A Rainy at the Foxfield Races
UVA Law students stepped out to the racetrack this Sunday for the annual Fall Foxfield Races. Last year, spearheaded by now-SBA President George Nalbandian, the Law School returned to Foxfield after replacing it with a darty at Crozet dubbed “Fauxfield” from 2018-ish to 2024. This event was the second traditional Foxfield since the rein :) of Fauxfield.
The weather forecast for the event was cold, wet, and overcast, which led to depressed attendance and bids to sell tickets in the Law School-wide GroupMe. However, turnout ended up being sizable, and the weather turned fine by noon. Temperatures hovered around sixty-five degrees, far more pleasant than the mid-eighties and burning sun of last year. The much-dreaded rain turned out to be more of a light mist, and law students kept dry underneath the huge and airy tent. If nothing else, everyone at the Law School was afforded an opportunity to see exactly who owned Barbour jackets.
The races started promptly at noon, with the bugle call warning to clear the track sounding off across the field. People clustered up close to the fence and watched as the horses and their jockeys thundered by. Students smoked fragrant cigars and rolled up huge slices of Costco pizza to take awkward bites at odd angles, holding their fascinators on their heads. Shortly after the second round, children participated in a hobby-horse race contest. Joe Vu ’27 also did a short show jumping course on a borrowed hobby horse.[1] Presumably, he was excluded from the larger hobby-horse race, as the upper age cutoff appeared to be around seven. However, some of the participants clearly needed an education in hobby-horsing, and the proper location of the horse between the legs. The event quickly became “running with a stick,” with minimal balancing or riding skill displayed.
Credit: Author
But while UVA Law students imbibed under overcast skies on the sidelines, a different cloud was hanging over the racetrack. Foxfield Racing LLP, the operators of the Foxfield Races, is suing their landlord, the Cassiopeia Foundation, and its Trustee and CFO, Zach Miller. Miller, a local horseman and head of his family's foundation, is the great-grandson of Cities Services (Citgo) oil magnate W. Alton “Pete” Jones. Miller and Cassiopeia arguably saved Foxfield back in 2019 when the then-trustees attempted to sell the property to developers, contrary to the wishes of the late founder of Foxfield, Mariann de Tejeda, who placed the property in trust upon her death.
The 2019 legal dispute ultimately resulted in the separation of the Foxfield Racing organization and the land, now placed in conservancy to be used only for horse racing and owned by Miller, who volunteered to buy it when Foxfield lacked the requisite funds. Now, Foxfield Racing wants it back and says Miller promised to sell it to them. Miller disagrees. It seems like there may have been some informal handshake agreement to sell the land. But post-closing, Miller changed his mind and told Foxfield Racing “my thinking has evolved,” or so the complaint alleges.[2] Miller does acknowledge that Foxfield Racing discussed the possibility of selling the property back, but he says this conversation was had only after everything was signed.[3] Miller then goes on to allege that the property’s fixtures are in disrepair—keeping these up being one of the responsibilities of Foxfield Racing as tenant—especially the tower, houses, and fences.[4] This reporter didn’t get a good look at the tower or houses, but the fence in Section A was pretty clearly bending at an odd angle.
All of this is somewhat secondary to the actual racing, but an article talking about the races in Fall of 2026 would be remiss to not discuss this ongoing litigation. If nothing else, the story should be a lesson to budding attorneys to get essential deal points in writing. Or perhaps not. It’s likely that it was this underspecified, vague expectation of a sell-back that facilitated Miller buying and Foxfield selling in the first place.
The nice thing about this dispute, if there can be said to be a nice thing about the dispute, is that it’s not life-or-death for the future of the races, unlike the 2019 affair. Miller (as far as one can tell) isn’t trying to develop the land, and neither is Foxfield Racing. The conservation easement that the land is placed in should prevent it from being sold off to a buyer who won’t run the races. So from the law student’s perspective, all is well. Except for, of course, the rain. Hopefully next year (and hopefully there is a next year) the weather will find some happy medium between the two extremes we’ve experienced thus far. And maybe they’ll fix the fence.
[1] Joe would like the public to know this was a fantasy football punishment.
[2] Complaint at 13, Foxfield Racing, LLC v. Miller, No. CL26001500-00 (Albemarle Cnty. Cir. Ct. Aug. 13, 2026).
[3] Counterclaim & Third-Party Complaint at 12, Foxfield Racing, LLC v. Miller, No. CL26001500-00 (Albemarle Cnty. Cir. Ct. Sept. 23, 2026). The Law Weekly has uploaded copies of the Complaint, Demurrer, Plea in Bar, and an incomplete copy of Miller’s Counterclaim to its website (missing the full racetrack inspection report). If you can think of a better way to spend your Friday afternoon than sitting in the Albemarle Circuit Court Clerk’s office, navigating a single terminal with arcane software and an HP laser printer, then please let the Law Weekly know, because this reporter obviously could not.
[4] Id. at 18-19.
Author: Bradley Berklich (jqr9gh)
