The Vanderbilt Cup Races

Foxhall Keene Driving his Mercedes (1905)

Courtesy of The Helck Family Collection

Driving the #5 Mercedes, “Society Swell” Foxhall Keene was an active American sportsman proficient at polo, equestrian events, and pigeon shooting. In the late 1890s, some say Foxhall Keene suggested chicken a la king to the chef at Delmonico’s Restaurant in New York City, and originally served as Chicken à la Keene. A friend of Vanderbilt’s, Keene lived just five miles east of the starting line in his Westbury estate “Rosemary Hall.” The grandstand crowd saluted the native Long Islander after his strong start.