" On March 30, 1970, Secretariat drew his first breath in a little white foaling shed on a historic farm called The Meadow in Caroline County, Virginia. Three years later he would leave the nation breathless as he captured the Triple Crown, shattering records and rivals alike. At The Meadow, America s Super Horse learned to gallop across its rolling fields and its loamy track. There, Secretariat first felt the calming hand of a groom, the taste of a bit in his mouth and the weight of a rider on his back. At The Meadow, the foundation was laid for a legend. Though much has been written about his spectacular racing career, the complete story of Secretariat s birthplace and the Chenery family who raised and raced him has never been told...until now. And a Chenery granddaughter is telling it. Secretariat s Meadow The Land, The Family, The Legend reveals an intimate picture of this storied place from the viewpoint of Kate Chenery Tweedy, daughter of Penny Chenery (Tweedy) and granddaughter of Meadow Stable s founder Christopher T. Chenery. Co-authored with Leeanne Meadows Ladin, the book tells not only Secretariat s story, but the story of an enduring piece of land where an empire built on broodmares eventually produced an immortal son. "
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"(Secretariat's Meadow)...benefits enormously by coming from a direct family source, with the series of illustrations and photographs enhancing the overall reading experience." --Thoroughbred Daily News
"Secretariat fans who could tell his story on their own will truly enjoy Tweedy's first-hand account, as someone fortunate to have personally witnessed greatness in her family, their farm, and their horses." --Horse-races.net
Well written and beautifully illustrated with a gallery of old prints and photographs, Secretariat's Meadow is an artful contribution to the history of the America turf.
--Bill Nack, author of "Secretariat - The Making of a Champion"
"It is a book well worth reading and for me, it brought back many a fond memory."
--Ron Turcotte, Secretariat's jockey
"It makes a grand and moving story and is told with warmth. Beautifully illustrated and produced, Secretariat's Meadow is a pleasure for readers and fans of racing." Frank Mitchell, columnist, Daily Racing Form
"Secretariat fans who could tell his story on their own will truly enjoy Tweedy's first-hand account, as someone fortunate to have personally witnessed greatness in her family, their farm, and their horses." --Horse-races.net
Well written and beautifully illustrated with a gallery of old prints and photographs, Secretariat's Meadow is an artful contribution to the history of the America turf.
--Bill Nack, author of "Secretariat - The Making of a Champion"
"It is a book well worth reading and for me, it brought back many a fond memory."
--Ron Turcotte, Secretariat's jockey
"It makes a grand and moving story and is told with warmth. Beautifully illustrated and produced, Secretariat's Meadow is a pleasure for readers and fans of racing." Frank Mitchell, columnist, Daily Racing Form
About the Author
Kate Chenery Tweedy learned to ride at The Meadow as a child and later joined the family at races in New York and Saratoga Springs. At age twenty, she was in the eye of the whirlwind surrounding Secretariat and experienced his historic Triple Crown win at her mother s side at Belmont. She has accompanied her mother, the first lady of racing, in her travels across the country to keep Secretariat s legacy alive. Kate, an erstwhile lawyer, now teacher, editor, author and family historian, spent three years researching to do justice to the story of her remarkable grandfather and mother whose horses brought the national attention to that timeless place, The Meadow. She and her husband Jerry live in Littleton, Colorado. Her two grown daughters are educators and writers as well.
Leeanne Meadows Ladin also learned to ride at her grandparents farm in Virginia, racing pinto ponies on red clay fields by the Blackwater River with her cousins. She is the author of four books of regional historical interest, including the award-winning The State Fair of Virginia More Than A Midway, which featured a chapter on The Meadow. She and her husband Gary live in Richmond, Virginia.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
49 of 50 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
More Than Just a Horse, More Than Just a Horse Story,
By Julia A. Andrews (Peoria, Illinois) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER) (VINE VOICE) (REAL NAME)
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Secretariat's Meadow (Hardcover)
This wonderful book brings to life all the people who made The Meadow Stable such a prominent figure in Thoroughbred racing, from Christopher T. Cherney's dream to his grand-daughter's, Penny Cherney's dream horse, Secretariat.
