Sea Pigeon (1970–2000) was an American-bred, British-trained racehorse who excelled in both National Hunt and flat racing . In a racing career which lasted from 1972 until 1981 he competed in eighty-five races, and won thirty-seven times. He was best known for his performances in hurdle races when he won the Champion Hurdle on two occasions. He was also one of the best flat stayers of his era winning major handicap races under weights of up to 140 pounds . As a gelding, he was ineligible to compete in the most prestigious flat staying races, such as the Ascot Gold Cup . On his retirement he was described as Britain's "best known horse after Arkle and Red Rum .
53-716: Sea Pigeon was a dark-brown horse bred by his owner, Jock Whitney at the Greentree Stud in the United States. He was sired by the great Derby winner Sea Bird . Sea Pigeon's dam, Around the Roses, ran second in the Acorn Stakes and went on to produce the American turf champion Bowl Game . As a yearling Sea Pigeon was sent into training with Jeremy Tree in England. Sea Pigeon won once as
106-529: A defeat at Kempton, Sea Pigeon joined Peter (M.H.) Easterby 's stable at Habton Grange near Malton, North Yorkshire . In the second half of the 1976–77 National Hunt season, he became a top-class performer in hurdle races , finishing fourth to his stable companion Night Nurse in the Champion Hurdle and winning the Scottish Champion Hurdle at Ayr . His flat career also started to blossom with
159-543: A future dual winner, was fourth, with the great Monksfield beaten by two lengths into second. A last-flight mistake contributed to the runner-up's defeat, and the pair's rematch at Aintree shortly after in the Templegate Hurdle is still talked about. It was jump racing's most famous ever dead-heat. Night Nurse was successfully switched to chasing and was several times fancied to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup , but
212-736: A long illness. Payne Whitney made substantial gifts to Yale, to the New York Presbyterian Hospital , and the New York Public Library . After his father's death, the family built the Payne Whitney Gymnasium at Yale in his honor. The family also financed Payne Whitney Psychiatric Clinic at New York Presbyterian Hospital in 1932. Whitney created the John Hay Whitney Foundation for educational projects in 1946. The foundation provided fellowships to
265-488: A major investor in two of Astaire's Broadway stage vehicles, The Band Wagon (1930) and Gay Divorce (1932), and played a crucial role in securing for Astaire a contract with RKO Pictures in 1933, using his contacts with Merian C. Cooper ; both men were board members of Pan American Airways whose planes were prominently featured in Astaire's breakthrough film with Ginger Rogers : Flying Down to Rio (1933). During
318-546: A member of the Virginia Thoroughbred Association Hall of Fame. On March 1, 1942, he married Betsey Cushing Roosevelt Whitney , ex-wife of James Roosevelt , son of Franklin D. Roosevelt , and adopted her two daughters: Whitney met Fred Astaire in New York City while the former was a student at Yale University and they became lifelong friends, sharing a passion for horse racing. Whitney became
371-556: A pair of big-wheel roller skates as a present. A few years later roller skating was one of his most important dance numbers on film. Whitney and Jimmy Altemus provided the lyrics for a sing composed by Fred Astaire, "Tappin' the Time." President Dwight D. Eisenhower took pains to transmit to Ambassador Whitney in London, by telegram, the first round golf scores of the Masters Tournament at
424-469: A par with Greentree. [Greentree was the more prestigious of his Long Island residences'] Night Nurse (horse) Night Nurse (26 May 1971 – 1998) was an Irish -bred English -trained National Hunt racehorse. Night Nurse garnered 35 wins, winning a total of £174,507 viz. He won 3 races on the flat at 3 and 4-years old and placed 3 times; he also won 32 National Hunt races, 19 wins over hurdles and 13 wins in steeplechases from 64 starts. He
477-544: A position which had been held by his grandfather and namesake, John Hay . While ambassador, Whitney improved relations between the two countries in the wake of the Suez Crisis and purchased the New York Herald Tribune . Through the tribune, he was influential in the election of John Lindsay as mayor of New York City in 1965. Whitney was a skilled polo player and raised thoroughbred racing horses, which won him
530-503: A remote-control switch at his fingertips. Jock calmly pressed a buzzer, and his butler walked up to the TV set to make the switch. The White House Is Nice, But It's No Greentree! E. J. Kahn, Mr. Whitney's biographer, reported that one of his daughters, Kate, once took her own children on a tour of the White House. Mr. Kahn wrote, After inspecting it, they pronounced it nice enough but hardly on
