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 great-grandson named Rainaway.

The chestnut gelding, born in 1994, was sired by Summer Squall, winner of the 1990 Preakness. Summer Squall’s dam was the very successful broodmare Weekend Surprise, a daughter of Secretariat.  Rainaway earned over $90,000 during his racing career before retiring at the age of six in 2000.

Somehow he ended up on a farm in Blountville, Tennessee on the verge of starvation with several other hapless horses.  In 2007, the farm’s owner was arrested for animal cruelty and the rescue organization, Horse Haven of Tennessee, mercifully took over the care of Rainaway and his stablemates.

HHT nursed  the emaciated horse back to health. He gained weight  and his dull coat regained its bright chestnut shine.  That he could recover from such unconscionable neglect speaks to the stamina inherent in his famous genes, as well to  the excellent care he received from his rescuers.

HHT found him a new home as the “mascot” of The Meadow, the birthplace of his great-grandsire in Doswell, Virginia. In September 2008, Rainaway made his first appearance at the State Fair of Virginia, which owns The Meadow.  He lived at a nearby farm while the State Fair completed its move from the old fairgrounds in Richmond to the rolling green fields of Caroline County. By 2009, Rainaway was settled in at The Meadow,  free to gallop in his spacious paddock and play with his beloved companion goats.

Today he continues to greet visitors at the annual State Fair and events such as the Equine Extravaganza and now Secretariat’s birthday party.  Rainaway will also be available to make an appearance during  the customized group tours now offered at The Meadow. 

From his paddock,   Rainaway has a panoramic view of The Meadow and the historic land where a bold young chestnut stallion once galloped.   Surely Rainaway can see that he’s home.

Our next post will be about Secretariat’s grandson Covert Action, who lives in nearby Goochland County.  Both he and Rainaway will be at the birthday party  on March 27.

Leeanne Meadows Ladin

copyright 2011

More Memories of Big Red from His Fans

                                      

Our Secretariat’s Meadow Facebook fans continue to send in their favorite memories of Big Red. This excerpt from  Kevin Madigan certainly captures the spirit of the times in 1973:

“My wife (then girlfriend) was scheduled to attend graduation ceremonies at the University of Maryland on the day of the Preakness in 1973.  Rather than suffer through those exercises, we elected to go to the Preakness instead.  It was a very good choice!  We were on the infield and just before the race began, all the spectators climbed over the inner fence at the track and went right to the rail.  The horses paraded right in front of us as they warmed up …. I still can’t get over the size of Secretariat, or how small his competition seemed.  We were in the final turn and I remember leaning over the rail, waiting for the horses to appear.  We couldn’t tell who was in the lead but we knew instantly when a huge head wearing a blue and white checkerboard flashed into view.  We only saw him for a second as he flashed by, but what a second it was.  I could have reached out and touched him as he went by and dirt showered down on us for what seemed like a minute after he passed.

 I loved the movie that was recently released, but was disappointed that it failed to portray how the entire country was captivated by that year’s Triple Crown and Secretariat.  Things just about came to a halt across the country during the Belmont Stakes.  I was at a wedding with maybe 100 people in attendance.  Everyone stopped what they were doing when the race came on and left the ballroom we were in to watch it on television.  The electricity in the air when Secretariat pulled away to win by 31 lengths … no one in attendance will ever forget that number … was palpable.  Everyone was absolutely stunned by the magnitude of his performance that day. “

It’s been almost 41 years since he was born on March 30, 1970 at The Meadow  in Virginia and Secretariat still elicits powerful emotions in those who remember him. We will be celebrating his birthday soon at The Meadow on March 27 .  Keep sending your favorite stories and we’ll keep posting them in his honor. 

 The legend lives on!

Leeanne Meadows  Ladin

copyright 2011

A Good Hand on a Horse…the Grooms of Meadow Stable

                                       

In honor of February as Black History Month, we’d like to share some stories about the African-American grooms of The Meadow in Doswell, Virginia, birthplace of Secretariat.  Though they were never well known like Secretariat’s racetrack groom Eddie Sweat and exercise rider Charlie Davis,  the grooms in Doswell were the first to take care of Big Red and the other champions of Chris Chenery’s Meadow Stable.  

