LEXINGTON, KY (Oct. 3, 2017) – A partial list of speakers and additional information regarding the public celebration of Helen “Penny” Chenery’s life have been announced.
The service will be held Monday, Oct. 9, at 1:30 p.m. ET at the Keeneland Sales Pavilion with a live video stream available at Keeneland.com and Secretariat.com.
The service is open to the public. Doors will open at 12:30 p.m. The program will highlight Mrs. Chenery’s illustrious life and her many contributions to the sport of Thoroughbred racing.
Scheduled speakers include her daughter Kate Tweedy, son John Tweedy, racing analyst Donna Brothers, Meadow Stable exercise rider Charlie Davis, retired jockey Pat Day, Seattle Slew’s owner Sally
Hill, Claiborne Farm’s Dell Hancock, sportscaster Kenny Rice as well as other friends and racing luminaries.
“Mom was always engaging and accessible to racing fans, knowing they were the lifeblood and future of the sport,” Kate Tweedy said. “So including the public in this celebration of her life was a given to fully honor her memory. My family and I are immensely grateful to the racing community for the many messages of condolences, and we especially would like to thank the management and staff at Keeneland for their hospitality and gracious assistance as we make arrangements for this very special service.”
Penny Chenery was at Keeneland when Meadow Stable’s Riva Ridge won the 1972 Blue Grass.
Mrs. Chenery oversaw her father’s Meadow Stable and the racing careers of both Riva Ridge, winner of the 1972 Blue Grass at Keeneland as well as the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes, and 1973 Triple Crown winner Secretariat. A beloved figure in Thoroughbred racing, she was a champion of horses and women in business and sports. She died Sept.16 at her Colorado home. She was 95.
In lieu of flowers, the Secretariat Foundation has created a special Penny Chenery Memorial fundraising project on behalf of the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation, the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund, and the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation. For details, visit Secretariat.com.
Note to media representatives: Workspace in the Keeneland Sales Pavilion will be available to media covering the service. Please contact Director of Communications Amy Gregory at agregory@keeneland.com or 859 361-3490 for more information.