Second Chances at James River

Meet Secretariat’s Grandson in Goochland!
TRF James River
Fourth Annual Barn Tour
September 19, 2010 (10:00 AM to 4:00 PM)

Secretariat's grandson, Covert Action, a rescued racehorse and member of the TRF James River herd shown during an interview with WTVR-TV "Virginia This Morning." Also pictured are Robin Williams, Stephanie Nixon (behind Covert) and Greg McQuade.	Covert Action shown with his groom David Hampton. Photo courtesy of Debby Thomas.

The permanent home of Secretariat’s grandson, Covert Action, will be open for the fourth annual Barn Tour September 19 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The tour benefits ‘Greener Pastures,’ a Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation Second Chances Program at the James River Work Center. Ticket cost is $25 per person and includes admission to six public and private barns that are rarely opened to the public. To preorder tickets, mail to Marshie Davis - 556-4186 - 2391 Broad Street Rd. Maidens, Va. 23102. You may also purchase tickets online (use the purchase button bar on the left.) Day of ticket sales will be at Barn 4, Virginia Equine Clinic and Henebry Farm. Barns included on the tour are:

• Mt. Bernard Farm: 2371 River Rd. West , Maidens, Va.This private racehorse breeding and boarding facility is listed as a National Register of Historic Places property dating to 1850. The classical revival property is rarely opened to the public.
• Sterling Farm: 2551 Pony Farm Rd. , Maidens, Va. , This privately owned farm specializes in breeding Russian Calvary horses, the Budyonny. Because the Budyonny breed was recently introduced in the United States there are less than 50 in America .
• James River Correctional Center Barn 4: Route 6, Crozier, Va. , Barn 4 is the home for 25 retired thoroughbred racehorses, that are retrained for adoption to be hunters, jumpers, show mounts, fox hunters, pleasure mounts and trail horses. Barn 4 is the permanent home for Secretariats’ grandson Covert Action. More information about the horses available for adoption and the Groom Elite program can be found at www.jamesriverhorses.org.
• “Clarendon”: Miller’s Lane, Manakin-Sabot, Va., Privately owned by Betsy and Robert Fauntleroy, this farm is a state-of-the-art hunter and jumper show barn.
• Henebry Farm: 2561 Maidens Rd. , Maidens, Va. 23102 - Henebry specializes in full-care board and consists of 105 acres. It offers pasture boarding, retirement boarding, extended lay-ups, training and horse sales.
• Virginia Equine Clinic at Deep Run Hunt Club: 1542 Manakin Rd. , Manakin , Va. , This farm is the base of a very busy ambulatory veterinary practice. The clinic offers facilities for stallion collection and breeding, foaling out, in-patient treatment, minor surgery, pre-purchase exams and boarding. The location offers easy access to riding trails, a front row seat for the fox hunts at Deep Run Hunt Club, pony club field trials, and both the Deep Run and Old Dominion Horse Shows.

TRF’s Second Chances farm at the James River Work Center is one of eight corrections-based TRF programs, where rescued ex-racehorses are rehabilitated for adoption and TRF provides nationally-recognized Groom Elite vocational training for offender caretakers. Funds raised through the Barn Tour will be used to support TRF James River, a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation and Second Chances.

MAKE A GIFT AND A DIFFERENCE

To make a gift that goes directly to the TRF and helps our grassroots fund-raising efforts, make a donation through Mark and Alan. They're raised nearly $12,000...and counting. Go to www.firstgiving.com/trf.

Alan Kennedy and Mark Cramer, expatriates living in Paris, continue to bicycle across France on their own Tour de France - taking in 11 racetracks in 21 stages in 25 days over 1,000 kilometers. Kennedy, a specialist in East Asian art, and Cramer, an author, have taken up this challenge for one reason - to raise money for the TRF. "The way we see it," the two men explain, “thoroughbred race horses have contributed to the very meaning of life, so they too deserve to retire with dignity and not be sent to the slaughterhouse just because they now do six furlongs in 1:16 instead of 1:12." Follow Mark and Alan on their excellent adventure at http://ridingfortheirlives.blogspot.com.

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