Shirley Bennett Anderson describes herself as “a small mom and pop operation (without the pop after the death of her husband Johnny), which, by the grace of God, continues to grow”. She currently has 17 Secretariat descendants: some racing, some in training, while other yearlings are romping in the pastures at Crown of Glory Meadows.
Shirley's mission to “Keep the Secretariat Legacy Alive” began in 2009 with a mercy mission to save the life of, Extreme Supreme, son of Hall of Fame, Deputy Minister. His pedigree also included Secretariat bloodlines. After a failed surgery Shirley’s determination to save his bloodlines was sealed after seeing the 2010 movie, Secretariat, portraying Penny Chenery’s courage to "never give up". Penny took ownership of her father’s dream after her mother died and came home to help when her father was sick. Shirley intends to follow in Penny’s footsteps as described by her during an interview with the Walt Disney movie producer, "I just want to keep honking his horn." She certainly has fulfilled that statement with gusto.
Shirley established “Breeding With A Mission” program to “grow the Secretariat Family Tree” by producing new generations of Secretariat bloodlines as close up as possible to first generation pedigree positions. She began with a daughter from Secretariat’s last foal crop, a granddaughter, and two AP Indy granddaughters. With limited resources, the mission is not growing as fast as Shirley would like, but despite the hurdles she has faced since the death of her husband, she has produced four crops of Secretariat descendants with a fifth crop expected in the spring of 2016.
The game plan is to keep breeding her Secretariat mares to current champion sires like Midnight Lute, Storm Cat sons, Majestic Warrior, Munnings, General Quarters, With Distinction, Cowtown Cat, Exclusive Quality to get double Secretariat pedigrees (sire and dam’s side), as well as adding new branches from several non-secretariat bloodlines broodmares (i.e. Conquistador Cielo) to sires with Secretariat bloodlines. This year’s racing crop includes a Secretariat grandson, Johnny Leroy, named in honor of Shirley’s husband who is sired by Leroidesanimaux (sire of Animal Kingdom). God willing, his racing debut, under trainer, Todd Pletcher, will begin in December at Gulfstream Park, Florida.
The other goal to help support the mission is to open the door to the general public who love horse racing but don't own thoroughbreds. For those who would like to be part of her mission to help “Grow the Secretariat Family Tree”, Shirley is offering a two year racing share program at an affordable price: (please visit the Racing Shares page). The ultimate goal of the mission is to honor, not only Secretariat, but also the woman who believed in him when others didn’t. Penny’s dedication to her beloved thoroughbred created an American Icon. She also gave a leg-up for women like me entering the male dominated arena of thoroughbred racing.
