Secretariat’s Meadow – The Land, The Family, The Legend

Tag: The Meadow

  • Secretariat Birthday Celebration at The Meadow

    SECRETARIAT BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION AT THE MEADOW MARCH 29-30 KICKS OFF 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF SECRETARIAT’S 1973 TRIPLE CROWN  Come Join Us Where the Legend Began!     Forty years ago in 1973,  the big red horse pounded the turf in the Belmont Stakes like a “tremendous machine” and clinched the first Triple Crown in a quarter-century.  Forty years…

  • Happy Birthday, Penny Chenery

    We want to be the first to send the “First Lady of Racing,” Penny Chenery, our warmest wishes for a Happy Birthday on January 27!   Last year was a milestone birthday at age 90, but this year will also be very special for Penny.  It marks the 40th anniversary of Secretariat’s historic Triple Crown of 1973.  His…

  • Before there was Big Red…there was “the Great Red Fox”

                                                              A century before Meadow Stable, home of Hall of Famers Secretariat, Riva Ridge, Hill Prince and Cicada, put Doswell, Virginia on the racing map, Bullfield Stable in nearby Hanover County dominated the American racing scene.  Its most famous son was a long-striding chestnut stallion named Planet, also called “the great red fox.” He was…

  • Viva Riva! Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Riva Ridge’s Derby Victory

                                                                                     In 1969, a muddy-bay colt with floppy ears would be saved from the floodwaters of Hurricane Camille at his Virginia farm. Later, he would rescue the same farm as it was sinking into debt and preserve it as the launching pad of its greatest champion.  Though he would be swept aside in the…

  • The Secretariat Birthday Party Goes On!

    Some of you may have heard the sad news that The Meadow, which was owned by the State Fair of Virginia, has been closed to the public.  The Fair (a private, not for profit organization) was forced into Chapter 7 bankruptcy on March 8 when the bank did not accept its plan to reorganize.  This was heart-breaking…

  • Secretariat’s Descendants…from the Homestretch to the Homefront

      This new series will look at some of Secretariat’s most famous progeny and how the mighty stallion of Meadow Stable continues to fire the blood of some of the best racehorses on the track today. We will also look at the descendants whose most important contributions have been made, not on the homestretch, but on…

  • Next Stop on the “Secretariat’s Meadow Tour”…the Yearling Barn

                                                                    On our virtual tram tour of The Meadow, you’ve seen The Cove where the broodmares and foals grazed, and the Stallion Barns.    Now we’ll take a look at the Yearling Barn, where both Secretariat and Riva Ridge stayed as colts. The Yearling Barn originally built by Chris Chenery still stands, and like the Stallion Barns,…

  • Covert Action, Secretariat’s Grandson, Finds “Greener Pastures”

      Secretariat’s descendants are helping to keep his legacy alive! As we get closer to Big Red’s birthday on March 30, we’re writing about some of his progeny here in Virginia.  Our last post was about Rainaway, his great grandson who lives at The Meadow in Doswell.   This is Covert Action, a Secretariat grandson, who quite generously,…

  • Rainaway, The Mascot of The Meadow

    March may come in like a lion but it’s going to go out like a Thoroughbred! In honor of Big Red’s birthday (March 30) and the  celebration at The Meadow (March 27)  we will be posting stories about his birthplace and his descendants all month. We’ll start with a descendant who actually lives at The Meadow…a…