At 93, Marylou Whitney Visits Gulfstream Winner's Circle

Sunday, March 17, 2019

Bernies Blog

HALLANDALE BEACH - Legendary Saratoga socialite and philanthropist Marylou Whitney visited the Gulfstream Park winner’s circle alongside husband John Hendrickson Saturday, celebrating homebred Mischievous Bird’s impressive 3 ¾-length triumph in the fifth race. The 93-year-old thoroughbred owner and breeder, who has been battling health issues during the winter months, flashed a huge smile when greeted by winning jockey Julien Leparoux.

“I feel fine now that you won,” she told Leparoux, who was in total control aboard the 3-year-old son of Into Mischief during the six-furlong maiden special weight event.

Mischievous Bird was making his first start since finishing off the board in his debut after a troubled trip at Saratoga Aug. 25, when he was a well-backed 2-1. “I told Julien, ‘Six months later we got what we expected,” trainer Norm Casse said.

Mischievous Bird ($13.60) broke alertly to press the pace set by Chad Brown-trained Sayyaaf along the backstretch and around the turn before pulling away to victory when asked for some run in the stretch. The Kentucky-bred colt ran six furlongs in 1:12.40 to comfortably prevail over a late-running Island Song, who nosed out Sayyaaf for the place.

Casse derived special satisfaction while visiting the winner’s circle with a horse campaigned by Whitney and Hendrickson. “It just means so much to me, because when I went out on my own, there wasn’t a whole lot of support. I think people thought I’d have a barnful of horses, and that was not the case. Marylou and John really were the first owners to call and say, ‘Hey, we’re going to get behind you,” said Casse, who went out on his own early last year after serving as the top assistant for his father Mark Casse. “For this horse to win today with Marylou in attendance means a lot.”

Rainbow 6 Carryover Jackpot Swells to $1,768,553

The 20-cent Rainbow 6 carryover jackpot grew to $1,768,553.06 for today's 12-race program when the multi-race wager went unsolved for the 22nd consecutive day Saturday. A total of $649,622 was bet into the multi-race wager, which began with a pool of $1,612,709 carried over from Friday’s card. Multiple tickets with six winners Saturday were each worth $25,518.20. The Rainbow 6 sequence will span Races 7-12.

Who’s Hot: Julien Leparoux doubled, scoring aboard Royalty Salvatore ($4.60) in Race 1, before making Marylou Whitney’s day with his winning ride on Mischievous Bird.