Prominent Owner Skirball-Kenis Dies

Audrey Skirball-Kenis, a long-time Thoroughbred owner and philanthropist, died Wednesday in Los Angeles.

Skirball-Kenis, 87, and her husband Charles Kenis owned the Kenis & 3+U Stable, which rose to prominence during the past six years. They campaigned the following major stakes winners with trainer Bobby Frankel: Super Quercus, winner of the last year's Hollywood Turf Cup (gr. IT) and the 1999 Hollywood Derby (gr. I), Mazel Trick, Northern Quest , See You Soon, Sixieme Sens, Uncharted Haven, and The Seven Seas. She also raced multiple-graded stakes winner Capichi from 1983-85 with trainer Gary Jones.

Skirball married Kenis in 1987, two years after the death of Jack Skirball, to whom she had been married for 38 years. Born Audrey Marx in New York, she was a racing fan and owner for more than 30 years. She and Jack Skirball, a rabbi and pioneering educational film maker, provided the initial funding for the development of a new cultural center in Los Angeles in 1983. The Skirball Cultural Center, which opened in 1996, has been called one of the world's most dynamic Jewish cultural institutions. The Skirball Foundation has given more than $60 million to the center.

Skirball-Kenis is survived by her husband and two daughters. Services are scheduled for June 23 at 2 p.m. at Hillside Memorial Park Chapel.