583-528: A succession of wins in top handicaps - he won the Chester Cup in 1977 and 1978, and the Ebor Handicap carrying 10 stone, which is still a record, in 1979. Sea Pigeon was ridden to his Ebor win by his regular hurdles partner Jonjo O'Neill – due to the long ITV strike of that year, only those who were present at York that day saw it. He missed the early part of the 1977–78 jumps season after being injured in
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#1733085213462636-546: A two-year-old in October 1972, when he was ridden to victory by Lester Piggott in the Duke of Edinburgh Stakes at Ascot. In early 1973, he was considered a serious contender for the Classics . He ran in the 1973 Epsom Derby and finished seventh behind Morston . By the end of 1973, Sea Pigeon's indifferent form led to him being thought "ungenuine, highly-strung and difficult to handle." He
689-421: A very strict diet. However if you will twist my arm a little, I will probably give in and we will consume a number of very large dry martinis" William S. Paley (the legendary founder of CBS), who was Whitney's brother in law, had a gentle rivalry with Whitney. Once while watching television with Whitney at Greentree, Paley wanted to change the channel. 'Where's your clicker?' Paley asked, figuring Jock would have
742-847: The Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1929 and 1930 and were frequent entrants in the Kentucky Derby. He was a patron of the arts, financing several Broadway productions and films, including two Academy Award for Best Picture, Gone with the Wind (1939) and Rebecca (1940) . He was an early supporter of Fred Astaire , his longtime friend, and helped secure Astaire his first major film contract with RKO Pictures . His large art collection included famous works by Pierre-Auguste Renoir , Claude Monet , Edgar Degas , Édouard Manet , Edward Hopper , Henri Matisse , James McNeill Whistler , John Singer Sargent , Paul Cézanne , Paul Gauguin , William Blake and Vincent Van Gogh . Works from his collection have been exhibited at
795-610: The Colonial Cup but returned in spring to finish runner-up to Monksfield in the Champion Hurdle . He won a second Scottish Champion Hurdle, taking advantage of the fatal fall of Golden Cygnet at the final flight. In the following season, his best performances came when beating Birds Nest in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle and finishing second again to Monksfield in the Champion Hurdle. Sea Pigeon suffered from injury problems in
848-516: The Kentucky Derby in the 1930s, "Stepenfetchit," which finished 3rd in 1932, "Overtime," which finished 5th in 1933, "Singing Wood," which finished 8th in 1934, and "Heather Broom," which finished 3rd in 1939. Jock Whitney was also an outstanding polo player, with a four-goal handicap, and it was as a sportsman that he made the cover of the March 27, 1933, issue of Time magazine. In 2015, Whitney
901-873: The Tate Gallery , the National Gallery of Art , the Museum of Modern Art , and the Yale University Art Gallery . Whitney was born on August 17, 1904, in Ellsworth , Maine , Whitney was a descendant of John Whitney, a Puritan who settled in Massachusetts in 1635, as well as of William Bradford , who came over on the Mayflower . His father was Payne Whitney , and his grandfathers were William C. Whitney and John Hay , both presidential cabinet members. His mother
954-607: The 1956 Suez Crisis , when Eisenhower demanded that the British, French and Israelis terminate their invasion of Egypt . In 1930, Whitney purchased the Llangollen estate as a bridal gift for his fiancée, the Pennsylvania socialite Mary Elizabeth "Liz" Altemus . It was a 2,200-acre (890 ha) historic equestrian farm just outside Middleburg, Virginia . They were married on September 23, 1931. Although married to Altemus, Whitney
1007-563: The 1970s, Whitney was listed as one of the ten wealthiest men in the world. The residences at his disposal over the years included an estate on Long Island ; an Atlantic Beach, NY beach house; Greenwood Plantation in Georgia; a townhouse and an elegant apartment in Manhattan ; a large summer house on Fishers Island , near New London, Connecticut ; a 12-room house in Saratoga Springs , which
1060-524: The Augusta National Golf Club on 5 April 1957. Ambassador Whitney had a very demanding and exhausting schedule but was not fazed by it. After having been to three or four receptions one day, his wife was not surprised to find their chauffeur, groggy from his rounds, dozing on the back seat of their limousine and the Ambassador driving the car. Whitney: "I have just had a heart attack and am on
1113-618: The Bride , a failure that cost him $ 100,000, but was more successful as one of the backers of Life with Father . An October 1934 Fortune article on the Technicolor Corporation noted Whitney's interest in pictures. He had met Technicolor head Herbert Kalmus at the Saratoga Race Course . In 1932, Technicolor achieved a breakthrough with its three-strip process. Merian C. Cooper of RKO Radio Pictures approached Whitney with
