Secretariat owner Chenery's wit, dedication on display at memorial

In a Keeneland hall usually reserved for sales of future champions, industry luminaries and fans gathered Monday at a public celebration of Secretariat’s “Mom” — the graceful, sharp-witted and dedicated Helen Bates Chenery, known as “Penny” to the legendary horse’s international legion of fans.

Penny, herself exclaimed toward her life’s end that she “had a grand time” campaigning the Chenery horses. And a grand and joyous mood permeated a gathering at Keeneland as the remarks from each of the service speakers reflected Chenery’s zest for competition and zeal for beating a male-dominated industry at its own game. Or as NBC’s Kenny Rice, when reading from Secretariat’s biographer, Bill Nack’s letter to the gathering put it; “Screw the men…I had the horse.”

The “First Lady of Thoroughbred Racing” died Sept. 16, and she was remembered Monday for that salty sense of humor, recalled in her quotes sprinkled into each speaker’s remarks. Donna Brothers set the tone of the service from the gate when she recalled a 93-year-old Penny ordering a double bourbon at lunch, enjoying every bit of Kentucky’s finest. The impact that Chenery had on women in the racing industry was especially important and meaningful for future generations as related by Brothers and Amy Zimmerman, a vice president at Santa Anita Park. Chenery was elegant in her image, a clothes horse as daughter, Kate Tweedy, recalled, yet her expressions of pure glee on her “sexy redhead’s” stunning accomplishments were fresh air for the periodically stale industry for television viewers — and for those who had doubted her ability to manage the careers of both Riva Ridge and his successor, Secretariat, after her father’s death.

Big Red’s exercise rider, Charlie Davis, remembered that he called her “Mom” and detailed a curious tale of leaning into trainer Lucien Laurin and Chenery’s strategy talks at the Laurin barn before the 1973 Belmont Stakes. “Mom,” Charlie said, had laid out the strategy and was very definitive with her trainer. Penny’s son, filmmaker John Tweedy, captured the essence of of Penny’s dedication to her champion horse when he stated that his mother had dedicated her life to “doing Secretariat justice.”

And, yes, she realized that she had been twice lucky with Riva Ridge and then the phenomenal Secretariat. Tweedy showed a vignette of his newest video coming soon to his web site, landlockedfilms.com. The sounds of Frank Sinatra’s “Luck be a Lady” laced within the racing footage of her champions enjoined the service audience to marvel and smile at the joy that Penny Chenery brought to the track. So, smile and enjoy. This is pure Penny.

In the closing hours of Penny Chenery’s life, her daughter and travel companion, Kate Tweedy, would sponge water to her mother’s lips. Penny beckoned her closer and whispered: “Got any pinot grigio?”

And as legendary jockey Pat Day recounted, after reading jockey Secretariat jockey Ron Turcotte’s letter to the congregation: joy she gave and joy she found.

A few impressions from racing industry women who were present at the service regarding the Penny effect:

Dr. Deborah Logerquist

“As a vet, Penny’s influence as a woman in business left an impression and inspired my interest in racing. She was perfect for the time.”

Amy Helen Temper, Editor of Chromies Paddock.com and the book What California Chrome Meant to Me (2016)

“I have to admit that Penny Chenery did not just inspire me. She rattled me.

“Horses have always been a center of my life. However, there were very few women like Penny that were willing to rock the boat. I will never be a Penny Chenery, but I have become outspoken and am willing to speak on for those who cannot. I share that with Penny and after hearing about her life, I feel more comfortable with that trait of mine.”

Sisi Lauer, President of the Lady’s Secret Preservation Society

“The best way to honor her is to continue doing all the things that she did for women and equine athletes.”

Shelley Nall, Racing Fan

“To me, she will always be inspirational in the way that she united everyone in sharing her enthusiasm. I cannot thank her enough for that.”