“Awwwwwww,” 22 tour participants collectively exhaled after learning that Christopher Chenery never got to see Secretariat win the Triple Crown.

The State Fair of Virginia’s 2017 attendance was nearly 250,000, the second-highest since the fair moved to The Meadow Event Park in 2009.

The Meadow Event Park is now an officially licensed affiliate of Secretariat.com, which oversees the development and management of Secretariat-related enterprises for the Chenery family.

The Kentucky Derby has been called the most exciting 2 minutes in all of sports. In 1973 Virginia-born Secretariat made it the most exciting 1 minute and 59 and two-fifths seconds.

It’s been a long time since Thoroughbred horses have lived at Secretariat’s birthplace at The Meadow Event Park in Caroline County, but things have come full circle.

An iconic Angus bull statue has a new home at The Meadow Event Park in Caroline County and will be re-dedicated at 1 p.m. on Sept. 27 during the State Fair of Virginia.

The birthplace of Secretariat at The Meadow Event Park is now the site of a rare memorabilia collection from the early days of Meadow Stable. 

When the undefeated Nyquist won the Kentucky Derby on May 7, he boosted his winning streak to eight races. His victory also boosted the inevitable speculation on whether he could capture the Triple Crown, which was won for the first time in 37 years by American Pharoah in 2015. 

In 1973, Virginia-born Secretariat sailed across the finish line at the Kentucky Derby on his way to a record-breaking sweep of the Triple Crown. His times in the Derby, Preakness and Belmont still stand today.

Secretariat great-great-granddaughter Groundshaker will be coming to her ancestral home as the star attraction of the annual Secretariat Birthday Celebration during the Virginia Horse Festival April 1-3 at The Meadow Event Park.