Though some of the men had passed away before Kate Tweedy and I started working on “Secretariat’s Meadow” in 2007, we were able to interview several of the grooms over time and even do a videotaped oral history.  They shared stories that had never been told and we are greatly indebted to them for so vividly enriching our book.

Here is the excerpt of their chapter from”Secretariat’s Meadow:”

” A Good Hand on a Horse…the Grooms of Meadow Stable.”  

They grew up working with their hands in the rural Caroline County of the post-Depression years.  Local jobs were scarce and mostly limited to cutting pulpwood for the local sawmill, working on the railroad, in a mechanic shop or as a farm laborer. But the calloused black hands of the men who became the grooms of Meadow Stable would touch some of the greatest Thoroughbreds in racing …and leave their own indelible imprint on the history of The Meadow.

Their names did not appear in the headlines or record books, but Lewis Tillman, Sr. and Lewis Tillman, Jr., Bannie Mines, Alvin Mines, Charlie Ross, Wesley Tillman, Garfield Tillman, Raymond “Peter Blue” Goodall, Howard Gregory and others from the closeknit web of local families most assuredly contributed to the success of Meadow Stable. Personally selected for their jobs, these men would be entrusted with the daily care of the valuable broodmares and their foals, helping with the early training of skittish colts and fillies, the transportation of finely-tuned racehorses and the handling of powerful stallions in the breeding shed.

Wesley Tillman came to work at The Meadow as a youngster.  In 1946, at the age of twelve, he began helping in the hay fields with his grandfather Samuel Tillman during the summer.

“My grandfather said, ‘If you’re big enough to walk all the way down here to the farm, you’re big enough to work.’  So he gave me a pitchfork and I started throwing hay on the wagon. That was my first job,” Tillman said. He made two dollars a day.

 By age eighteen, he was helping his uncle Lewis Tillman,Sr., who was in charge of the broodmare barn. They would turn the horses out in the morning after feeding and get them back up in the evening.  In the meantime, they would clean out the stalls and put in fresh bedding. When the mares and foals came back up from the Cove in the evening, they would feed them and put them in their stalls for the night. Wesley also pulled night watch duty when mares were getting ready to foal.

 His next job was “up the hill” to the yearling barn. “That’s when I started breaking horses,” Tillman said.  “You had to be real gentle with any horse and take your time with them. If you groomed them right, they would even get to like you so you could get them to cooperate with you.”  

 The next stop for young horses was the training center located across Route 30 where they would begin to learn the fundamentals of racing. The grooms would saddle the horses up for the exercise riders for the day’s work on the Meadow track. Afterwards, the grooms would wash the horses, brush them down and put them on the hot walker (a mechanical walking machine) for awhile. Lastly, they would lead them back to the barn and turn them out into the fields until feeding time. In between their grooming duties, the men would cut grass, fix fences, paint barns or do other chores around the farm.

Tillman, along with other grooms, sometimes traveled with the horses when they were shipped out as two-year-olds to the training stables in Hialeah, New York or Delaware. As they would see, it was a different world outside the rolling green fields of The Meadow. 

“Everybody was treated equally at the farm,” Tillman said.  “I didn’t see any racism.  We were all like a big family.”   

But on the road, in those days of segregation, “coloreds” were not allowed in many restaurants or hotels.  “I had to stay back in the back with the horses from here to New York,” Tillman explained.  When the van stopped for lunch, the white driver, Bill Street,  would bring him his meal which he ate in the van as the racehorses munched their hay and occasionally sneezed on his food.  If the grooms did take a break from the van, they had to go the back door of the restaurant to get a sandwich or eat in the kitchen with the cooks. Mostly they shrugged it off as part of their job.  

At the racetrack, the Meadow grooms would stay with the horses for maybe three or four weeks.  “We had our bunks right on the end of the barn, so  if anything happened, like if the horses would get down in the stall or start kicking,  we’d be right there with them,” Tillman said.   After new grooms were hired and the horses were settled in, the Meadow grooms would return to Virginia to start working with the next crop of young hopefuls.

Alvin Mines first came to The Meadow at the age of eight or nine, tagging along with his grandfather Lewis Tillman, Sr., who was affectionately called “the Mayor of Duval Town.”  (their nearby community)   He remembers playing in the fields with the other grandchildren until feeding time when his grandfather would call the mares and foals up from their pasture in the Cove.

