Harness Races set for Saturday at McGhees' Mile in Aiken

Dede Biles, Aiken Standard, S.C.
·2 min read

Mar. 8—Standardbreds will be charging down the stretch during the Bruce McGhee Memorial Harness Races on Saturday at McGhees' Mile in Aiken.

While competing, the horses will be pulling their drivers in carts behind them.

Janis McGhee, whose family owns McGhees' Mile, told the Aiken Standard earlier this week that her plans call for eight races.

The first will have a post time of noon.

Standardbreds have two distinct gaits, the trot and the pace.

When pacing, a horse's forelegs move in unison with the hind legs on the same side, according to horsehints.org.

In the trot, an animal's legs move in diagonal pairs. In other words, the right foreleg and the left hind leg move forward at the same time and vice versa.

Most, if not all, of the standardbreds trotting or pacing Saturday will be 2-year-olds that haven't been to the racetrack yet.

"It will be their first time in front of a crowd," McGhee said. "They've never seen a lot of people and tents and all of that kind of stuff. The whole point of these races is the experience for them."

There also will be one race for roadster horses, which will be hitched to carts similar to the ones that standardbreds pull.

"They can go really fast," McGhee said.

General admission tickets cost $15 apiece in advance and can be purchased at the Aiken County Visitors Center, Aiken Saddlery, Aiken County Farm Supply and McGhees' Mile.

On Saturday at the training center, where the gates will open at 9 a.m., general admission tickets will be $20 apiece.

There will be an additional $5 charge per vehicle for parking.

Railside passes, which cost $65 apiece, must be purchased at McGhees' Mile.

The Harness Races are free for children under the age of 10.

Approximately 150 standardbreds were stabled at McGhees' Mile during this year's winter season and that was the most in a long time, according to McGhee.

Some of the trainers and the animals in their care have left already, but "there are quite a few really nice, nice 2-year-olds, expensive horses," that are still there and are entered in the Harness Races, McGhee said.

When asked about McGhees' Mile's increase in popularity, McGhee mentioned several reasons.

"For one thing, everybody wants to get out of the snow and cold (up north)," she said. "Another thing is that our track is really nice. It's a track that is forgiving. It's got a little cushion, and the red clay is the best surface for them (the horses) to run on."

McGhees' Mile is at 620 Banks Mill Road S.E.

Bruce McGhee, the McGhee family's patriarch, died in 2018.

For more information about the training center and the harness races, visit the McGhees' Mile page on Facebook.