The Meadow Event Park, birthplace of Secretariat in Caroline County, Virginia, will hold a “Remembrance of Penny Chenery” on Sunday October 29 from 2 – 4 pm. The event will take place in Meadow Hall mansion and is open to the public with limited seating.
“It is only fitting that we should honor Mom at The Meadow, her family’s former home and the place where it all began,” said Kate Chenery Tweedy, Mrs. Chenery’s daughter. “This is where Granddaddy’s dream took root and where Mom, on entering the Thoroughbred racing business, earned her spurs.”
Mrs. Chenery managed Meadow Stable after her father, Christopher Chenery, became ill, and she oversaw the racing careers of both Riva Ridge, winner of the 1972 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes, and 1973 Triple Crown winner Secretariat. A well-loved figure in her own right, Mrs. Chenery was a champion of Thoroughbreds and women in business and sports. The 2010 movie Secretariat featured Diane Lane as Penny. It chronicled Secretariat’s 1973 campaign for the Triple Crown as well as Penny’s struggle for respect and success as a woman in racing. She died on her father’s birthday September 16 at her Colorado home. She was 95.
“Penny maintained her ties to The Meadow and this community throughout the years,” said Leeanne Meadows Ladin, Secretariat tourism manager. “She was enormously supportive of our efforts to preserve the historic legacy of The Meadow and develop the Secretariat Birthplace tour program. This memorial service is our way of offering a hometown tribute to this great lady and great friend.”
The program will feature remarks by Kate Tweedy and video clips by Penny’s son John Tweedy. Guests will be welcome to participate by sharing their own memories of Mrs. Chenery and Meadow Stable. Meadow Stable memorabilia will be on display in the mansion. Penny’s last racehorse, Groundshaker, a great-great granddaughter of Secretariat, will be in the paddock by the historic barns, weather permitting.
Those planning to attend the event should enter Meadow Event Park at Gate 2 and park in Lot M near the mansion. For further information, please contact Leeanne Ladin at lladin@meadoweventpark.com
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Directions: Take the Doswell exit (exit 98) from I-95 and head east on Rt.30 past King’s Dominion theme park for 1.5 miles. The entrance to the Meadow Event Park at GATE 2 will be on the left.