“Man, the horses used to come running up, maybe about fifteen of them with their colts and the foals,” Mines recalled. “I remember we’re grabbing round his leg because we thought the horses would run us over. He said, ‘Don’t worry, the horse is not going to bother you.’ And sure enough, they’d come up and they’d just circle around you and go on.”

Alvin began working at Barn 33, also known as “First Landing’s Motel” around 1974. (First Landing was the sire of Riva Ridge.) There with groom Clarence Fells he helped with the visiting mares who were to be serviced by the Meadow stallions. Often the mares had foals at their sides, who did not want to leave their mothers for even a few minutes.

“I had to hold the foals and then you were in a rassling match!” Mines said.

Next he worked at the broodmare barn with his uncle Lewis Tillman, Jr.  Later he went across the road to work at the racetrack/training center, with his brother-in-law Raymond Goodall. Goodall was the chief groom for Riva Ridge.

He taught the short and stocky Alvin how to handle the tall, high-headed Thoroughbreds who often did not want to have a halter or bridle put on them. It seemed that farm manager Howard Gentry liked to test the young groom by giving him the tallest horse in the barn to lead.  Mines recalled being jerked off the ground more than once.

The grooms who had a special way with horses were highly respected at the farm.  This was particularly true of Howard Gregory, who worked at The Meadow for nearly thirty-two years.  He was known as “the stud man.”

He began as a farm worker, making twenty-five dollars a week in the 1940s.  Like the other grooms, he had no prior experience with horses, other than some farm mules. He simply learned by doing, mostly under the watchful eye of Howard Gentry, who supervised all the breeding.

He had been working at the training track for several years when Gentry offered him the job taking care of the stallions, along with a raise. “He told me I had a good hand on a horse and no fear,” Gregory recalled. “I had five young children to take care of, so I took the job. I did not know what I was getting into!”

He took charge of six stallions, each of which had his own paddock. Breeding time was around 2:00 p.m. each day in the breeding shed. Some days there would be four or five mares to be serviced. 

 “I had three horses that died in there,” Gregory noted.  “One was Third Brother, a full brother to Hill Prince. He just dropped dead after breeding the mare.” Another time, a stallion fell over dead, nearly crushing Howard Gregory and Howard Gentry against the wall.

One stallion, named Tillman in honor of Lewis Tillman, did little to flatter his namesake. He was especially rank and ill-tempered. “That horse looked to kill you!” Gregory said, adding that the horse would charge at any groom who entered his paddock.  Gregory was the only one who could handle him. “I had many people come watch me,” he said of those who came to learn his techniques.

His favorite stallion was First Landing.  “He was very, very mannerable,” Gregory noted. “When I would take him around to breed, you’d never hear him squeal or make a whimper or nothing.”

Despite the inherent dangers of his job, Gregory said, “I would turn back the hands of time” to do it all over again.

Charlie Ross also came to the Meadow in the early years. He would earn the distinction of being the last Virginia groom to take care of Secretariat before the colt was shipped down to Lucien Laurin’s training stable in Hialeah in January 1972. Though track groom Eddie Sweat and exercise rider Charlie Davis were more closely affiliated with “Big Red” during his meteoric racing career, it was Charlie Ross, along with trainer Meredith “Mert” Bailes, who helped start Secretariat under saddle. 

Ross had been working at the farm for over twenty years when Secretariat was transferred over to the training center and became one of his charges. He held the colt while Bailes first “backed” him, laying himself over the colt’s back to get him accustomed to human weight. He was the groom who led Secretariat around with his first rider, Bailes, in the saddle. 

“Yeah, he sat up on the saddle in the stall and I turned him around in the stall, waiting until he got used to that. Then the next move we would take him out in the big round shed and we’d walk him around in there until he’d get used to that,” Ross recalled.  He added that Secretariat did not act up or buck like some of the other horses did in those circumstances.

Typically taciturn, Ross admits he was a part of history. Then a flash of pride breaks through and he says, “They called me The Man,” for his way with horses. He agreed that the early care a young horse receives can influence him for life.

Alvin Mines put it best.  He said, “I think the horses, once they got the feel of the grooms that were working with them, there was something that growed up in them, you know. They go to someone else’s hands when they leave here, but I think the horses always know who had the first hand on them.”

