Foxfield had two great races with two great philanthropic partners, a few other events to welcome community members, and some changes to preserve the conservation property.
We’re wrapping up 2022 with a Foxfield TOP TEN favorite memories count down! Tune in each day for a new moment:
This past year, Foxfield named Camp Holiday Trails as one of our long-term philanthropic partners. Foxfield’s goal is to provide financial support so more children can experience Camp Holiday Trails and help improve CHT’s facilities to meet the needs of their campers. This past spring, with the help of our sponsors and attendees, we were able to present $53K to CHT! Did you know? Private funding to Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville helps to support the Habitat Homeownership program, providing comprehensive financial coaching and homebuyer education courses; this extensive curriculum represents a deep commitment on the part of the partner families, even as they work with volunteers and construction team contributing sweat equity to make their homeownership dreams come true. This past fall, with the help of our sponsors and attendees, we were able to present $50K to Habitat!
Foxfield and Habitat celebrated year two of a long-term philanthropic partnership. Foxfield’s partnership with Habitat provides financial support to Habitat’s Southwood neighborhood – of which a portion goes to the Habitat Homeownership program, and spreads knowledge of their programs, homes, and work. A big change for our spring race attendees was the addition of the Orange Entertainment Park! Spectators and fans enjoyed local food and beverage vendors, music and entertainment between races, and were able to appreciate an enhanced viewing of the races on our video wall. We’re excited to bring this special space back to the 2023 Spring Races. One key point in Foxfield’s mission is to foster the conservation of open space and our countryside. This year, as part of the strategic initiative to invest in property infrastructure improvements, we were able to begin installation on an irrigation system at the course. This year’s Fall Family Day Races can be summed up in the single phrase, “Races will run, rain or shine!” Despite cloudy skies and steady rain, those who were at the track and tuning in on the live stream enjoyed six exciting races. It was a day to remember!
We also introduced our new partnership with Stableduel , and over 500 fans enjoyed a free-to-play promotional contest by selecting their stables from the Foxfield race card and earning points based on the order of finish for each horse. Race course maintenance is an integral part leading up to both the spring and the fall races. This year in particular, Foxfield invested in major track (and property) maintenance after a rainy Fall Family Day race weekend in order to get the courses and spectator areas back into shape for the 2023 season. What’s more fun that starting new traditions? This year we teamed up with Ragged Mountain Running Shop to host a fall holiday walk at Foxfield! Originally scheduled for Sunday after Thanksgiving, but rescheduled to Saturday after Thanksgiving to host in sunny weather, the holiday walk was free and open to the public. We’re looking forward to welcoming neighbors again in the future, so please stay tuned for more unique opportunities to enjoy this beautiful piece of Albemarle County!
There is a lot of work happening behind the scenes leading up to and during race day, and we couldn’t make it happen without our awesome volunteers! Pictured here, our ‘thank you’ oyster roast this past fall welcomed Founders Circle members, Foxfield 500 corporate sponsors, and volunteers! Leading up to the Fall Family Day Races, families from Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville had the opportunity to visit Foxfield to learn about steeplechase racing from Trainer and Barn Manager at Foxfield Reggie Williams, Zach Miller (jockey, trainer, owner, and Foxfield Board Member) and Sara Miller (owner, equestrian). During the event, kids were able to brush the horses, clean their hooves, and feed them lots of treats. Like the rest of the weekend, it may have been rainy, but that didn’t stop us from having fun! With race course improvements and larger purses, the Spring Race Card at Foxfield was full of great talent which made the races all the more competitive and exciting. In the Daniel Van Clief Memorial Race (sport of kings hurdle handicap stakes, two miles and one furlong over national fences, with a $50,000 purse) victory was claimed by Chief Justice (trained by Cyril Murphy, owned by Irvin S. Naylor), with Barry Foley up, after taking the lead after the first and finishing six lengths in front at the wire.
That finished our Foxfield TOP TEN for 2022! We can’t wait to see what’s in store for 2023!
