With the Scot-Irish ancestry in South Carolina and Kentucky, the sound of horses' hooves galloping around the tracks heralds the arrival of spring in both states.

Horse races are often compared to political campaigns and, just like different candidates appeal to different people, different horse races suit varying purposes.

The Elloree Trials

Scheduled for Saturday, March 24, the Elloree Trials offers those in The T&D Region quality horse races in their own backyard. It's one of the first outdoor casual parties of the year, with such entertainment as skydivers, bands, a beauty contest, a tailgate contest, a hat contest -- and horse races.

Hundreds will drive or bike through the gates for the 45th running at the Elloree Training Center. The work of owner/organizer Franklin "Goree" Smith and his employees has paid of with ever-greater entries and ever-larger crowds, which include plenty of children (12 and under are free) and a significant number of motorcycle riders.

At its first race in 1940, Elloree also held a lancing tournament. The race changed hands numerous times before Smith bought it in 1976 and expanded it into a year-round training facility housing more than 200 horses a year, including first-timers and older ones being reconditioned.

The Quarter Horse and thoroughbred races go on, rain or shine, and may be reached by turning off Highway 6 (between Elloree and Santee) onto Highway 267, then right onto Racetrack Road. For more information, call 803-897-2821.

The Carolina Cup

More than 70,000 from throughout the Southeast celebrate South Carolina's 75-year-old rite of spring a premier social event -- and, oh yes, some serious racing at the Carolina Cup in Camden.

For the horses, there are seven races, but for the human fillies the entire day is a fashion contest, and one enterprising young woman I know is making money online selling nothing but one-of-a-kind Cup sundresses. Part of college in South Carolina is going to the Cup and never seeing a horse.

There is an official dress code: in the grandstand and front row, men wear sports coats and ties, women dresses and hats; in the infield, south and west rail, and College Park, men should wear Oxford cloth shirts, ties and slacks; women sundresses and hats.

Where one parks can label one's social strata at the Cup, and the levels are fairly complicated. Admission is $20 before March 23 and $25 after, and general parking is $10 at the gate. But the infield, south and west rail costs $125, and the front row paddock is $250; both of these levels include two tickets. College Park rows A and B are $800 per space, which includes more space, two parking passes and a tent, but College Park rows C-E are $100 per space with one pass.

For a $600 grandstand box, six people have seats there and access to the clubhouse luncheon tent, but they share one parking pass. One person can pay $100 for a parking space, a seat in the grandstand and all-day access to the tent. And for $50, one can buy access to the tent, but he or she must also have some other type of ticket.

Gates open at 9 a.m. Saturday, but the party begins at the National Steeplechase Museum on Friday, March 30. Titled "75 Swinging Years" and featuring dining with Aberdeen Catery and dancing to the music of Chris Daniels and The Kings, it is billed as a "not-to-miss affair" and the invitation is open to all. 

Hosts of the party are organizations whose histories have long been associated with The Carolina Cup. The Carolina Cup Racing Association has run the races and operates Springdale Race Course for the state of South Carolina. Also hosting are Friends of the Camden Hunt, which was based on Springdale Race Course from 1926-1957, and The Friends of the National Steeplechase Museum, which was built at the racecourse in 1998. There is also partnership with the Kershaw County Medical Center, which has been the designated charity to receive profits from the races for many years. Mulberry Plantation is also participating, which brings memories of the days when the late Dave Williams did much to insure the perpetuation of racing on the course. Corporate partners, Midlands Printing and Celebrations, round out the host list.

Tickets for the party are $100 per person and reserved corporate tables for eight are available for $750. For reservations, call the Carolina Cup Racing Association at 803-432-6513.

Keeneland

Race Track

Farther afield, but still drivable, are the spring races at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky. These offer a further contrast to Elloree and Camden in that the horses, thoroughbreds with Kentucky Derby potential, are totally the focus.

But like the South Carolina races, Keeneland is accessible to everyone. Admission tickets are $3, as are reserved seats. The 2007 spring meet will be held April 6-27, with no races on Mondays, Tuesdays or Easter Sunday. Tickets may be obtained online at www.keeneland.com; by mail at Keeneland Association, Attn: Reserved Seats, P.O. Box 1690, Lexington, Ky., 40588-1690; or by fax at 859-288-4150.

Although I have visited Keeneland in the fall, when the crabapples and maples blaze their red and orange colors along the green rolling Kentucky hills, I have never been to see the cherry blossoms in bloom. Even the parking lot at Keeneland, which has been described as the most beautiful parking lot in America, is worth a snapshot or two.

The people of Keeneland are just as accessible as the races and just as proud of their horses.

Inside the gates, I met artist Peter Williams, who has been coming to Keeneland for more than 25 years to paint its beautiful thoroughbreds, the jockeys in their signature silks, the trainers and owners as they stand in the paddock before the races. I stood and talked with him briefly about his love for the place and how he sells the canvases to others who are just as attached and, when I returned to Orangeburg, he mailed me a brown envelope containing notecards with six of his prints.

Before the races began, I walked to the rail and talked with bugler and Lexington native George "Bucky" Sallee, who two or three years ago blew his 10,000th call to the races after 43 years on the track.

"We had a celebration," he said, "and buglers came from all across the country. I used to open all the football games at the University of Kentucky."

At Keeneland, there always seems to be enough seats with space to spare and, between races, the spectators walk back into the concession area and place a bet on the next race. A bet can be placed for $2, so bettors range from first-timers who know nothing to serious wagers who have out their books and resemble accountants.

To create a safer situation for the horses and riders, Keeneland now sports a new racing surface called PolyTrack, which means the course is covered in seven inches of fibers, recycled rubber and silica sand on top of 10 inches of porous macadam and stone.

And the infield tote board presents a simulcast of the race in an animated version so that one can more clearly see -- as in a video game -- where one's favorite horse is located throughout the race.

Keeneland's tracks are open from mid-March through early November, and the public is welcome to watch the horses train from 6 to 10 a.m. most days. Unlike many other tracks, Keeneland allows the public to enter its barn area and patrons can have breakfast in the track kitchen, rubbing elbows with famous jockeys, trainers and owners.

The purses here are among the highest of any in North America, with the $750,000 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes in the spring and other well-known races in the fall. Each day during the spring, there is a stakes race and the Blue Grass is one of several Derby prep races, with 18 horses having won the Run for the Roses after racing in the Blue Grass.

Keeneland Stud Farm, 147.5 acres on Versailles Pike owned John Oliver "Jack" Keene, was chosen in 1935 by committee as one of the world's first and only not-for-profit tracks. The sprawling stone clubhouse and grandstand were built from quarried native Kentucky limestone, and Keene's property already included a track, a stone castle and barn, a 100,000-gallon water tank, a road, and land for stables and parking.

A National Historic Landmark, Keeneland now operates as a for-profit company with a not-for-profit mission, that of encouraging the appreciation of and excellence of the Kentucky Thoroughbred tradition. Today, it is the world's largest thoroughbred auction house, boasting more than $500 million in gross sales annually. Its profits go to higher purses, capital improvements and contributions to charities.

Springtime is a wonderful season to take in the sights and sounds at a track and, within driving distance, there are many levels of ability and many reasons to spend a day at the races.

Features Editor Nancy C. Wooten can be reached by e-mail at nwooten@timesanddemocrat.com or by telephone at 803-533-5540.

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