Despite Virginia’s long equestrian history, parimutuel racing in the state has a relatively short footprint. That hasn’t stopped many prominent breeders from putting down roots in Virginia and supporting the growth of its Thoroughbred industry. Brookmeade, Meadow Stable, Montpelier Stable, Morven Stud, Nydrie Farms, Old Keswick, Rockburn Farm, Rokeby Stables, and Spring Hill Farm are among the outfits with operations in Virginia. Despite that, the foal crop, already contracting nationwide, has taken a hit in Virginia. According to statistics from The Jockey Club, the Virginia foal crop dropped from 498 in 2003 to a low point of 104 in 2020. Although it has grown every year since, there is only one Virginia-bred open stakes winner – Gigante – on the track thus far in 2025, and only one Virginia-bred, Omaha Omaha, entered in the Virginia Derby on Saturday at Colonial Downs. As Virginia takes on a more active role on the Kentucky Derby trail, some of the state’s historic programs still play a factor in racing today. A few examples have specific links to this year’s Derby trail. Sea Hero is the most recent of four Virginia-breds to win the Kentucky Derby, taking the classic in 1993 to join Reigh Count (1928), Secretariat (1973), and Pleasant Colony (1981). The multiple Grade 1 winner raced as a homebred for sportsman and philanthropist Paul Mellon’s Rokeby Stables of Upperville, Va., established in the 1940s. :: KENTUCKY DERBY 2025: Point standings, prep schedule, news, and more Sea Hero was out of Mellon’s homebred multiple graded stakes winner Glowing Tribute, the 1993 Broodmare of the Year. The Virginia-bred also produced multiple Grade 1 winner Hero’s Honor; graded stakes winners Coronation Cup, Glowing Honor, Mackie, and Wild Applause; and stakes winner Seattle Glow. This is still a highly influential family, continuing the legacy of Mellon, who died in 1999. Kentucky-bred Getaway Car, the morning-line favorite for Saturday’s Virginia Derby, traces directly to Glowing Tribute, who is the great-great-granddam of his dam, Surrender Now. A different branch of this female family is responsible for prominent sires Congrats and Flatter, while Hero’s Honor is the broodmare sire of classic stallion Elusive Quality. Stallions have Spring Hill ties Two of the most prominent stallions in the country today, multiple Grade 1 winner Quality Road and Horse of the Year Gun Runner, are among the many top-level performers who have roots at Spring Hill Farm of Casanova, Va., the operation of the late Edward P. Evans. The owner purchased the farm in 1969 and was still active in racing until his death in 2010. Quality Road, by Elusive Quality, was bred in Virginia, and Evans campaigned him to four Grade 1 wins. One year after Quality Road’s birth, the mare Quiet Giant was foaled in Virginia, with her biggest win coming in the Grade 2 Molly Pitcher. In 2011, Quality Road was standing his first season at Lane’s End Farm in Kentucky. Meanwhile, Lane’s End was handling the consignment of Evans’s Thoroughbred holdings at the 2011 Keeneland November breeding stock sale, with 221 horses grossing $62,364,000, a North American record for a dispersal. Quiet Giant sold for $3 million to Besilu Stables. Quality Road has continued Evans’s influence by finishing among the top 10 North American sires five times, including a runner-up finish in 2022. He is the sire of 15 Grade/Group 1 winners, led by Preakness winner and Eclipse Award champion National Treasure, Kentucky Oaks winner and champion Abel Tasman, and champions Caledonia Road and Corniche. Quality Road also is the sire of Derby candidates this year in Hill Road and Madaket Road. Meanwhile, Quiet Giant’s champion son Gun Runner has become perhaps an even better sire than he was a racehorse. Standing at Three Chimneys Farm, he established an earnings record for a freshman sire in 2021, led by champion Echo Zulu, and has been in the top 10 general sires each year since, finishing third in 2023 and second in 2024. He is the sire of 10 individual Grade 1 winners, including two of the leading older horses for 2025, Breeders’ Cup Classic winner and champion Sierra Leone and Grade 1 winner Locked. Secretariat’s legacy continues The best-known Virginia-bred is 1973 Triple Crown hero Secretariat, foaled at the Chenery family’s Meadow Stable in Doswell, Va. Secretariat went on to stand at historic Claiborne Farm in Kentucky. Although Secretariat sired Horse of the Year Lady’s Secret and dual classic winner and champion Risen Star, he was considered somewhat underwhelming at stud because he never came close to replicating himself. However, his true mark was as a broodmare sire. His daughter Weekend Surprise was 1992 Broodmare of the Year, producing classic winners Summer Squall and A.P. Indy. The latter was Horse of the Year, and both went on to become classic sires. Meanwhile, Secretariat’s daughter Terlingua produced Storm Cat, and Secrettame produced fellow prominent sire Gone West. It would be impossible to list every top runner these sirelines are responsible for in a limited space. However, looking strictly at this year’s top Kentucky Derby contenders, Barnes, Captain Cook, Citizen Bull, Patch Adams, Rodriguez, Sovereignty, and Tappan Street all trace their male line directly to Storm Cat, who is the great-grandsire of reigning leading sire Into Mischief. The A.P. Indy line is responsible for California Burrito, Coal Battle, Flood Zone, John Hancock, Sandman, and Tiztastic, while Gone West’s line is responsible for Owen Almighty and Poster. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? 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