Hovdey: Saturday’s headliners have blue-chip connections

What’s in a name? If anything, the headline Saturday features at America’s two foremost racing sites answer the question in spades, for it is impossible to imagine what Saratoga would be like without the Whitney family any more than thinking that Del Mar would have gotten along just fine without the considerable influence of John C. Mabee.

The Whitney Stakes has been run at Saratoga since 1928. Its first 27 runnings were at 1 1/4 miles, and the rest have been at 1 1/8 miles. Good horses began winning it right away, including Whichone in 1930 for Harry Payne Whitney, Equipoise in 1932 for Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, and Swing and Sway in 1942 for John Hay Whitney.

They were all related, in one way or another, to William Collins Whitney, the man who breathed new life into Saratoga in the early 1870s with an investment group intent on making the track a signature drawing card of Saratoga Springs. W.C. Whitney had other interests as well, serving Grover Cleveland as both his secretary of the Navy and best man at his presidential wedding.

Through the years, the Whitneys continued to leave their mark on both the racetrack and the race that bore their name. Doing business as Greentree Stable, John Hay Whitney won runnings with Devil Diver in 1944, One Hitter in 1951, Tom Fool in 1953, and Cohoes in 1958. C.V. Whitney won additional Whitneys with Counterpoint in 1952, State Dinner in 1980, and Silver Buck in 1982.

The Greentree Stable property adjacent to Saratoga has been a storied training ground for some of the greatest Thoroughbreds of the age, including Tom Fool and later Cigar. C.V. Whitney’s influence has been carried on by his widow, Marylou Whitney, and her husband, John Hendrickson, who have made it their mission to foster the welfare of those who work with racehorses through the Backstretch Appreciation program. Marylou also throws a pretty good party.

The John C. Mabee Stakes at Del Mar began life in 1945 as a one-mile race on the dirt, which is all there was at Del Mar in 1945. At the time, it was called the Ramona Handicap, named for the historically suspect but highly entertaining Ramona Pageant held since 1923 at a hillside amphitheater in the inland town of Hemet. The first Ramona winner was Canina, a 4-year-old daughter of Bull Dog ridden by future Hall of Famer Jack Westrope.

In 1945, John Mabee didn’t have much time to go to the races. The native of Iowa had only recently migrated west, and he was busy establishing himself in the grocery business as the owner of Johnny’s Market in San Diego. Later on, Mabee expanded to what would become the Big Bear Supermarket chain and founded Golden Eagle Insurance. He and his wife, Betty, bought their first horses in the mid-1950s and went on to win three Eclipse Awards as outstanding breeder.

The Ramona was stretched to nine furlongs right away, and as a dirt race, it had a few nice winners, including two-time winner Desert Trial, the dam of champion and Hall of Famer Desert Vixen. When it was switched to the grass in 1970, it took off as a race of national consequence. Champions and near champions like Tizna, Honey Fox, Sangue, Brown Bess, Flawlessly, Possibly Perfect, Escena, and Megahertz added the race to their considerable résumés.

As chairman of the board of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, Mabee ushered in the building of the new grandstand in the early 1990s and at the same time inspired the creation of the Pacific Classic, Del Mar’s first million-dollar event. Mabee won the first running of the Classic with Best Pal, but he never won the Ramona, which was renamed in his honor upon his death in 2002.

The Whitney has been a Grade 1 race since 1981, and Saturday’s field lives up to its historical billing. Defending champ Moreno, who tried hard but could not win a race out West, returns to Saratoga to take on Tonalist, Honor Code, V. E. Day, and Lea. There have been deeper groups, but none comes to mind right away.

The John C. Mabee was a Grade 1 race when it was named for Mabee, but in 2011 it was demoted to a Grade 2 event. This is not taken as an insult to Mabee as much as it is yet another failure of the garbage-in/garbage-out graded race system, or else a testimony to the fact that Del Mar racing chief Tom Robbins is a nice guy who was too classy to throw a tantrum when one of his best races was taken down a notch.

Still, the show goes on, and on Saturday, a very good running of the John C. Mabee will take place three hours after the Whitney is in the books. Personal Diary, last year’s Del Mar Oaks winner, faces a tough and consistent local bunch that includes Royal Heroine winner Fanticola, Santa Ana winner Stormy Lucy, Santa Barbara winner Queen of The Sand, and Wilshire Stakes winner Blingismything.

Technically, it may not be a Grade 1 event, but it is named for a Grade A man of the game.