- Christopher Chenery
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Christopher Chenery Born September 19, 1886
Richmond, Virginia, U.S.Died January 3, 1973 (aged 86)
New Rochelle, New York, U.S.Residence Pelham Manor, New York Education Randolph-Macon College, Washington and Lee University Occupation Businessman:
Engineering
Racehorse owner/breederSpouse Helen Bates Children Hollis
Margaret
Helen Bates "Penny"Parents James Hollis Chenery & Ida Burnley Taylor Honors Eclipse Award for Outstanding Breeder
(1972, 1973)Virginia Thoroughbred Association Hall of Fame (1987) Christopher Tompkins Chenery (September 19, 1886 - January 3, 1973) was an American engineer, businessman, and owner/breeder of Thoroughbred horse racing's U.S. Triple Crown champion Secretariat.
Chenery was born in Richmond, and raised in Ashland, Virginia. He was the brother of William L. Chenery, Editor-Publisher of Colliers Magazine. He studied at Randolph-Macon College and Washington and Lee University, graduating in 1909 with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering. He then went to work in the U.S. Pacific Northwest and Alaska, but his career was interrupted with service in the United States Army Corps of Engineers during World War I. After the war, Chenery established Chenery Corporation, which became the controlling shareholder of the Federal Water Service Company. He served as the water, gas, and pipeline company's president. Chenery was involved in two cases before the Supreme Court of the United States that are considered landmark cases of United States administrative law.[1]
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Meadow Farm
One of the founders of the New York Racing Association, Chenery made his home in the village of Pelham Manor, New York, for nearly fifty years. However, he is best known for his 1932 purchase of Meadow Farm near his native Richmond, Virginia, that bred and owned Thoroughbred racehorses.
On the farm property, Chenery operated Meadow Stud, Inc. as a breeding business and Meadow Stable, Inc. as the owner for the horses he kept for racing. His operations produced and raced the champion colt and 1972 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner Riva Ridge, and superhorse Secretariat, winner of the 1973 U.S. Triple Crown. Among his other horses of note, Chenery owned and bred Hill Prince, the 1950 U.S. Horse of the Year; Cicada, champion filly at 2, 3, and 4; and First Landing, the 1958 U.S. Champion 2-yr-old colt.
Chenery was admitted to the New Rochelle, New York Hospital in late February 1968. He remained there until his death on January 3, 1973, before Secretariat's Triple Crown victory occurred. His daughter Penny took over the management of the 2,798-acre (11.32 km2) farm and its racing stable. While she recorded her father as breeder of Secretariat, it was Penny Chenery who made the decision to send Meadow Farm's mare Somethingroyal to be bred to Bold Ruler twice. The first mating in 1968 produced the filly The Bride. The second breeding, in 1969, resulted in Secretariat.
Now known as Meadow Event Park, the former farm became the home of the Virginia State Fair in 2009.
References
- ^ SEC v. Chenery Corp., 332 U.S. 194 (1947).
External links
- Pelham Manor website
- The Meadow Event Park
- Virginia Thoroughbred Association Hall of Fame
- Bowen, Edward L. Legacies of the Turf: A Century of Great Thoroughbred Breeders (2003) Eclipse Press ISBN 978-1581501025
Further reading
- Nack, William. Secretariat: The Making of a Champion (2002) Da Capo Press ISBN 978-0306811333
Categories:- American military personnel of World War I
- Washington and Lee University alumni
- American engineers
- American businesspeople
- American racehorse owners and breeders
- Eclipse Award winners
- People from Hanover County, Virginia
- People from Westchester County, New York
- New York Racing Association
- 1886 births
- 1973 deaths
- Randolph–Macon College alumni
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