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#17330852134621166-766: The US, he agreed for the first time to loan part of his collection for the public to see. He provided the Tate Gallery with 56 paintings from the collection in England and specially brought in a further 11 paintings from the US. The exhibition, the John Hay Whitney Collection, ran from 16 December 1960 to 29 January 1961 In 1983 the National Gallery of Art, Washington held an exhibition of the John Hay Whitney Collection with paintings loaned by Whitney's wife, The Museum of Modern Art and Yale University Art Gallery Among
1219-502: The United Kingdom , publisher of the New York Herald Tribune , and president of the Museum of Modern Art . Born in 1904 to Payne Whitney and Helen Hay Whitney , Whitney was a member of the wealthy and prominent Whitney family , longstanding fixtures of New York City and New England society. After attending Groton School and Yale College , where he was an oarsman , he inherited a large fortune from his father, making him one of
1272-638: The United States and in Europe. He owned Easter Hero , the Jack Anthony trained horse who was the first to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup twice in succession, in 1929 under the mount of Dick Rees and again in 1930, when ridden by Tommy Cullinan . In the 1929 Grand National , his horse twisted a plate and was beaten by a nose at the finish. Although Whitney entered the Grand National annually, he never again came close to winning. The Whitneys entered four horses in
1325-757: The United States, the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System. In 1953, Whitney received The Hundred Year Association of New York 's Gold Medal Award "in recognition of outstanding contributions to the City of New York." In the late 1960s/early 1970's John Hay Whitney donated two small parcels of land in Manhasset to the County of Nassau and to the Manhasset-Lakeville Volunteer Fire Department. The Nassau County parcel
1378-820: The Whitneys used when they attended horse races; a golfing cottage in Augusta, Georgia , where he was a member of the Augusta National Golf Club ; and a spacious house Cherry Hill in Virginia Water, Surrey, England , near the Ascot Racecourse . Mr. Whitney also owned an estate in Aiken, South Carolina , which he considered his "retirement" home and where he hoped to spend his final days. Whitney died on February 8, 1982, at North Shore Hospital, Manhasset, Long Island, after
1431-507: The autumn of 1979 but returned to form in spring 1980. He won the Champion Hurdle at his fourth attempt, beating Monksfield by seven lengths. Before the end of the season, he added a victory in the Welsh Champion Hurdle . A year later, he won a second Fighting Fifth Hurdle and a second Champion Hurdle in March, becoming the oldest-ever winner of the race. In the Champion Hurdle, the performance of his jockey, John Francome , who replaced
1484-547: The board of trustees of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, and named President of the MoMA Film Library in 1935. In 1941 he succeeded Nelson A. Rockefeller as President of MoMA. In 1946 he succeeded Stephen C. Clark as chairman of the board of trustees When Whitney moved to England as United States ambassador, he took a number of his favourite artworks with him to enjoy during his posting. Before his return to
1537-688: The board. He put up half the money to option Margaret Mitchell 's Gone with the Wind for the Selznick film version , in which he then invested, and later in Rebecca (1940). Whitney served in the United States Army Air Forces as an intelligence officer during World War II , assigned to the Office of Strategic Services . This is where he met his good friend and former leader of the CIA, Allen Dulles. He
1590-483: The following year. He won two of his three races in 1975 and finished second in his only flat race of 1976. He won 10 consecutive hurdle races from 1975–76 which included an undefeated season where he won the Welsh, English and Scottish Champion hurdles. Night Nurse's second victory in the Champion Hurdle is widely regarded as the highest-quality race ever run over hurdles. His Peter Easterby-trained stablemate Sea Pigeon ,
1643-427: The help of Whitney's boss, who then enlisted Whitney's financial participation, in his efforts to oust founder and Chairman Eric P. Swenson, casting Whitney in the role of corporate raider before the term existed. Whitney was soon Freeport's biggest shareholder, enabling Williams to replace the chairman and his management team. Claiborne was made a vice-president; Williams became Freeport's president in 1933, and Whitney
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1696-587: The idea of investing in Technicolor. They joined forces and founded Pioneer Pictures in 1933, with a distribution deal with RKO to distribute Pioneer's films. Whitney and his cousin Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney bought a 15% stake in Technicolor. Whitney was also the major investor in David O. Selznick 's production company Selznick International Pictures , putting up $ 870,000 and serving as chairman of
