Breakfast at the Gallops offers opportunity to see thoroughbreds train
Mar. 17—Even though he is a thoroughbred racing veteran and the sight of horses being prepared for competition was nothing new, Joe Hampshire enjoyed his first Breakfast at the Gallops at the Aiken Training Track on Friday morning.
"I just got here, but I think it's amazing. I love it already," he said. "I like all the people coming out to see the beautiful horses and all the interest that horse racing has here."
Hampshire, a retired jockey, is a member of the New England Turf Hall of Fame and the Parx Racing Hall of Fame in Pennsylvania.
He rode in more than 23,000 races during his career. The horses he was aboard scored 3,801 victories and earned $44,567,367, according to the statistics available at equibase.com.
Hampshire told the Aiken Standard that he was planning to return to the Aiken Training Track on Saturday to experience the Aiken Trials for the first time.
"I've been hearing about the them since I was a kid," he said.
Hampshire currently is a jockey agent, and when he can get away from the racetrack up north, he visits his wife who lives in Aiken. He attended with a friend, Amy Hebert, who owns Aiken Saddlery with her husband, C.P. Doremus.
A portion of the proceeds from Breakfast at the Gallops will be used to support the Aiken Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame and Museum in Hopelands Gardens.
More than 200 tickets were sold to this year's event, said the Hall of Fame and Museum's coordinator, Lisa Hall.
Shealy's Bar-B-Que of Batesburg-Leesville catered the buffet-style meal.
Among those standing in line to fill their plates were Cathy Alvarez and her husband, Guido, who moved to Aiken from Hilton Head Island last summer and were newcomers to Breakfast at the Gallops.
Guido, a native of Cuba, used to own thoroughbred racehorses, and he once bought a mare that was carrying a foal sired by Sham, who captured the 1973 Santa Anita Derby (gr. I) and later finished second to Triple Crown winner Secretariat in the Kentucky Derby (gr. I) and Preakness Stakes (gr. I).
As the runner-up in the Wood Memorial Stakes (gr. I) Sham finished ahead of Secretariat while being defeated by Angle Light.
"To see something like this in the middle of the city is pretty extraordinary," said Cathy of the Training Track. "It's just so beautiful. It's also fun to see the kind of horses you see on TV. We watch the races all the time. When I go upstairs to his (Guido's) man cave, he's got the races on."
Standing on the Cot Campbell Clocker's Stand while eating breakfast was Joannah Glass, who owns Sporting Days Farm and is known for playing an important role in establishing the equestrian sport of eventing in the Aiken area.
She also has ownership interests in some thoroughbred racehorses.
"I think it's fabulous to have the ability to get so close these young horses and see them before they become famous or whatever," Glass said. "To see them practicing and to get a nice breakfast to go with it, how could you ask for anything more?"
Georgianna "Girl" Conger, an artist, equestrian and longtime Aiken resident, was at Breakfast at the Gallops with some friends.
"I don't think I've ever been before, even with all the horse connections I have," said Conger, who is a former secretary of the Aiken Steeplechase Association and whose father, Ford Conger, served as the Steeplechase Association's chairman prior to his death in 1993.
"This is exciting," she added. "I love to see the horses training and maybe I'll get some good ideas for pictures to paint."
The guest speaker for Breakfast at the Gallops was Acacia Courtney Clement, a thoroughbred racing television host, analyst and reporter.