 Meadow groom Lewis Tillman holding a colt for his Jockey Club ID photo. Photo by Bob Hart. 

Note:  To see what the grooms said about Secretariat and Riva Ridge as colts, read Chapters 11 and 12 in “Secretariat’s Meadow.”

by Leeanne Meadows Ladin

copyright 2011

This excerpt may not be reprinted without permission.

Horses who touch the heart

The fans of our “Secretariat’s Meadow” Facebook page continue to send us some of the most touching stories about the descendants of Big Red that they own or have owned. While some of his progeny never distinguished themselves on the track, they proved their worth in other ways.

This story from Litia of California is a case in point.  She writes:

“Secretariat is the Great Grand Sire of my mare Native Star aka Dancer.  I am newer to the horse world and came to horse ownership through personal tragedy.  My daughter was killed in a car accident in 2006 and I needed an outlet for grief.  I had ridden with friends growing up so was not totally unfamiliar with horses but had never been around thoroughbreds.  I started lessons on Dancer, who was very “green” then, as was I at the time.  I then started leasing her and eventually her owner surprised her to me as what I would call the special gift of a life time, she was given to me. 

Dancer is mischievous and hard working.  Wants to please and learns fast.  However she never did race.  I have heard that she was training and was injured on her right front shoulder.  She was recuperated and put back into training and was stiff in her hind end, and was sort of never the same, just did not have the heart.  Her former owner told me that her track trainer said that she was one of the fastest sprinters he had seen.  I believe it, this girl can run. 

I was able to locate her sire, I wanted had a need to know that he was ok.  I have been unable to locate her dam to this day.  I have a fear that she is not ok, I am still looking.

True to the heart of a horse, Dancer saved my life, heart and soul and has helped me move forward.  She will have her forever home with me here is California.”

We thank Litia for sharing her story with us.  More to come.

Leeanne Meadows Ladin

www.secretariatsmeadow.com

copyright 2011

Secretariat Fans – send us your favorite memories for our Big Red Birthday Party!

In Virginia, we are proud that we can celebrate Secretariat’s birthday on the very land where he was born and raised – The Meadow in Doswell in Caroline County. This year’s Big Red birthday celebration on Sunday March 27 will be even bigger and better and we can’t wait to announce the activities and special guests!  

From the moment his feet touched the ground on March 30, 1970, Secretariat made an impression on people.  His vet, the late Dr. Olive Britt, said he was born “practically standing up” and that “he was red as fire.” 
Kate and I hear so many wonderful stories from fans  at our book events and wish that we could capture them all.  So we’d like to collect fans’ favorite memories and share them at the birthday party. Hopefully we will be able to record stories at the party on video  as well, then share them on our website or this blog.

You can share your Secretariat story by leaving a comment on this blog or emailing your story and any photos to laladin@secretariatsmeadow.com

In the meantime, enjoy these stories that fans have shared with us:

My wife and I had the thrill to see “Big Red” at Claiborne Farm on a cold February day in 1986. We were the only ones to visit the farm that day and we had Secretariat to ourselves. As we approached his paddock the handler called out “Hey Red”. Secretariat was at the far side of the paddock when he heard the call. He charged across the paddock running at a quick pace. He pulled up as he got to the fence where we were. Then he struck a pose and looked at us as if to say here I am the one you came to see. The handler led him out and he posed for pictures. Unfortunately, the day was so overcast and the camera had low speed film so the images were not good, but the memories are just as fresh as if it happened last week.   From Laurie Mulligan
I also got to see “Big Red” at Claiborne Farms. It was in the summer of 1986 when my friend toured all the horse farms in Lexington. We walked up to him and he came running to the fence. He wanted us to scratch his back. We did and when we stopped he turned his head as if to say, “Why did ya stop?” He then turned to the other side and let us scratch his other side. We even got to brush him a little and the groom there let us each have some of his hair off the brush. I still have that in a plastic ziplock bag along with my Breyers models on the wall in my living room. He was such a beautiful horse and a ham at that.  from Karen Coleman
 
