Helen Bates "Penny" Chenery was an American sportswoman who bred and owned Secretariat, the 1973 winner of the Triple Crown.
24 Facts About Penny Chenery
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Penny Chenery was born in 1922 in New Rochelle, New York, and was raised in Pelham Manor, New York.
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Penny Chenery had a love of horses from a young age, and learned to ride at age five.
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Penny Chenery attended the Madeira School in McLean, Virginia, a prestigious girls' boarding school with an equestrian program.
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Penny Chenery was captain of the Equestrian Team in her senior year.
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When Penny Chenery returned from Europe in 1946, her father was concerned that she had no employable skills, so he offered to pay her the equivalent of the highest job offer she could get if she would go to graduate school instead.
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Penny Chenery decided to attend Columbia Business School where she was one of 20 women in a class of 800 men.
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Penny Chenery was later Chairman of the Board of Vail Associates.
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Penny Chenery's life changed when her mother died suddenly and her father became ill in late 1967.
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Penny Chenery entered New Rochelle Hospital in April 1968 and remained there until his death in January 1973.
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Penny Chenery's siblings wanted to sell the operation since their father could no longer manage it.
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Penny Chenery hoped to fulfill her father's dream of winning the Kentucky Derby.
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However, in May 1971, Roger Laurin left the Meadow to train for the much vaunted Phipps family stables, so Penny Chenery turned to his father, Lucien Laurin, as a temporary substitute.
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When Penny 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.
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Penny Chenery made headlines by successfully syndicating Secretariat for $6.08 million and Riva Ridge for $5 million.
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From 1976 to 1984, Penny Chenery served as president of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association.
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Penny Chenery served as a member of the judges' panel of the Jockey Club, which bestows the Dogwood Dominion Award.
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In 2003, the Arlington Park track established the annual "Penny Chenery Distinguished Woman in Racing Award".
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Penny Chenery moved from Colorado to Long Island, New York, in 1972.
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Penny Chenery moved to Lexington, Kentucky in the early 1990s and in 2005 moved to Boulder, Colorado to spend her final years near her children.
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Penny Chenery died on September 16,2017, at her home in Boulder, Colorado from complications from a stroke.
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Penny Chenery was portrayed by actress Diane Lane in the 2010 motion picture Secretariat, released on October 8,2010.
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Penny Chenery herself appeared in a cameo role in the film as a spectator at the Belmont Stakes.
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Penny Chenery was the subject of several books and articles as well as the 2013 documentary Penny and Red made by filmmaker John Tweedy.