“She always looked out for us, her and her husband,” said Lashard McCoy, who has worked as a groom and a hot walker at Saratoga for more than 20 years. “I thought I was going to see her again this year.”

Many of the backstretch workers live in dorms without kitchens, and they rely on grills, microwaves and other portable cooking appliances, along with the on-track kitchens, for meals. The catered dinners are a welcome change from their standard fare and symbolized Mrs. Whitney’s belief that the people who care for the horses deserved better.

“A lot of the people who live on the backstretch can’t afford to go to restaurants downtown or out to the mall to eat,” said Edward Escobar, who has worked in horse racing for more than 30 years. “These dinners come from the heart to the families of the backstretch.”

Over his career, Mr. Escobar has been an exercise rider for horses in the morning and a parking supervisor in the afternoon. Since 1995, he has volunteered with the track chaplaincy.

“She always spent time talking to us,” Mr. Escobar said of Mrs. Whitney. “We were sitting with her at a table last year, and she asked how we were and our opinion of the activities. She cared what we thought.”

More than 1,000 horses are stabled at Saratoga Race Course, and each one requires hours of daily hands-on care. Grooms are assigned to specific horses. They muck stalls, make sure the animals have feed and water, take care of their legs with ice and poultices and bandages, and they bathe them. Hot walkers spend hours walking in circles to cool horses down after exercise.