1749-470: The injured O'Neill, has been described as one of the best in Cheltenham history. Having contracted a virus, shortly before the 1981 Aintree Festival, Sea Pigeon never recovered fully and ran poorly in two races in the autumn of 1981. He was retired just before the 1982 Cheltenham Festival . He had won 21 races from 40 starts over jumps and 16 races from 45 starts on the flat. During his retirement Sea Pigeon
1802-469: The origin of the term "venture capital". By the 1970s, he was one of the wealthiest men in the world. Whitney was an influential figure in New York City politics and the politics of the Republican Party . As a moderate internationalist, Whitney was an early supporter of Dwight D. Eisenhower 's presidential campaigns, and in 1957, Eisenhower appointed him United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom ,
1855-633: The paintings in his collection, Jock Whitney's prized possession was the Bal au moulin de la Galette painted in 1876 by the French artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir . In 1990, his widow put the painting up for auction with Sotheby's , New York and it sold for US$ 78 million to Japanese businessman Ryoei Saito . Whitney's widow donated a number of paintings from his collection to the Greentree Foundation. One of those paintings by Pablo Picasso , Garçon à la pipe
1908-495: The racially and culturally deprived. He became a major contributor to Yale University, where he served as a Fellow of the corporation. In 1951, he and his wife Betsey Cushing Whitney donated land from their " Greentree " estate in Manhasset, New York toward the building of North Shore Hospital. Currently called North Shore University Hospital , it is the flagship hospital of the 3rd largest not-for-profit secular healthcare system in
1961-495: The trainer Peter Easterby . During his racing career he was owned by Reg Spencer and trained by Easterby at his stables at Habton Grange near Malton, North Yorkshire . Night Nurse was ridden in many of his early races by the Irishman Paddy Broderick , who used a long-rein style. Night Nurse failed to win in six races as a two-year-old in 1973 and won once, in a maiden race at Ripon Racecourse , from six attempts in
2014-402: The wealthiest people in the United States. In 1929, he participated in a hostile takeover of Lee, Higginson & Co. with Langbourne Willliams , rising to the position of chairman of the board at just 29 years old. In 1946, after serving in the Office of Strategic Services during World War II , he founded J. H. Whitney & Company , the oldest venture capital firm in the United States and
2067-665: Was Helen Hay Whitney . The Whitneys' family mansion, Payne Whitney House on New York's Fifth Avenue , was around the corner from James B. Duke House , home of the founder of the American Tobacco Co. , father of Doris Duke . Whitney's uncle, Oliver Hazard Payne , a business partner of John D. Rockefeller , arranged the funding for Duke to buy out his competitors. Jock Whitney attended Groton School , then Yale College . He joined Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity (Phi chapter), as his father had. Whitney, his father, grandfather, and great-uncle were oarsmen at Yale, and his father
2120-506: Was a clerk at the firm of Lee, Higginson & Co where, through his boss, J.T. Claiborne, Jr., he met former Lee, Higginson clerk Langbourne Meade Williams, Jr. , who had come to Claiborne for help in his efforts to gain control of Freeport Texas Co. Williams was a scion of a founding investment firm in the sulfur mining company. In 1929, the year after Whitney became one of the wealthiest men in America, through inheritance, Williams enlisted
2173-441: Was appointed chairman of the board. In 1946, Whitney founded J.H. Whitney & Company , the oldest venture capital firm in the U.S., with Benno C. Schmidt, Sr. —who coined the term "venture capital"—with J. T. Claiborne as a partner. Whitney put up $ 10 million to finance entrepreneurs with business plans who were unwelcome at banks. Companies Whitney invested in included Spencer Chemical and Minute Maid . In 1958, while he
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2226-465: Was auctioned by Sotheby's in May 2004 for $ 104 million The following works have been publicly exhibited or sold from the former collection of John Hay Whitney. Sources: John Hay Whitney Collection (Catalogue), Tate Gallery, 1960, John Hay Whitney Collection (Catalogue), National Gallery of Art, 1983, Sotheby's Catalogue, auction 10 May 1999, Sotheby's Catalogue, auction 5 May 2004 Whitney gave Fred Astaire
2279-568: Was awarded the highest Timeform rating ever given to a hurdler and has been acclaimed amongst the greatest ever hurdlers. Night Nurse was a bay gelding bred at the Cloghran Stud in Ireland by Eleanor Samuelson, the daughter of Dick Dawson . He was sired by Falcon out of Samuelson's mare Florence Nightingale. At the Newmarket Houghton sale in 1972 Night Nurse was sold for 1,300 guineas to
