The Real Penny Chenery – Horse Owner, Businesswoman, Pioneer:

8 May, 2025 Siobhan Marie Day 0 Comments 2 categories

The 1973 Triple Crown winner Secretariat, known as Big Red, with owner Penny Chenery.

Long before she was portrayed on screen by Diane Lane, Penny Chenery was already a legend. Her role in Secretariat‘s legacy isn’t just that of an owner; she was a fierce businesswoman who reshaped the image of women in American horse racing.

Diane Lane as Penny Chenery in "Secretariat" (2010) Photo Credit: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Penny Chenery, whose thoroughbred horse breeding operation Meadow Stables produced Secritariat, American Horse of The Year in 1972. Photo by Archive Photos/Getty Images

Chenery strokes the nose of Secretariat after his record-setting 1973 Derby win. // Horsephotos.com

Penny Chenery enjoying her win at the Kentucky Derby in 1973 with Secretariat

Penny Chenery with Secretariat and Ron Turcotte after winning the Belmont Chenery's life changed when her mother died suddenly and her father became ill in late 1967. He entered New Rochelle Hospital in April 1968 and remained there until his death in January 1973. Due to Mr. Chenery's advancing senility, Meadow Stable, the Chenery thoroughbred breeding and racing operation in Virginia, had been neglected in the mid-1960s and was no longer profitable. Chenery's siblings wanted to sell the operation since their father could no longer manage it. Chenery, however, hoped to fulfill her father's dream of winning the Kentucky Derby. The board of Meadow Stable elected her president and in 1968, she began the long process of cutting costs, repairing facilities and returning the stable to profitability. In 1969, she fired long-time trainer Casey Hayes. On the advice of longtime family friend and business associate Bull Hancock of Claiborne Farm, Chenery hired Roger Laurin to train and manage the Meadow Stable horses. With Laurin's help, the stable began to produce a few stakes winning horses in 1969 and 1970. However, in May 1971, Roger Laurin left the Meadow to train for the much vaunted Phipps family stables, so Chenery turned to his father, Lucien Laurin, as a temporary substitute. However, Laurin Sr. decided to stay on when the Meadow's homebred Riva Ridge brought in over $500,000 in purses in the fall of 1971. In May, 1972 Riva Ridge won the Kentucky Derby and in June Belmont Stakes, thus fulfilling Mr. Chenery's lifelong dream of producing a great horse. That same year, another Meadow colt, the two-year-old Secretariat had such a dominant fall season that he became American Horse of the Year which was a rare honor for a two-year-old. The following year, Secretariat captured the imagination of racing fans worldwide when he became the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years, setting records that still stand in all three races and winning the Belmont by an unheard-of 31 lengths. Both horses were inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.[4] When Chenery's father died in January 1973, his estate owed such a large tax bill that it could only be satisfied by syndicating the breeding rights to Secretariat and Riva Ridge to a consortium of breeders. Chenery made headlines by successfully syndicating Secretariat for $6.08 million and Riva Ridge for $5 million. Eventually the Meadow in Doswell, Virginia, also was sold to settle the estate. Chenery moved many of the remaining horses to Long Island, N.Y. and continued racing. Although Penny Chenery gets the credit for managing Secretariat's racing career, Christopher Chenery was the genius behind the matching of Somethingroyal and Bold Ruler to produce Secretariat. In 1965 he set up the deal by which two Meadow mares would be bred annually to top sire Bold Ruler, owned by Ogden Phipps. Each year the owners would flip for the right to choose among the foals. The Meadow sent their best mare Somethingroyal to Bold Ruler several times and had already produced a stakes winner, Syrian Sea, a full sister to Secretariat. In 1969, Penny Chenery who by then managed Meadow Stable, lost the coin toss. This gave her the right to first choice of the foals in 1970, but that year there was only one foal: Secretariat. After Secretariat, Chenery continued to breed and race horses under the Meadow silks with her greatest success coming in Saratoga Dew, who became the first New York-bred horse ever to win an Eclipse Award when the filly was voted the 1992 American Champion Three-Year-Old Filly.

This blog post profiles Penny Chenery as she was in real life: a daughter who stepped into a crisis, a negotiator who faced down billionaires, and a woman who redefined the sport’s gender norms.

Helen Bates "Penny" Chenery (January 27, 1922 – September 16, 2017) (married names: Penny Tweedy until 1974 and later Penny Ringquist until 1980) was an American sportswoman who bred and owned Secretariat, the 1973 winner of the Triple Crown. The youngest of three children, she graduated from The Madeira School in 1939 and earned a Bachelor of Arts from Smith College, then studied at the Columbia Business School, where she met her future husband, John Tweedy, Sr., a Columbia Law School graduate.[3] In March 2011, Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Virginia, awarded Chenery an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree.

Christopher Chenery (September 16, 1886 – January 3, 1973) was an American engineer, businessman, and the owner/breeder of record for Thoroughbred horse racing's U.S. Triple Crown champion Secretariat.

Ogden Phipps, chairman of the Jockey Club, sits in his box at the Saratoga racetrack. Photo by Jerry Cooke/Corbis via Getty Images

"The track is very much of a man's world," says Penny Chenery, at her Laurel Hollow, New York, May 23, 1973. But Ms. Chenery, owner of Secretariat, adds: "I feel very comfortable there." She stresses however: "I don't want to be one of the boys, I want to be treated like a lady." The trophy is Secretariat's 1972 Horse of the Year award. Ron Frehm/AP

Penny Chenery and her most famous horse, Secretariat. Paul Schafer/BloodHorse photo

Early Challenges

After her father’s illness, Chenery took over Meadow Stable at a time when women were rarely seen in racetrack boardrooms. She had no formal business training and faced skepticism at every turn. Yet she quickly proved herself a shrewd operator, surrounding herself with smart advisors and building alliances.

Penny Chenery (Jan. 27, 1922 - Sept. 16, 2017) with her two great Meadow Stable champions - Secretariat and Riva Ridge. Like "Big Red", she was one-of-a-kind.

The Secretariat Deal

Perhaps her most pivotal move was the syndication of Secretariat. With stud fees predicted to be record-breaking, Chenery organized a pre-racing career syndication worth over $6 million. It was a risky move that ensured Meadow Stable’s solvency and her control over Secretariat’s legacy.

New York Times - February 27, 1973 announcing the syndication of Secretariat for a record $6.08 million.

Lucien Laurin, Penny Chenery, and Eddie Sweat with Secretariat in 1973.

Championing Women in Sports

Later in life, Chenery became an outspoken advocate for women in sports leadership, earning awards and honors that recognized her not just as a horse owner, but as a cultural force. Her story resonates far beyond the racetrack.