Secretariat’s Team
Here are the people behind Big Red’s rise to fame.
Christopher Chenery, Breeder
September 19, 1886 - January 3, 1973
Christopher Chenery grew up horse-crazy and poor in rural Virginia. As a child, Chenery visited relatives at the farm in Doswell, Virginia, known as The Meadow. This is where he learned to ride horses.
Chenery studied at Randolph-Macon College and Washington and Lee University, graduating in 1909 with a B.S. in Engineering. He began his engineering career in Virginia before moving to projects out West, but his career was interrupted by World World 1.
In 1917, he married Helen Clementina Bates and they had three children: Helen “Penny,” Margaret, and Hollis. A driven man, he made millions as a New York financier, but success came at a steep price—a heart attack in 1936 at age 50.
That year he returned to Virginia to reclaim the old family farm, The Meadow. He restored the dilapidated house and created a first-class Thoroughbred breeding and racing farm.
In 1939, he purchased his foundation mare—Hildene—for $750. Hildene produced two of Chenery’s most important horses, Hill Prince and First Landing. By 1962, The Meadow boasted 4 national champions.
In 1965, Chenery entered a foal-sharing agreement with Ogden Phipps, who owned a leading sire, Bold Ruler. Each year, they would breed two Meadow broodmares with Bold Ruler. Then, before the foals were born, they would decide by coin toss who got the first choice of the two foals.
Chenery became ill in 1968, and his daughter Penny took charge of The Meadow. She chose Somethingroyal as one of the mares for breeding to Bold Ruler.
In 1969, Tweedy lost the coin toss with Phipps, who chose the other mare's foal. The Meadow kept Somethingroyal's yet-to-be-born foal, the future Secretariat.
Penny Chenery, Owner
January 27, 1922 - September 16, 2017
Helen “Penny” Chenery was born to Christopher and Helen Chenery in New Rochelle, NY. Penny inherited her father’s passion for horses and rode constantly as a girl. She married Jack Tweedy and settled in Denver by 1950. They had four children: Sarah, Kate, Chris and John.
In the meantime, Penny’s father, Chris, had been building a Thoroughbred racing stable in Virginia. But by 1967, his health and mind were failing. And then her mother died. When Penny received the call to return home for her mother’s funeral, she realized that her father needed help.
She took over the management of the racing stable. The operation was losing money, so she poured herself into the work. Despite her efforts, selling the stable seemed inevitable.
But in 1971, her colt Riva Ridge swept the juvenile stakes and won 2-Year-Old of the Year. In 1972, Riva won the Kentucky Derby (fulfilling her father’s dream). She credits Riva with saving the operation.
That same year, Secretariat burst onto the scene, dominated the 2-Year-Old races, and won Horse of the Year. Secretariat’s 1973 Triple Crown season unfolded with record-setting performances and unprecedented media attention.
Lucien Laurin, Trainer
March 18, 1912 – June 26, 2000
Lucien Laurin was a French-Canadian jockey and horse trainer. He came out of retirement when his son, Roger Laurin, left Meadow Stable to take the position of head trainer for another stable. Roger suggested his father as a temporary replacement at Meadow Stable.
Laurin found his greatest success with Meadow Stable. He saw potential in Riva Ridge, who was fast but timid. He put jockey Ron Turcotte in the saddle to easily win the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes in 1972. Riva Ridge is credited with saving Meadow Farm from the auction block.
He stayed to train Secretariat, who stood out as frisky, mischievous, and dominant. In January 1972, Lucien brought Secretariat to his winter stable at Hialeah. He methodically conditioned Secretariat with hard workouts. Under Laurin, Secretariat found his legs and began to show the world that he was a powerhouse.
Laurin won the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Trainer in 1972. By the end of the 1972 season, Big Red won 7 of nine races and was named Horse of the Year.
The next year, Secretariat won all three races of the Triple Crown—taking the Belmont Stakes by 31 lengths.
Ron Turcotte, Jockey
July 22, 1941
The highlight of Ron Turcotte’s remarkable 18-year career as a jockey is 15 months in 1972 and 1973. He was in Secretariat’s saddle 18 times, winning 15 together.
On May 5, 1973, Big Red became the first horse to break the 2-minute barrier at the Kentucky Derby (finishing in 1:59 2/5ths). At the Preakness on May 19, 1973, Secretariat started last but made a move to the outside to take the lead. He then held off Sham to win in 1:53.