My husband,our two sons and I went to Claiborne Farms in 1977 to see Secretariat. We were led through the stable and Big Red was brought out. I stood in awe as the groomsman so kindly took our picture beside him. I even still have a lock of his mane. I saw the movie this year and couldn’t help but believe I was the only person in the theater who had actually touched this great horse! It is my all-time favorite memory!! This past Christmas I started crying when I opened one of my presents — it was the book “Secretariat’s Meadow,” a movie DVD and the book by William Nack. Big Red will never be forgotten — not only did he provide the most exciting horse race in history; he gave many of us a lifetime memory!  from Barbara McIntosh

 

by Leeanne Meadows Ladin

copyright 2011

 

 

Guided Tour Program Starting at The Meadow, Birthplace of Secretariat

Millions of moviegoers saw the screen version of The Meadow, Secretariat’s Virginia birthplace, in the Disney movie “Secretariat.” Soon fans of “Big Red”will be able to visit the very grounds where the immortal 1973 Triple Crown winner was born. This spring, The Meadow Event Park, owned by SFVA, will begin offering guided tours of “Big Red’s” famed birthplace in Doswell, Virginia, just north of Richmond.  

I am very excited about this because I will be the guide! As co-author of the book “Secretariat’s Meadow – The Land, The Family, The Legend,” with Kate Chenery Tweedy (Penny Chenery’s daughter) I have lived and breathed the history and the mystique of The Meadow for several years.  I will share behind-the-scenes stories about the circa 1805 farm, its famous stallions and broodmares, and the people who lived and worked there during its heyday.

 Highlights of the tour will include seeing the foaling shed where Secretariat was born on March 30, 1970; the yearling and training barns with the stalls where Secretariat and  Riva Ridge (Meadow Stable’s first Kentucky Derby winner) stayed as young colts; the stallion barns; the fabled Cove, where the broodmares and foals grazed (pictured in our blog headline);  a horse cemetery; and much more!

Secretariat’s Meadow Tours will involve a tram ride, some walking and an indoor presentation which features video clips of Secretariat’s 1973 Triple Crown races.  Tour guests will have the opportunity to purchase a signed copy of Secretariat’s Meadow.  Proceeds from the tours will benefit the future Museum of the Virginia Horse to be built at The Meadow.

There will be two types of tours:  customized tours for groups which may be booked from March to December; and a limited schedule of tours for the general public.  The customized  tours are available for groups which may be renting The Meadow Event Park facilities for meetings, trade shows, horse shows and other functions, as well as for groups such as historical societies, civic and alumni organizations, book clubs and the like.   The basic cost is $10 per person, with a 40 guest minimum.  Other special features can be added to the tour for additional fees. For instance, a group could add a lunch or reception or perhaps a horseshoeing demonstration by a farrier. We can even arrange for a “photo op” with Rainaway, Secretariat’s great-grandson who lives on the property. The basic tour takes about an hour and advance registration is required.

 The general public tours are slated for March 27, May 7 and July 23.  The public tour cost is  $10 per person, $5 for children under 12, with a 40-guest minimum. Advance registration is required. More public tour dates may be added to the schedule as demand warrants. 

You can read more details about the customized group tours and the public tours at www.meadoweventpark.com. The Meadow Event Park is located off I-95, exit 98 to Doswell, 1.5 miles east of King’s Dominion, about 25 miles north of Richmond.  

You can learn more about the history of  The Meadow and its famous Thoroughbreds  at our website www.secretariatsmeadow.com (and order our book!)   

             

Leeanne Meadows Ladin

copyright 2011

 

                                                     

Secretariat’s Meadow Book Events 2011

We’re still having a great run with “Secretariat’s Meadow” as we begin the new year!  On Amazon, our book ranks #1 in Art and Photography books about the South; #3 in History books about Virginia (just behind the national best-seller “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”); and #5 in Books about Horse Racing. Ahead of us in Horse Racing books are the Kindle and paperback versions of “Seabiscuit” and “Secretariat – the Making of a Champion.” Good company to be in! We sold out our first printing and the second run has moved very well over the holidays. 

We have lots of new book events planned for 2011.  The major highlight for the first quarter will be MARCH 27, the date for the second annual birthday celebration for Secretariat at his Virginia birthplace, The Meadow, in Doswell. We’re planning some very exciting activities with the Meadow Event Park staff, Caroline County Tourism and the town of Ashland merchants.  Please check this  blog, our website and Facebook page for updates.

