When thoroughbred filly Ivy Garden crossed Colonial Downs’ finish line at 11-to-1 odds last September, winning a $55,000 purse, the celebration solidified a friendship and launched a business for her part-owners, University of Virginia students IV Hendrix and Xavier Vecchio.
“That evening was one of the most incredible experiences I can remember,” Hendrix said.
From there, XXVI Racing was off and running. Hendrix and Vecchio, members of the Darden School of Business Class of 2026, founded the partnership to manage and train racehorses, allowing groups of people to pool their money and share ownership, dividing any winnings among the partners.
Enter Rivanna and Huntington Honey
After Ivy Garden’s win, a group of Darden School students and a handful of horse lovers in the Charlottesville area purchased two more horses at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale. They named the fillies Rivanna and Huntington Honey, after some of their favorite Charlottesville haunts.
“One of the most rewarding and exciting parts of horse ownership is watching yearlings develop into athletic 2-year-olds that are ready for the racetrack,” Hendrix said.
Rivanna is a 2-year-old light bay filly who is kind of like a “big lap dog,” according to her owners. They said her competitive spirit lights up on the track. Huntington Honey, also a 2-year-old bay filly, is a bit smaller but well built, with an even-tempered bearing.
Partners in XVXII Racing regularly visit and watch the horses that arrived in Virginia last September to train at Eagle Point Farm. (Photos by Caroline Mackey; illustration by Erick Delgado, University Communications)
“One of the things you look out for is a horse’s character and class,” Hendrix said. “The common denominator I’ve noticed in a lot of successful racehorses is that they’re relaxed.”
Both horses arrived in Virginia last September to begin their training. Because they are based just an hour from Charlottesville at Eagle Point Farm in Ashland, partners in XXVI Racing can visit regularly and watch them “become the incredible athletes that racehorses are,” Hendrix said.
A passion project
For Vecchio, the love of horse racing came at a pivotal time in his life. As a former U.S. Army officer, he served in the U.S. and abroad. On a visit to Oaklawn Park, the historic racetrack in Hot Springs, Arkansas, he got his first real taste of racing, including a behind-the-scenes look at the world of owners and trainers.
“I had what I thought was a really exciting job as a bomb technician in the Army, and I was in search of something still exciting, and that got my heart racing as I approached leaving,” he said.
He found what he was looking for in racing.
“Every time I’m around our horses – whether it’s early mornings watching them train, or afternoons at the racetrack – I’m amazed by how kind, intelligent and determined they are,” Vecchio said. “IV and I see it as our privilege to share that experience with others and build community.”
Hendrix said spending time around the horses has become one of the most rewarding parts of the business.
“There is nothing more thrilling than watching your horse cross the finish line first,” he said. “But it’s just as important to us to share a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to train and care for the horses. It takes hundreds of hours of meticulous training and care by highly skilled horsemen before any horse sets foot in the starting gate.”
