Virginia property where Secretariat born is sold
May 22, 2012RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - The Virginia property where Triple Crown winner Secretariat was born has been sold at a foreclosure auction for nearly $5.35 million.
Mark Motley of Motley's Auction & Realty Group said the State Fair of Virginia's real estate, including the 360-acre Meadow Event Park site where Secretariat was born in 1970, was bought Tuesday by Mark Lovell of Cordova, Tenn.-based Universal Fairs.
The site in Doswell, north of Richmond, includes Secretariat's preserved foaling shed and yearling barn.
Secretariat won the Triple Crown in 1973 and died in 1989.
State Fair of Virginia Inc. acquired the Meadow Farm property in 2003 for $5.3 million and moved the annual fair from Richmond, where it had been held since 1854. The nonprofit defaulted on about $80 million in financing from creditors and was forced to liquidate, casting uncertainty on this year's event.