2332-539: Was captain of the crew in 1898. He was a member of Scroll and Key . While at Yale, he inspired the coining of the term " crew cut " for the haircut favored by the rowing crew which still bears the name. After graduating in 1926, Whitney went to Oxford University , but the death of his father on May 25, 1927 necessitated his returning home. He inherited a trust fund of $ 20 million (approximately $ 343.9 million in 2023 dollars), and later inherited four times that amount from his mother. In 1929, Whitney, despite his vast wealth,
2385-424: Was found to have irreparable damage to one of his pedal bones and was put to sleep on Tuesday 20 October 2000. He was buried at Easterby's Habton Grange stable, next to his stable companion and racecourse rival Night Nurse . Sea Pigeon was rated at 175 by Timeform for five consecutive seasons from 1976–77 to 1980–81. He was the highest rated hurdler in both his championship seasons and at the time of his retirement
2438-681: Was housed with trainer Pat Rohan for some time and could often be seen having a stroll round the streets of Norton much to the joy of the locals. Later he spent twelve years under the care of Polly Tierney/Perkins at her yard in Sherriff Hutton, near Malton. Even when Jonjo O'Neill turned his hand to training across the Pennines in Skelton, his bond with Sea Pigeon was far from over. The former jockey would often turn up unannounced just to spend some time with his old friend. This bond continued until Sea Pigeon
2491-463: Was posthumously inducted to the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame as Pillar of the Turf. Whitney was the major backer of Dwight D. Eisenhower and a member of the New York Young Republican Club . Eisenhower appointed him United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom , a post held sixty years earlier by Whitney's grandfather John Hay . Whitney played a major role in improving Anglo-American relations, which had been severely strained during
2544-475: Was romantically linked to Tallulah Bankhead , Joan Bennett , Paulette Goddard and Joan Crawford . Clark Gable and Carole Lombard met at one of Whitney's parties. In the early 1930s, Jock Whitney began an affair with Nina Gore Vidal; simultaneously, his wife had an affair with Nina Vidal's husband Eugene Vidal . The couple divorced in 1940, but Liz Whitney remained at Llangollen for the rest of her life, becoming an internationally renowned horse breeder and
2597-538: Was still ambassador to the United Kingdom, his company Whitney Communications Corp. bought the New York Herald Tribune , and was its publisher from 1961 to its closure in 1966. He was chairman of the International Herald Tribune from 1966 until his death. Whitney Communications also owned and operated other newspapers, magazines and broadcasting stations. Whitney's television stations were sold to Dun & Bradstreet in 1969. Whitney invested in several Broadway shows, including Peter Arno 's 1931 revue Here Goes
2650-417: Was subsequently gelded and was sold for £8,000 to Pat Muldoon, who sent the horse to National Hunt trainer Gordon W. Richards . After showing modest form on the flat in 1974, Sea Pigeon was switched to hurdles. In his first two seasons as a hurdler, he showed steadily improving form, winning several races and finishing placed behind notable hurdlers including Lanzarote and Birds Nest . In late 1976, after
2703-467: Was taken prisoner by the Germans in southern France, but escaped when the train transporting him to a POW camp came under Allied fire. Whitney inherited his family's love of horses, a predilection he shared with his sister, Joan Whitney Payson . Jock and his sister ran Greentree Stables in the U.S., owned by their mother. In 1928, he became the youngest member ever elected to The Jockey Club . Whitney and his first wife "Liz" raced horses both in
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#17330852134622756-493: Was the fifth-highest rated hurdler in the organisation's history. Sea Pigeon now ranks in the top-16 all-time list. In their book A Century of Champions , John Randal and Tony Morris ranked Sea Pigeon the tenth best British or Irish hurdler of the 20th century. Jock Whitney John Hay Whitney (August 17, 1904 – February 8, 1982) was an American venture capitalist , sportsman, philanthropist, newspaper publisher, film producer and diplomat who served as U.S. Ambassador to
2809-412: Was the new home for the 6th Police Precinct of the Nassau County Police, located at the S/E intersection of Community Drive and East Community Drive. Just east of the 6th pct, at 2 E Community Dr., the M-LFD parcel was the new home of Fire Company #2 of the M-LFD, where John Hay Whitney was voted in by the membership of Company number two as an Honorary Member of the company. In 1930 Whitney was elected to
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