Jockey Steve Cauthen was certain of two elements entering the Triple Crown series in 1978. He would be aboard a special mount in Affirmed. They would have to oppose a foe of almost equally rare talent in Alydar.

Or as Cauthen put it, “It wasn’t like beating a bunch in an average year.”

On the afternoon of July 19, when the sorrowful news spread about the death of Marylou Whitney at the age of 93, it was nearly impossible for anyone who knew her to hold back the tears.

“There have been some sad days since then,” said Maureen Lewi, a community leader in Saratoga who was one of her best and closest friends since the 1970s.

Yet two weeks later, on Aug. 2, the mood will be far different in the city she loved more than any other.