed, geographically and culturally, in the Midwest. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a...
-bred horse
Whisk Broom IIWhisk Broom II was American-bred thoroughbred racehorse who raced in the United Kingdom and in the United States. A grandson of Ben Brush, Whisk Broom II was sired by the U.S. Hall of Fame stallion, Broomstick. He was bred in 1907 by the late Sam S. Brown's Senorita Stud Farm...
(sire by Broomstick) raced in
EnglandThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
then at age six came back to the U.S. where he won the
New York Handicap TripleThe New York Handicap Triple is the name sometimes used to refer to three American Graded stakes races for Thoroughbred racehorses run by the New York Racing Association at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York...
.
Whitney had nineteen horses who ran in the
Kentucky DerbyThe Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter miles at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds ...
, winning it the first time in 1915 with another Broomstick foal,
RegretRegret was a famous American thoroughbred racehorse and the first of three fillies to ever win the Kentucky Derby.Foaled at Harry Payne Whitney's Brookdale Farm in Lincroft, New Jersey, and sired by the 1913-1915 leading sire and National Museum of Racing and Hall of Famer Broomstick, , and out of...
, the first
fillyA filly is a young female horse too young to be called a mare. There are several specific definitions in use.*In most cases filly is a female horse under the age of four years old....
ever to capture the race. Regret went on to earn
Horse of the YearThe American Award for Horse of the Year is the highest honor given in American thoroughbred horse racing. It has been awarded since 1887 to the horse, irrespective of age, whose performance during the racing year is deemed the most outstanding....
honors and was named to the
National Museum of Racing and Hall of FameThe National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers...
. Whitney won the Kentucky Derby for the second time in 1927 with the colt, Whiskery. His record of six wins in the
Preakness StakesThe Preakness Stakes is an American Grade I stakes race 1-3/16 mile thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old horses, held on the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds ; fillies 121 lb...
stood as the most by any breeder until 1968 when
Calumet FarmCalumet Farm is a 762 acre Thoroughbred breeding and training farm established in 1924 in Lexington, Kentucky, United States by William Monroe Wright, founding owner of the Calumet Baking Powder Company....
broke the record. Whitney's colt, Burgomaster, won the
Belmont StakesThe Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes race held every June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. The race is the third and final leg of the Triple Crown, following five weeks after the Kentucky Derby, and three weeks after the Preakness Stakes...
and also received Horse of the Year honors. Amongst many, Whitney's breeding operation produced
EquipoiseEquipoise was a champion thoroughbred racehorse, a chestnut bred in the United States by Harry Payne Whitney and owned by his son, Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney...
and
JohrenJohren was a Thoroughbred racehorse who competed in the United States. Owned and bred by Harry Payne Whitney, he was sired by Spearmint, the 1906 Grand Prix de Paris winner and a son of Australian Racing Hall of Fame and New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame inaugural inductee Carbine...
.
Whitney's stable won the following prestigious
U.S. Triple CrownThe Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing consists of three races for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses. Winning all three of these Thoroughbred horse races is considered the greatest accomplishment of a Thoroughbred racehorse...
races:
- Kentucky Derby
The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter miles at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds ...
:
- 1915 : Regret
Regret was a famous American thoroughbred racehorse and the first of three fillies to ever win the Kentucky Derby.Foaled at Harry Payne Whitney's Brookdale Farm in Lincroft, New Jersey, and sired by the 1913-1915 leading sire and National Museum of Racing and Hall of Famer Broomstick, , and out of...
(voted Horse of the YearThe American Award for Horse of the Year is the highest honor given in American thoroughbred horse racing. It has been awarded since 1887 to the horse, irrespective of age, whose performance during the racing year is deemed the most outstanding....
)
- 1927 : Whiskery
- Preakness Stakes
The Preakness Stakes is an American Grade I stakes race 1-3/16 mile thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old horses, held on the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds ; fillies 121 lb...
:
- 1908 : Royal Tourist
Royal Tourist was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the American Classic Preakness Stakes in 1908 and who later that year set a World Record time in winning the Winters Handicap at Emeryville Race Track in Oakland, California....
- 1913 : Buskin
- 1914 : Holiday
- 1921 : Broomspun
- 1927 : Bostonian
- 1928 : Victorian
Victorian was an American Thoroughbred racehorse that was bred in Kentucky. He was bred and raced by Harry P. Whitney and is best known as the winner of the 1928 American Classic, the Preakness Stakes in which he was ridden by future Hall of Fame jockey Sonny Workman.When his racing career ended,...
- Belmont Stakes
The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes race held every June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. The race is the third and final leg of the Triple Crown, following five weeks after the Kentucky Derby, and three weeks after the Preakness Stakes...
:
- 1905 : Tanya
Tanya was an American thoroughbred filly racehorse bred and raised in Kentucky. She was bred by William Collins Whitney and foaled at his Brookdale Farm in Lincroft, New Jersey. Sired by the outstanding English stallion Meddler, she was out of the mare, Handspun.Unfortunately, before Tanya could...
(filly)
- 1906 : Burgomaster (voted Horse of the Year
The American Award for Horse of the Year is the highest honor given in American thoroughbred horse racing. It has been awarded since 1887 to the horse, irrespective of age, whose performance during the racing year is deemed the most outstanding....
)
- 1913 : Prince Eugene
- 1918 : Johren
Johren was a Thoroughbred racehorse who competed in the United States. Owned and bred by Harry Payne Whitney, he was sired by Spearmint, the 1906 Grand Prix de Paris winner and a son of Australian Racing Hall of Fame and New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame inaugural inductee Carbine...
His Lexington, Kentucky stud farm was passed on to his son, C.V. Whitney, who owned it until 1989 when it became part of
Gainesway FarmGainesway Farm is an American Thoroughbred horse breeding business in Lexington, Kentucky.The 1,500 acre property has been home to sires such as Youth and Exceller and numerous others who are buried on the property. The tradition-bound land echoes the past, present and future of countless...
.
Philanthropy
The benefactor to many organizations, in 1920 H. P. Whitney financed the
Whitney South Seas ExpeditionThe Whitney South Seas Expedition to collect bird specimens for the American Museum of Natural History , under the initial leadership of Rollo Beck, was financed by Harry Payne Whitney, a thoroughbred horse-breeder and philanthropist....
of the
American Museum of Natural HistoryThe American Museum of Natural History , located on the Upper West Side, Manhattan, New York, USA, is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world...
,
Rollo BeckRollo Howard Beck was an American ornithologist, bird collector and explorer. Beck's Petrel is named after him.-Early years:...
's major zoological expedition that sent teams of scientists and naturalists to undertake botanical research and to study the bird population of several thousand islands in the
Pacific OceanThe Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Tepre Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. It extends from the Arctic in the north to Antarctica in the south, bounded by Asia and...
.
The Whitney Collection of Sporting Art was donated in his memory to the
Yale University Art GalleryThe Yale University Art Gallery houses a significant and encyclopedic collection of art in several buildings on the campus of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Although it embraces all cultures and periods, the Gallery possesses especially renowned collections of early Italian painting,...
.
Harry Whitney died in 1930 at age fifty-eight. He and his wife are interred in the
Woodlawn CemeteryLocated in The Bronx, Woodlawn Cemetery is one of the largest cemeteries in New York City. It opened as a rural cemetery in 1863, out in "the country", in what was then southern Westchester County, which was annexed to New York City in 1874...
,
The Bronx