ELLOREE – Candy Dash Too and Knock Down Rule will be among the powerful equine contenders storming up the backstretch during the 45th running of the Elloree Trials Saturday.

Always an exuberant mix of friends, family, food and fun, the area’s premier spring party will throw down when gates open at 8 a.m. and numerous activities kick off at 11 a.m.

Tailgating and a hat contest are among the fun-filled activities on tap, and a beauty pageant will entertain folks beginning at noon, just before the races start at 1 p.m.

The Elloree Trials are popular with thoroughbred and quarter horse trainers and owners throughout the Southeast. A combination of 12 thoroughbred and quarter horse races are scheduled this year.

Franklin G. “Goree” Smith, owner of the Elloree Training Center, said the Elloree Trials has always sparked a lot of attention, with a record-breaking entry this year of more than 120 horses coming from as far away as North Carolina, Georgia and Florida. The increased number of horses warranted 12 races this year instead of 11, Smith said.

“Everyone is trying to get things shaped up and getting ready for the crowd,” he said.

The thoroughbred races will feature Knock Down Rule – William Atkins, trainer, and Jesus Alanis, owner, and Tizzy – Charlie Bell, trainer and owner.

The quarter horse races will feature Candy Dash Too – Alfred Cooper, trainer and owner, and Southern Wrangler – Leon Taylor, trainer and owner.

“There’s only a purse for the Elloree Cup. That’s our final race of the day. We haven’t finalized it (the purse) this year,” said Debbie Jobe of the Elloree Training Center.

Jobe said the wildly popular hat contest will be held between the first and second races in front of the sponsors’ building.

This year’s sponsors include McElveen Hummer of Summerville; Carolina Trailer Sales of St. George and Pennefield Seeds of Pennsylvania, Jobe said.

As for the hat contest, Jobe said, “The more, the merrier.”

The Elloree Garden Club is coordinating this year’s chapeau competition, which will showcase hats adorned with bells, whistles, feathers and everything in between. A three-person panel will judge the contest.

A motorcycle ride-in will take place at approximately 12:30 p.m. Skydivers will also be jumping twice this year before the races begin.

The seven participants vying for the coveted crown during the 2007 Miss Elloree Trials Pageant and their sponsors include: Kelsey Sanders, Elloree Lion’s Club; Caitlin Felkel, Mentor Book Club; Stephanie Peagler, Elloree Garden Club; Susan Shirer, Masonic Lodge No. 62; Jennifer Ulmer, Evergreen Garden Club; and Lacy Beach, Knights of Pythias.

Anna Conley, last year’s pageant winner and a 2006 Calhoun Academy graduate now attending Clemson University, will crown this year’s winner.

The Elloree Trials is steeped in history. The Training Center has been the scene of flat races featuring thoroughbred and quarter horses since 1962. The track was first organized in 1940 as the Palmetto Racing Track.

Carson McCants was the track’s first president. To fund the endeavor, the organizers sold stock to the public for $1 per share. The track, as part of a statewide racing circuit, included tracks in St. Matthews, Eutawville, Summerville, Myrtle Beach and Charleston.

Lancing tournaments were also held at the Elloree facility from 1940 to 1948, when racing was suspended because of laws prohibiting pari-mutuel betting in South Carolina. The race changed hands numerous times before Goree Smith bought it in 1976 and expanded it into a year-round training facility housing more than 200 horses annually, 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.

Admission is $15 and general parking is $5. Reserved parking spaces run from $50 to $110. Children under age 12 are admitted free. No golf carts or ATVs are allowed on the grounds.

For more information, call the Elloree Training Center at 803-897-2616.

T&D Correspondent Danielle Sanders can be reached by phone at 803-378-2710. T&D Staff Writer Dionne Gleaton can be reached by e-mail at dgleaton@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5534. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

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