Lorna is a descendant of the famous racehorse Secretariat. Also known as “Big Red,” the champion thoroughbred horse was the ninth winner of the American Triple Crown and still holds the fastest time recorded in each of those races. The fastest racehorse in history is also a Virginian, born and raised in Caroline County.

“I think that was Secretariat’s secret,” said Melissa Abernathy, the communications manager at Maymont. “He was a Bold Ruler son. And Bold Ruler was like the distance horse of all distance horses. So if you had Bold Ruler in a horse’s pedigree, they were going to stand a good chance of doing well in the Belmont Stakes.

“And then you have horses that are great at sprinting. And he had one of those on his dam’s side. So I think the breeders look for that combination of physical traits.”

Maymont, at 1700 Hampton St. in Richmond, started as a private estate before being donated to the city. The 100-acre park is celebrating 100 years as a public space in 2025. Animals were added to the site in the 1940s.

Lorna arrived at the Maymont farm in October. The 13-year-old bright chestnut mare shares the same coat as her ancestor, and stands at a staggering 5 feet 4 inches from ground to shoulder blades.

Lorna’s pedigree is not just impressive because of Secretariat. Abernathy said in a statement that the mare also has other notable Kentucky Derby winners like Northern Dancer and Swaps in her lineage. Alongside her copper coat, she shares a white star marking between her eyes that resembles the mark of another relative, the famous Alydar.

Maymont was able to adopt Lorna through the Equine Welfare Society, which had taken in Lorna after her brief career as a racehorse. Lorna raced under the name “Count My Blessings” until she was retired and placed with EWS. Once she retired, she spent some time as a broodmare in the hopes of producing even more horses with an impressive pedigree.

“Lorna seems to enjoy her new surroundings and her new companions. She is a natural at posing for photographs and seems to know when cameras are pointed in her direction,” said Parke Richeson, president and CEO of Maymont Foundation. “Maymont is happy to give her a new forever home.”

Lorna now has two roommates that share her stable, Dani, 29, and Artie, 18.

Joe Meel is the senior manager of zoology at Maymont. He says the park was fortunate with the introduction period between the horses and that as herd animals, it was not difficult getting Dani and Artie to get along with Lorna.

Meel says EWS was helpful in describing Lorna’s disposition, telling Maymont that Lorna was no Alpha and was just happy to go along with the herd. Meel says there was no aggression between the horses, just a lot of sniffing and running around together.

Meel says Lorna needed to find a forever home that would let her “just be pretty,” and that’s exactly what Maymont wanted her there for. He also says Lorna can help the park with educating the public about horses and other animals.

“I would be lying if I said that her looks had nothing to do with her being picked out,” Meel said. “She’s absolutely gorgeous. You know, as I mentioned earlier, that maybe had little to do with us picking her, but really it was her personality, her disposition, her health condition, and she was just a great fit for here at Maymont that we wanted to give her a forever home.”

As for community response, Abernathy and Meel say Lorna will do great things for park visitors. They say that if anyone is interested in supporting the animals that live on the grounds, they can participate in the “Adopt an Animal” program. Meel says the program is a great way to get people more familiar with individual animals. There are park memberships available as well.

“You don’t have to be a horse person to look at her and to really appreciate how gorgeous she is,” Meel said. “Not that Dani and Artie aren’t beautiful themselves, but she’s very striking.”