The 1 1/2 mile Belmont Stakes was three weeks later on June 9, 1973. Secretariat had never run a race that long before. With Turcotte at the helm, Secretariat covered the mile and a half at an average speed of 37 miles an hour. Twice a Prince, his nearest competitor, was nearly a football field behind when he crossed the finish line.
Turcotte has been inducted into 9 halls of fame. He won more than 3,000 races before he was paralyzed in a 1978 riding accident. Today, he serves as an advocate for the Permanently Disabled Riders Fund.
Eddie Sweat, Racetrack Groom
August 29, 1939 - April 17, 1998
While at his Thoroughbred horse farm in Holly Hill, SC, Lucien Laurin noticed a young teen peeking at the horses through a fence. That teen was Eddie Sweat. Laurin offered him a full-time job as a groom in 1957.
Sweat followed Laurin to Meadow Stable, where he became the first groom to have cared for Kentucky Derby winners two years in a row (Riva Ridge in 1972 and Secretariat in 1973).
Sweat had a special bond with Secretariat, and was widely recognized for his talent and dedication to his racing career.
Charlie Davis, Exercise Rider
February 2, 1940 - February 7, 2018
Charlie Davis, the charismatic exercise rider for Secretariat, learned how to exercise horses from trainer Lucien Laurin.
He was a member of the famed “Holly Hills” crew that also included Eddie Sweat.
When Laurin took over Meadow Stable, Davis was assigned as an exercise rider for Riva Ridge and later Secretariat.
He was known to hold a true horseman’s touch.
Jim Gaffney, Exercise Rider
March 13, 1935 - June 3, 2010
Jim Gaffney started racing galloping horses as a teenager.
He got the chance of a lifetime when trainer Lucien Laurin hired him in 1972 to exercise Secretariat, a 2-year-old at the time.
Gaffney also exercised Riva Ridge.
From 1946 - 1976, Howard Gentry ran the farm. Gentry’s knowledge and management skills earned him deep respect. He became Mr. Chenery’s right-hand man and continued his role when Penny took over the farm.
Gentry lived with his wife, Alice, in a white clapboard bungalow above one of the ponds at The Meadow.
Gentry was known for his even-keeled character.
Howard Gentry, Farm Manager
Dr. Olive Britt, Veterinarian
Died March 13, 2006
Dr. Britt lived at The Meadow and arrived at the foaling shed shortly after Secretariat was born on March 30, 1970.
She was the first female equine practitioner in Virginia and the first woman appointed to the Virginia Board of Veterinary Medicine.
At the Meadow, her daily routine began with meeting Howard Gentry at 7:00 am to determine the priorities for the day. She provided routine care to the Thoroughbreds and often observed young horses at the training track.
Elizabeth Ham, Executive Assistant
Died in 2000
Chris Chenery’s longtime executive assistant was Elizabeth Ham. Conscientious and well-organized, she managed his personal and business affairs.
For the Meadow, she kept meticulous records in her small neat hand documenting horses’ births, deaths, races, wins, purses, purchases, sales and progeny.
She also loved horses and rode almost as well as Chenery did.
The Grooms of Meadow Stable
They were never well-known like Secretariat’s racetrack groom Eddie Sweat and exercise rider Charlie Davis, yet the grooms in Doswell were the first to take care of Big Red and other champions of Chris Chenery’s Meadow Stable.
Lewis Tillman, Sr., Lewis Tillman, Jr., Bannie Mines, Alvin Mines, Charlie Ross, Wesley Tillman, Garfield Tillman, Raymond “Peter Blue” Goodall, Howard Gregory, and others from the close-knit web of local families most assuredly contributed to the success of Meadow Stable.
Personally selected for their jobs, these men would be entrusted with the daily care of the valuable broodmares and their foals, helping with the early training of skittish colts and fillies, the transportation of finely-tuned racehorses and the handling of powerful stallions in the breeding shed.
—from “Secretariat’s Meadow: the Land, the Family, the Legend by Kate Chenery Tweedy and Leeanne Meadows Ladin
Howard Gregory, Groom
Howard Gregory worked at The Meadow for nearly 32 years and was known as “the stud man.”