Big Red.
If you know anything about horse racing, you know that name. But behind the 31-length victory at the Belmont Stakes and the heart that was literally twice the size of an average horse, there was a complicated, high-stakes legal and financial drama regarding who owned the horse Secretariat. It wasn't just a matter of a name on a deed. It was about a family trying to keep their legacy from crumbling under the weight of the IRS.
Honestly, the story of Secretariat’s ownership is just as tense as the races themselves.
Most people will tell you Penny Chenery owned him. That’s the short version. The real version involves a coin toss, a dying father, and a record-breaking $6.08 million syndication deal that basically saved Meadow Stable from being liquidated. It’s a story of a woman who stepped into a "man’s world" in the early 70s and outmaneuvered everyone.
The Coin Toss That Changed History
You can’t talk about who owned Secretariat without talking about Ogden Phipps.
Christopher Chenery, Penny’s father, had established Meadow Stable in Doswell, Virginia. He had a long-standing arrangement with Phipps, a wealthy breeder who owned the powerhouse Bold Ruler. The deal was simple but weird: they would breed Chenery’s mares to Phipps’ stallion, and they’d toss a coin to see who got first pick of the foals.
In 1969, Penny Chenery went to Florida to meet Phipps for that toss.
Penny lost.
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Because she lost, she was "stuck" with the second foal from the 1970 breeding season. That foal turned out to be Secretariat. If she had won the toss, she likely would have picked a different foal, and the greatest racehorse in history would have run in the Phipps family’s black and cherry red silks instead of the iconic blue and white checkers of Meadow Stable.
Luck is a funny thing in horse racing.
The Meadow Stable Crisis
By the time Secretariat was hitting the track as a two-year-old in 1972, Christopher Chenery was incapacitated in a hospital. The family was facing a massive inheritance tax bill. We’re talking millions of dollars. Penny’s siblings, Margaret Carmichael and Hollis Chenery, were practically leaning toward selling the farm and the horses just to pay the taxes.
Penny refused.
She took over the management of Meadow Stable at a time when women weren't even allowed in certain parts of the clubhouse. She was officially the "Owner of Record," but the ownership was technically tied up in the family estate and the corporate structure of Meadow Stud, Inc.
To keep the horse, she had to sell him. Sort of.
The $6.08 Million Syndication
In early 1973, before Secretariat had even won the Triple Crown, Penny made a move that everyone thought was insane. She syndicated the horse for $6.08 million.
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Think about that. This was 1973. That’s roughly $40 million today.
She divided the horse into 32 shares. Each share was worth $190,000. By selling these shares to various investors—including heavy hitters like Seth Hancock of Claiborne Farm—she raised the cash to pay off the estate taxes and keep the farm running.
So, who owned the horse Secretariat after that? A whole committee of people.
- Penny Chenery (The Meadow Stable) retained several shares and remained the "manager" of the horse.
- Seth Hancock and Claiborne Farm.
- Various private investors who bought in.
One of the most interesting parts of this deal was that the owners weren't just buying a racehorse. They were buying a future stallion. The contract stated that Secretariat had to retire at the end of his three-year-old season. Penny was basically racing a horse she didn't fully "own" anymore, under the intense pressure of knowing that if he got hurt, the $6 million deal might evaporate.
Why the Ownership Mattered for the Triple Crown
If Penny hadn't been the owner, Secretariat might never have become a cultural icon. She was a PR genius. She understood that the public needed a hero after the darkness of the Vietnam War and Watergate. She made the horse accessible.
She was the one who pushed trainer Lucien Laurin and jockey Ron Turcotte. She was the one who stood in the winner's circle.
There's a persistent myth that the horse was "taken" from her by the syndicate. That's not really true. Penny was the driving force behind the syndicate. She chose Claiborne Farm as the place where he would stand at stud because she trusted the Hancock family. It was a strategic business partnership designed to preserve the Chenery name in racing.
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The Aftermath at Claiborne Farm
Once Secretariat retired in November 1973, he moved to Paris, Kentucky.
His physical ownership stayed with the syndicate members. For the rest of his life, he lived at Claiborne. Penny visited him often. She famously said that he knew who she was every time she walked up to the fence.
It’s important to note that while he was a "disappointment" as a sire of sires (meaning his sons didn't produce great champions), he was a legendary "broodmare sire." His daughters went on to produce legends like Storm Cat and A.P. Indy. So, the people who owned shares in him eventually made their money back and then some.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Movie
If you’ve seen the Disney movie, you might think it was Penny versus the world.
In reality, she had a lot of support, but the financial stakes were even grittier than the film portrayed. The "ownership" wasn't just about a lady and her horse; it was a complex web of corporate law, tax codes, and bloodstock valuation.
Penny Chenery remained the "First Lady of Racing" until she passed away in 2017. Even though she didn't hold 100% of the horse's title after 1973, in the eyes of the public and the history books, she will always be the woman who owned Secretariat.
Actionable Insights for Horse Racing History Buffs
If you want to dig deeper into the actual documentation of who owned the horse Secretariat, there are a few things you can do to see the real history beyond the Hollywood version.
- Visit the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame: They hold many of the original Meadow Stable records and Penny Chenery’s personal memorabilia. It gives you a much better look at the business side of the stable.
- Research the Claiborne Farm Archives: The farm still operates in Kentucky and maintains records of the original 32-share syndicate. Seeing the list of names who bought into the horse is a "who's who" of 1970s wealth.
- Read "Secretariat" by William Nack: This is the definitive book. Nack was there. He lived the story. He breaks down the syndication deal with much more nuance than any five-minute YouTube video ever could.
- Look into the Meadow Event Park: Located in Doswell, Virginia, this is where Secretariat was born. You can see the original foaling shed. Standing there makes the "ownership" feel a lot more real than just reading about it on a screen.
The story of Secretariat's ownership is really a story of a family's survival. It reminds us that even the greatest athletes—human or equine—are often subject to the realities of the business world. Penny Chenery didn't just own a horse; she protected a legacy. Without her specific brand of grit, the horse might have been just another fast colt lost to the shuffle of an estate sale. Instead, he became the benchmark for perfection.