This is no one note history of an East Coast Horse Country family, so much more than a simple regional history. It is a tribute to the land, the beginning of a breeding/racing empire and the extended family who made it all possible, a rare trifecta of fate. Such a book could only be accomplished by an author who has intimate knowledge of such details, Penny Cherney's daughter, Kate Cherney Tweedy, is one of the authors. She is joined by Leanne Meadows and noted Virginia photographer, Wayne Dementi. The story, photographs and acknowledgement of so many people who make up a successful racing operation endears these three to my heart. A horse-crazed teenage girl, I was glued to Derby, Preakness and the Belmont Stakes every year, hoping to witness such a winner. I can remember in vivid detail Secretariat's ascent to Triple Crown glory and into my heart where he will live forever. Other college girls had their rooms plastered with posters of the Pop stars, mine were newspaper clippings and photos of the greatest thoroughbred of my generation. His effect has not lessened some 30 years later, tears still run down my face whenever I see a film clip of "Big Red" on the racetrack. I know I will never see anything like Secretariat again in my life. This Autumn there is to be a film released about Secretariat starring Diane Lane as Penny Cherney, the "First Lady of Racing". Three horses are making up his role, I am surprised it did not entail more. This book comes at the crucial time to heighten interest in him again and then there are those of us who have already purchased a box of tissues and tickets for the local primere. May I also recommend some of my Secretariat favorites: Secretariat, Updated Edition The Life & Times of Secretariat, an American Racing Legend Secretariat: The Making of a Champion Later this month another Secretariat book, this time for children, will be released: Big Red Horse, the Secretariat Story. You know there will be a place on my bookshelf for it no matter what the age of the target audience. Enjoy the book! UPDATE: 10/16/10 Just finished "The Big Red Horse" and thoroughly enjoyed it.
30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Hearts of the Meadow,
By
This review is from: Secretariat's Meadow (Hardcover)
The Hearts of the Meadow
This book seems to pick up where Raymond Wolfe's 2001 edition of 'Secretariat' left off. In the footnote at the end of that work Raymond updated the readers on the condition of the Meadow in 1998, with Ross Sternhiemer's purchase of the estate. 'Secretariat's Meadow' begins there and takes us back into the history of the land and its people, the players and circumstances that generated the spirit of determination that would eventually give to America if not its greatest then certainly one of its most gifted Thoroughbred performers. A brief synopsis of this piece might look like this: with beginnings dating back to the early 1700s, the land rooted in plantations and slave ownership, we are led through ante and postbellum periods with regard to specific families, characters , social conditions, and geography. At the core is one clan, the Morris family, headed by a physician who acquired the acreage from wealthy landowners. The Meadow remained with the family for more than a century when in the clutches of the devastation and poverty the civil war left behind, the land was sold. The war filtered out the strong from the weak, and James Chennery and wife Ida, relations who resided at the Meadow for a time, were determined to survive the aftermath. Moving to Richmond and then to Ashland, their future lied with the education of their children. All their sons and daughters succeeded in their own respective professions, journalism, medicine, and engineering, the latter ascribed to the ambitious and creative Christopher who would eventually return the Meadow to the family. Developing a passion for horses and horse racing in particular, young Christopher set out to accomplish his most pressing need, to secure his finances. Years later, after co-founding a successful utilities operation in New York and establishing financial independence, he was then in position to pursue his passion, to purchase and return the Meadow to its family roots and install a Thoroughbred breedership upon it. The rest is history. The story of Secretariat is one of the determination bred long before into the land and blood of the Meadow, into the hearts of a people who were determined to survive the devastation of war, and into the souls of a handful of Virginians who longed to return the land to the best parts of its past. I sense this story will be told and re-told according to differing views by later generations, perhaps a work that chronicles all of American racing and its roots in aristocratic circles of which Virginia with its Bullfield and Meadow is at the epicenter. Whatever the piece, the Meadow with its people and horses offers fertile ground for choice. In his work 'The Horse God Built', Lawrence Scanlan tells of a young woman he met working at the Meadow who used to hear a galloping horse on its track at 3 am on certain days. Others heard it as well. The spooky sound left Whitney Jones believing it was the spirit of Secretariat breezing through his birth place, continuing to live the dreams of all his connections and predecessors. She recalled another incident when opening a gate, she had the experience of something powerful running through her. The Meadow's pride for its finest sons and daughters, both human and non-human, has been carved deep into the bone of its land and people. This is a wonderfully written and researched account of a segment of American history. The only suggestion offered is for the inclusion of an appendix detailing the historical events of The Meadow in a chronological manner. This can provide a quick reference tool for readers.
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Scretariat's Heritage,
By Scotty (NE Ohio) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Secretariat's Meadow (Hardcover)
I just received my copy of Secretariat's Meadow and couldn't stop reading until I had finished the book. The history behind The Meadow is fascinating and so well told. Of course Secretariat's personal story is mesmerizing but it is only part of the whole picture. A thank you to the authors for bringing this family story, the people and the wonderful horses who created The Meadow, to life. The photographs are wonderful-thank you again. I can't recommend this book highly enough.
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