And they’re off!”
We are out of the starting gate for our “Barnstorming Book Tour” to promote “Secretariat’s Meadow – The Land, The Family, The Legend.” Kate Chenery Tweedy and I are the co-authors of this new pictorial history about Secretariat and his Virginia birthplace, The Meadow.
This blog will be our report from the field as we embark upon a book tour that is taking us from Doswell, Virginia to Denver, Colorado, from Saratoga to Santa Anita and many places in between. So saddle up and come along for the ride!
We’ve been doing “pre-publication” events since March when we formally announced the book at the celebration of Secretariat’s 40th birthday at The Meadow, his birthplace in Doswell, VA.
This summer we knew we had to be at Saratoga, where the nation’s Thoroughbred racing community has been gathering for over a century. Our publisher Wayne Dementi acquired a quantity of advance copies so that Kate could do sales and signings at the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame August 14-15 and with the TRF on TRF Day at the track today on August 18.
The timing was perfect for giving a sneak preview of Secretariat’s Meadow. Thirty-eight years ago on August 16, 1972, a strapping chestnut colt burst onto the racing scene with his electrifying win in the Sanford Stakes at Saratoga. Kate was with her mother Penny Chenery at the track and saw Secretariat’s bold run. As she says in our book, ” It was my first inkling that Mom’s rollercoaster ride in racing may not end with Riva Ridge.”
Riva Ridge had won the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont in 1972 , two -thirds of the Triple Crown, catapulting Penny Chenery and Meadow Stable into the national spotlight. No one could have imagined what was in store for 1973.
So far, Secretariat’s Meadow is showing lots of promise at its first official sales outing. Kate says the book got a tremendous reception at the racing museum, at Saratoga Impressions gift shop, and at Saratoga Saddlery. I’m awaiting her report on TRF Day. Then she jets off to Chicago for the Arlington Million this weekend.
More book tour news coming soon as we get closer to publication in early September!
Leeanne Meadows Ladin