When Zach and Sara Miller first met at the racetrack, they could have no idea they would get married, nor that they’d save the track from future development in posterity.
*Written by Joana Suleiman, originally posted on Dailyprogress.com on 1/14/2025*
Last fall, Virginia equestrians and horse racing enthusiasts alike rejoiced at the sight of a headline in Charlottesville’s Daily Progress. Foxfield, a cherished destination for steeplechase just outside the city, had been acquired by a nonprofit philanthropic organization.
It was a celebration a long time in the making after years of real estate squabbles threatening the future of horse racing at the track. The acquisition not only guaranteed the independently operated Foxfield Racing LLC would have a place to run races for generations to come, but promised to expand points of entry for the community to enjoy horse racing and history.
“Equestrianism in general, has an exclusive kind of air about it. It doesn’t need to be that way,” Zach Miller, trustee of Foxfield’s new owner the Cassiopeia Foundation, told The Daily Progress. “One of the things that makes it exclusive is just the remoteness, that’s a simple one. How far do you have to go to see an equestrian event? Where do you have to go? Foxfield is close to a large population. It’s just 5 miles from downtown Charlottesville. It’s an ideal place to grow community engagement, education and jobs in the equine industry.”
Miller is the great-grandson of William Alton “Pete” Jones, an oil tycoon, close friend of President Dwight Eisenhower and horse racing enthusiast who established the Cassiopeia Foundation in 1944. Miller also happens to be an amateur steeplechase jockey and a professional horse trainer. He and his wife Sara raise horses and cattle at Timbercreek Farm next door to Foxfield.
Horse racing and raising have been a part of their family for five generations.
“At one point we had four generations living on the farm,” Sara Miller, who serves as an executive board member of the Charlottesville-based Virginia Thoroughbred Association, told the Daily Progress. “Now, we’ve got three generations here. And this was a breeding operation for thoroughbreds back in the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s, with Zach’s great-grandmother and grandmother. We decided to continue that tradition, and that’s why we’ve got a big equine focus right now. We still do beef cattle, but our focus at this stage has been thoroughbreds.”
The Millers’ shared love for horses goes back to when they first met as children.
“I met Sara when I was 9 years old at Calais Horse Trials not far from here,” Zach Miller recounted. “But we weren’t elementary school sweethearts —”
CAL CARY, THE DAILY PROGRESS
“I forgot about this,” his wife interrupted. “This is actually really cool. I had forgotten about this until we started the purchase for Foxfield, and we were thinking through how important this is to us. And the truth is, in the spring of 2005, Zach was racing at Foxfield. I was just there watching the races as a spectator, because I’m an avid equestrian and grew up going to all of the steeplechases, and it was my first time coming to Foxfield. And I knew Zach, but not well, and we connected there and started dating immediately after. So if it hadn’t been for Foxfield in spring of 2005, I don’t know that we would have reconnected.”
If the Cassiopeia Foundation is unfamiliar to Virginians, it’s because it is likely unfamiliar to most Americans. The Foxfield purchase is the organization’s first ever domestic project.
“For the last 20 years, our focus has mainly been international land conservation and stopping nuclear arms proliferation. The foundation was working in areas that were incredibly delicate, ecosystems that were poorly regulated and disappearing very, very quickly. One recent project is the conservation of 11 million acres of rainforest in Costa Rica and Central America,” Zach Miller said. “[Foxfield] is a one-off project. It lines up with our general program area of land conservation, but specifically a turn in our program towards focusing on how agricultural lands, domestically and regionally, are managed. Foxfield presented a unique opportunity close to home. Foxfield Racing approached us and asked if we could help facilitate this transfer and secure the long-term platform of their equestrian activities.”
When asked if Virginia can become a real leader in the equine industry again — like it used to be in the days of Secretariat, the champion horse born at Meadow Farm in Caroline County that went on to become the first Triple Crown champion in more than 25 years in 1973 — the Millers answered with a resounding “yes.”
CAL CARY, THE DAILY PROGRESS
“We bred the greatest racehorse of all time, Secretariat, and we’ve had a tremendous amount of support from the governor and the first lady in getting a lot of incentives back here in Virginia,” Sara Miller said. “We’re really excited. Colonial Downs is going to be hosting a Kentucky Derby qualifier in March, which is a huge deal, and we have upped our number days of racing at Colonial Downs this summer.”
The gaming machines available to spectators at Colonial Downs also support the mission, she said, as proceeds help support the thoroughbred industry in the commonwealth.
“I think we’re making huge leaps and bounds, great strides, one might even say,” Zach Miller added.
While preserving Foxfield for equestrian sports was the main driver behind the recent acquisition, the Millers also support Foxfield Racing’s efforts to diversify offerings at the track that support community initiatives.
CAL CARY, THE DAILY PROGRESS
“I think they’ve put together an interesting group of philanthropic programming around supporting initiatives like Habitat for Humanity and Camp Holiday Trails [a camp for children and teenagers with medical needs]. JackFest was an event hosted at Foxfield in 2024 that raised money for the families of children who are undergoing cancer treatments at UVa, ” Zach Miller said.
He said these types of partnerships help foster a good relationship with the community while still honoring the wishes of Foxfield’s original owner Mariann de Tejeda, “who left in her will that the property primarily be used for equestrianism.”
Sara Miller would like to see that ramped up.
“I’d like to see the community have access to equestrian events on a much smaller scale than their Spring Races,” she said. “Having the community enjoy the property and really try to revitalize and support the equestrian community here in Albemarle County, because that has declined, and so I would like see the property be an attraction to people in our equestrian community and those who wish to learn more about, but not in a crazy atmosphere of the races, but in a very hands-on educational way. That’s an example of an access point for people who don’t have other points of access. Foxfield Racing LLC has a 10-year lease, so we’re excited to see what they’re doing, and then after that, we will kind of reconvene.”
CAMDEN LITTLETON
The Millers plan to remain with Foxfield for the next 10 years and decades more to come. Their roots are planted deep in Central Virginia.
“Zach is a two-time alumni of the University of Virginia, we have three kids who are really happy in this community and thriving at St. Anne’s-Belfield School,” Sara Miller said.
And Zach Miller said he plans to keep jockeying.
“I have a license. I’m an amateur these days. And as long my health holds out, and my family keeps supporting it, I will ride,” he said. “And it’s a lot of fun.”
