Prominent Thoroughbred owner-breeder Charlotte Weber, set to be honored with this year's "Penny Chenery Distinguished Woman in Racing Award" at Arlington Park Aug. 11, has issued a $50,000 matching gift challenge over the next five years against pledges made to the Chicago track's "Riding For A Cure" program benefiting cancer research.Weber, 62, owner and operator of Live Oak Plantation near Ocala, Fla., is pledging to match any individual donation of $10,000 made to this year's "Riding For A Cure"--Arlington's annual charity trail ride that benefits the University of Chicago Cancer Treatment Research Foundation. This year's "Riding For A Cure" will be held Sept. 12, but Weber's matching gift challenge is in effect for the next five years and is worth up to $50,000 over that time period.Founded in 2002, "Riding For A Cure" is a 20-mile trail ride in Barrington Hills, Ill. Riders raise money through pledges for the cause and the day culminates with an evening of dinner and dancing, as well as a live and silent auction.Arlington's Distinguished Woman in Racing Award is named after Penny Chenery, Thoroughbred racing's unofficial first lady since campaigning Secretariat to a Triple Crown in 1973. Weber will be honored at an invitation-only charity luncheon to be held Aug. 11 in Arlington Park's International Room.All proceeds from Arlington's Women in Racing luncheon go to "Riding For A Cure," which has raised more than $140,000 for cancer research since it's inception in 2002, including a record $60,000 that was raised in 2004.A native of Pennsylvania, Weber studied art and interior design at The Sorbonne in Paris. A member of The Jockey Club in both New York and Kentucky, she also serves as a board trustee to Campbell Soup Company; the Metropolitan Museum of Art; and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association of Kentucky. She is on the board of directors of the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Association, and is a trustee to The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame at Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
Live Oak Plantation had its best earnings year to date in 2004, and the silks have been worn in 2005 by High Fly, winner of the Florida Derby (gr. I), and Beaumont Stakes (gr. II) winner In the Gold.