No, the drunken raccoon of Ashland hasn’t started his own YouTube channel. This is a horse story…

From the Capital Region Land Conservancy:

Doswell, VA – Nearly 350 acres of farmland where the legendary Triple Crown champion Secretariat frolicked as a colt are now protected forever by a conservation easement held by the Capital Region Land Conservancy. 

Known as “The Cove,” the low-lying pasture bordered by the North Anna River was the “nursery” for the broodmares and foals of Christopher Chenery’s renowned Meadow Stable, founded in 1936. The Cove’s rich grasses nurtured many other celebrated Thoroughbreds such as Riva Ridge, who won the 1972 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes, and the eminent broodmare, Somethingroyal, dam of Secretariat. In fact, The Cove was instrumental in establishing The Meadow as “an empire built on broodmares.”

Today, thanks to the generosity of Kevin Engel of Engel Family Farms, who purchased The Cove in 2023, the historic land will remain dedicated to agricultural use.