Program fetes horse heroes

The yearlong Celebrate Aiken! campaign continues next Sunday with Aiken's Horse Heroes.

The presentation will pay tribute to 10 of the 39 national champions that have been enshrined in the Aiken Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame and Museum. It will be held at Rye Patch from 2 to 4 p.m. The program is open to the public.

The Aiken Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame and Museum will also be open.

"Dogwood Stable wanted to lend its support, and with the first quarter of Celebrate Aiken! being history, horses and health and high society, it seemed perfect to highlight the horses in the Aiken Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame and Museum," said Mary Jane Howell, Aiken's Horse Heroes co-chair.

Aiken's Horse Heroes will give people a look at the careers of the 10 equine athletes who were conditioned at the Aiken Training Track.

The presentation will provide an in-depth look at the horses and their connections through video footage, photographs and guest speakers who were either directly involved with the horse or someone who was associated with one of the featured champions.

Those attending the presentation will be able to watch footage of the selected horses that, in some cases, has been seldom seen, said Janet Harkins, Aiken's Horse Heroes co-chair. A tent will be set up at Rye Patch for the presentation.

There will be a question-and-answer forum, and a reception will follow the event inside Rye Patch.

"Mary Jane Howell has worked so hard on putting the video presentation together," Harkins said.

The featured horses include four that are enshrined in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. - five-time Horse of the Year Kelso, who was trained by Dr. John Lee and Carl Hanford; the Mike Freeman-trained Shuvee; the Jim Maloney-conditioned Gamely and the John Gaver charge and 1953 Horse of the Year, Tom Fool.

The other featured national champions will be the 1948 2-year-old male champion Blue Peter, who is interred beneath the live oak tree on the infield of the Aiken Training Track; the ill-fated Lamb Chop, whose 3-year-old champion filly campaign in 1963 is still lauded over by racing historians; the 1981 dual Classic winner Buckland Farm's Pleasant Colony; Claiborne Farm's dual Classic winner Swale; the 1996 Eclipse Award winning 2-year-old champion Female Dogwood Stable's Storm Song; and the 1978 Eclipse Award Juvenile Filly Champion Mrs. Henry Paxson's Candy Eclair, who shared the honor with It's in the Air and was conditioned by Allen King.

Among the featured guest speakers at Aiken's Horse Heroes are Claiborne Farm's Dell Hancock, Dogwood Stable's Cot Campbell, trainer Jim Maloney's daughter Sheila Maloney, Candy Eclair's trainer Mary Edens, who conditioned the filly during her 3-year-old campaign, and the Aiken Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame and Museum's Lisa Hall.

The seating capacity for Aiken's Horse Heroes has been limited to 200, and those wishing to attend the event should arrive early.

Rye Patch is located at 100 Berrie Lane.

Contact Ben Baugh at bbaugh@aikenstandard.com.