Christopher Chenery

Born September 19, 1886

Richmond, Virginia, U.S.
Died J anuary 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/breeder
Known for Owner of Secretariat
Spouse(s) Helen Bates
Children Hollis
Margaret
Helen Bates "Penny"
Parents J ames Hollis Chenery & Ida Burnley
Taylor
Honors Eclipse Award for
Outstanding Breeder
(1972, 1973)
Virginia Thoroughbred
Association Hall of Fame
(1987)
Virginia Sports Hall of Fame
(1985)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Christopher Tompkins Chenery (September 19, 1886
J anuary 3, 1973) was an American engineer, businessman,
and the owner/breeder of record for 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. Chenery's sister was Blanche
Chenery Perrin, a writer of children's books centered on
horse racing, such as Born To Race (http://om/2008/08/born-
to-race-blanche-chenery-perrin.html). 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]
After disbanding the Federal Water
Service Co, he founded and served as president and chairman
of the board of another utility, the Southern Natural Gas Co.
later Sonat, eventually purchased by the El Paso Corp. In the
1950s, he purchased Danziger Oil and used it to create the
Offshore Production Corp. one of the first offshore drilling
companies.
1 Meadow Stable
2 References
3 Further reading
4 External links
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 1936 purchase of The Meadow, an
Christopher Chenery - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Chenery
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ancestral property in Caroline County near his boyhood home in Ashland, Virginia. It was there that he founded
Meadow Stable stud which bred and raced Thoroughbreds.
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 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.
In the mid-1950s, Chenery was one of three men appointed by the J ockey Club to restructure and restore
integrity to New York Racing. Along with J ohn W. Hanes and Harry Guggenheim Chenery organized the
non-profit Greater New York Racing Authority with the novel idea of funneling proceeds to the state. However
it was Chenery who personally obtained the $30 million loan necessary to renovate the New York race tracks
after banks balked at financing "an enterprise based on gambling."
Chenery was admitted to the New Rochelle, New York Hospital in late February 1968. He remained there until
his death on J anuary 3, 1973, before Secretariat's Triple Crown victory occurred. In 1968, his daughter Penny
took over the management of the 2,798-acre (11.32 km
2
) 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 Stud'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.
[2]
^ SEC v. Chenery Corp., 332 U.S. 194 (http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?navby=CASE&court=US&
vol=332&page=194) (1947).
1.
^ Tweedy, Kate and Ladin, Leeanne. Secretariat's Meadow 2010. Dementi Milestone Publishing. ISBN
978-0-9827019-0-4
2.
Nack, William. Secretariat: The Making of a Champion (2002) Da Capo Press ISBN 978-0-306-81133-3
Pelham Manor website (http://www.historicpelham.com/biographies.htm)
The Meadow Event Park (http://www.meadoweventpark.com)
Virginia Thoroughbred Association Hall of Fame (http://www.vabred.org/halloffame.cfm)
Bowen, Edward L. Legacies of the Turf: A Century of Great Thoroughbred Breeders (2003) Eclipse Press
ISBN 978-1-58150-102-5
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Christopher_Chenery&oldid=620122185"
Categories: American military personnel of World War I Washington and Lee University alumni
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American engineers American businesspeople American racehorse owners and breeders
Eclipse Award winners Owners of Kentucky Derby winners Owners of Preakness Stakes winners
People from Hanover County, Virginia People from Westchester County, New York
New York Racing Association executives 1886 births 1973 deaths RandolphMacon College alumni
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