New York Breeder/Owner Wilhelmine Waller Dead

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Wilhelmine Stewart Kirby Waller, owner of Tanrackin Farm in Bedford Hills, N.Y., and one of the driving forces behind the formation of the New York Breeding and Racing Program, died April 7 at her home on Tanrackin. Waller, who was predeceased by her husband, trainer Thomas M. Waller, was 90 years old.

In her name and the farm's name, Waller campaigned 15 stakes winners, 14 of which were homebreds, including Catch the Moon, Her Favorite, Mighty Wonder, Restless Feet, and Wandering Cloud, the dam of Catch the Moon. She also bred steeplechase stakes winner Gramatam.

Born in New York, Waller acquired her interest in horses and love of animals on the Tanrackin Farm that her grandparents had started in the 19th century.

In the early 1970s, with the advent of the New York Breeding and Racing Program, Waller began racing her New York homebreds in the Tanrackin name.

Tanrackin also was the retirement home for the first New York-bred millionaire, multiple grade I winner Win, who resided there following his retirement as a 9-year-old in 1989 until his death in March of 2002.

Waller served as president of the Eastern New York Thoroughbred Breeders Association. A memorial service will be held at St. Matthew's Church April 15 at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be sent to the Bedford Hills Historical Society, Bedford Hills, N.Y. 10506, or the Garden Club of America.

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