Meadow Farm

The property is divided by VA Route 30. This tunnel leads from the horse show grounds to the exhibit halls.

Meadow Hall was built in the 1990s as a conference and event center and is not part of the historic district. It replaced the older house that once stood on the location.

Our club once held its annual banquet here.

The farm was established in 1805 by the Morris family, ancestors of the Chenerys. The low wall contains the family cemetery. There were once tombstones, but they were lost prior to Chenery purchasing the property. The plaque lists their names and dates.

The main entrance to the house has stained glass decoration with the name Meadow Farm.

The interior has many historic photos of the property and the horses. Stallion photos are on the left; broodmares on the right.

Mr. Chenery believed in having the best mares as the foundation for his breeding program. Secretariat himself became one of the top broodmare sires.

The back patio of Meadow Hall overlooks the stallion barn (L) and the yearling barn. The broodmare barn burned before the historic district was formed.

The stallion barn is the plainest of all the 1930s historic structures. Neither Secretariat nor Riva Ridge offered their services here. They both stood at stud in Kentucky. Other stallions bred at the farm did stay here, however.

The signage was placed by The Secretariat Heritage Center. At one time there were grand plans to turn the facility into a tourist attraction, but these have not panned out for some reason. The audio tour mentioned at the link coordinates with the signage and is still available. Ever-popular QR codes take you to the audio, which essentially reads the sign text. You may take the tour from the comfort of your computer. Go to the link and click "Start."

The yearling barn also housed the office of the farm manager, Howard Gentry in the corner of the "L." The most promising colt of the year was housed in the stall closest to the end of the barn where I'm standing. In 1970 this stall belonged to Riva Ridge, an unsung hero who saved Meadow Farm. In 1971 it was Secretariat's.

Adjacent to the yearling barn was a small horse cemetery with markers. Champions Sun Beau, Chenery bred Hill Prince, and Imperatrice, Secretariat's grand-dam, are buried here alongside a pony named "Blue."

Secretariat's dam, Somethingroyal, is buried nearby on private property that was once part of Meadow Farm.

The foaling shed has been moved across the highway to be adjacent to the training stable. It was in the path of new development at its original location.

In the you-can't-make-this-up category, the ownership of Secretariat was decided on a coin toss. Penny Chenery lost the toss and won the champion.

When the Meadow Farm horses were rising two, they were sent across the highway to this training barn to be backed and receive their basic education. As they became ready to race, they were then sent to Hialeah for final preparation.

The most promising candidate lived in the stall closest to me: Riva Ridge then Secretariat.

Here it is. The plaque credits both Riva Ridge and Secretariat. Its restoration was funded by two stables, one of which was Cre Run Farm.

Cre Run has bred First Classs, an Arabian race horse that has won multi-million dollar purses in the Middle East where Arabian racing is respected. Like Secretariat, First Classs was born and bred in Doswell, VA, at Cre Run Farm. Also like Secretariat, he was bred by a woman: Deborah Mihaloff. We were lucky to attend a lavish Derby Day party at Cre Run a number of years ago.

The stall is currently being used to store hay.

A mile-long training track once existed on the property. This building enabled the trainer and spectators to see the entire track.

VAHA used to have its show hospitality dinner in this building, but it cost extra to rent and was an awkward space to boot, so now we have the dinner in the show stable. We're all horse people so a little hay in the hummus isn't a problem.