Here’s a quick rundown of our January – March book event schedule:

Jan 6  –  National Western Stock Show Parade, Denver CO, Kate rides with Penny in open surrey       

Jan 8-9 and 22-23   – National  Western Stock Show, Kate signs books at Colo. Horse Rescue Booth, 

Jan 16-18   – North American Veterinary Conference, Kate signs at McLeod Booth, Orlando FL; TRF benefit

Jan. 19    –  Westover Hills Library, Leeanne gives talk,  7 pm

Jan. 27 – Kate is keynote speaker at Goochalnd County Chamber dinner

Feb. 4 –  Richmond Public Library – First Fridays, Leeanne gives talk

Feb 21-23  –  Western Veterinary Conference, Kate signs at McLeod Booth, Las Vegas; TRF benefit

Feb 26  -VA Horse Council annual mtg, Blue Ridge Community College, Leeanne keynote speaker      

Mar 5  –   Writers Workshop at Chesterfield Central Library – Leeanne

Mar 10  –    Swedish Medical Center, Kate speaks toSeniors Health Group, Englewood CO

Mar 11-13  –   Rocky Mountain Horse Expo, Kate signs at CHR Benefit

Mar 16-20   –  VA Festival of the  Book , Charlottesville, Leeanne presenter

Mar 26 –  Louisiana Derby, Kate signs at Fairgrounds Race Course, New Orleans

Mar 27 –  Secretariat’s Birthday party, The Meadow

While it is great to sell a lot of books, one of the most rewarding things about this book tour is meeting all the Secretariat fans and hearing their stories and memories of Big Red.  We can’t wait for more! 

Leeanne Meadows Ladin

Secretariat’s Meadow and Santa…Dashing through the Stores

The holiday rush began with a flurry of November book signings.  Lots of Secretariat fans are telling Kate and me that they are buying our book as presents for horse lovers and racing followers. We are happy and honored to hear that!

We kicked off the season by signing at the Holiday Shoppers Fair at the Virginia Historical Society.  This is a great event where all the Richmond area museum gift shops come together to offer their wares under one roof.  So we got some shopping done too!

Next we gave a talk to a wonderful audience at the Joseph-Beth Bookseller in Fredericksburg. Kate stayed in town to speak the following night at Mary Washington College.  We teamed up again at the Barnes & Noble in Charlottesville to do a Q&A session and signing with a large and enthusiastic crowd who was very knowledgeable about Big Red and The Meadow.  There are many Charlottesville ties to The Meadow.  Howard Gentry, the indispensable farm manager, came from Ellerslie farm  and we were thrilled that some of his relatives attended our event.

Then we sped down the road (almost as fast as Big Red) to Richmond for another Barnes & Noble signing that afternoon.  Kate flew back to Denver, only to turn around and fly back to Louisville, KY this past weekend for another event with our friends at the beautiful Kentucky Derby Museum.  I returned to The Meadow to sign at the Virginia Christmas Market show.

We have lots more book signings coming up in December, including two big  events in Ashland where Kate’s grandfather, Chris Chenery, the founder of Meadow Stable, grew up.  So check out our updated event section.  We hope to see you as we go dashing through the stores!

I had a little chat with Santa at the Virginia Christmas Market when he came over to get a book. He promised me that he would have plenty of copies of “Secretariat’s Meadow” in his knapsack for the holiday season!

Santa and Leeanne Ladin at the Virginia Christmas Market show

Author Adventures with Big Red on the Red Carpet

 

In the spirit of Secretariat’s record-smashing performance in the Derby, you could call the Kentucky leg of our “Barnstorming Book Tour” the “Every Furlong Faster” tour.

Kate arrived in the Bluegrass State direct from the red carpet, having attended the “Secretariat” movie premiere in Hollywood.  Her first book event was the Secretariat Festival in Paris, KY on October 2. 

Our publisher (Wayne Dementi) and I left Richmond, VA at 7:00 am on Sunday, October 3 to rendezvous with Kate for the Kentucky premiere that evening.  We arrived in Lexington around 4:00 p.m., with plenty of time (I thought delusionally) to primp and preen for this elegant occasion.  That notion was quickly dispelled when we learned that we needed to be at the Kentucky Theatre well before the starting time of 6:00 p.m.

 There I was, rather bedraggled after nine hours on the road. Likewise, Kate had been signing at the World Equestrian Games all day. It was like a starting gate clanged open. We set a new world’s record in getting “glammed up” and thank heaven, there were two bathrooms downstairs at the home of our gracious host !  

In the end, it didn’t really matter. When Diane Lane stepped out of her limo in front of the theatre, looking sleek and impossibly beautiful, no one else existed on or near the red carpet. She was so gracious and poised in her strapless gown, unfazed by the cold drizzle that had the rest of us shivering.  Then Kate’s mother, Penny Chenery, arrived in her limo, resplendent in a shimmering blue evening jacket. The crowd happily greeted her as one of their own. Penny lived in Lexington for many years before moving to Colorado and still keeps a few racehorses here.

Kate, Wayne and I walked the red carpet  behind Penny.  I had not expected to do that and was very proud to be part of that entourage as the Disney team waved us through.  Kate shared the stage with Governor Steve Bashear and Disney officials and welcomed the audience on her family’s behalf.

This was my third time to see the Secretariat film and it was every bit as thrilling as when I first saw it in Denver. Punctuating  the enjoyment were the exuberant reactions of the Kentucky  audience, who cheered each time Diane Lane as Penny showed her mettle in a challenging situation. They left no doubt that Penny Chenery still reigns as “the First Lady of Racing.” 

And just as if it were June 9, 1973 again,  everyone was shouting and clapping and even crying as Secretariat thundered across the screen in his Belmont,  a blaze-red Pegasus taking flight above the turf and lifting a nation with him.

As if that experience was not enough, I was fortunate to sit at a table during the reception after the movie with several Hall of Fame jockeys. Let me unabashedly drop a few names:  Ron Turcotte, Jean Cruguet, Steve Cauthen. They all signed a copy of “Secretariat’s Meadow,”  as did Otto Thorwarth who plays Ron in the movie. I also collected signatures from  Governor Bashear AND  Diane Lane, who wrote a special inscription to my husband who has loved her since “Lonesome Dove.”  I later accosted Calvin Borel in the lobby and he signed my program.

Meanwhile our intrepid publisher, who I had vainly tried to chaperone, got his picture taken with Diane Lane.  He would be the first to tell you that the nine-hour drive from Virginia was worth it!

That was just our first night in Kentucky.  More to come on our visit to Claiborne Farm and signing at the Kentucky Derby Museum.

Leeanne Ladin

left to right:  Kate Tweedy, Charlie Stone, Bill Nack, Leeanne Ladin, Tom Foley (who played Jim Gaffney in the movie)  

Kate, Charlie Stone, Bill Nack, Leeanne, Tom Foley

Secretariat’s Meadow Galloping into Kentucky

Our Barnstorming Book Tour is going along at a fast clip!  October will kick off with a crowded field of events!

First,  Kate and Penny will be going to LA for the long-awaited premiere of the Secretariat film on Sept. 30. We will look for them on the red carpet!  Or maybe it will be a blue and white carpet for the Meadow Stable colors?  

Then our jet-setting Kate lands in Paris, KY for the Bourbon County Secretariat Festival on October 2 where she will be meeting and greeting fans and signing “Secretariat’s Meadow.”  On October 3, she is signing at the World Equestrian Games in Lexington for our good friends with the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation.  That evening, Wayne Dementi (our publisher)  and I meet up with Kate for the special screening of the film and a book signing.

On October 4, we have signings at the International Equestrian Festival in Lexington and at the Kentucky Derby Museum in Louisville. Wayne and I have to get back to Richmond on October 5, but Kate stays to continue signing at WEG and IEF through October 6.

On October 7, Kate rejoins us in Richmond for another round of book events  through October 14. The complete schedule for the book tour is posted on www.secretariatsmeadow.com  We promise to post lots of pics and video.  Be sure to check our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Secretariats-Meadow-The-Land-The-Family-The-Legend/107942289227260?v=wall#! for for daily updates from Kentucky!

It’s starting to feel like Secretariat’s Derby where he ran every furlong faster!

Leeanne Meadows Ladin

co-author, “Secretariat’s Meadow – The Land, The Family, The Legend”