Over three consecutive Saturday's , tens of thousands of horse lovers will flock here to enjoy three types of horse racing.

And for some, it's as much about the party as it is about the horses.

This year's celebration begins Saturday with the Aiken Trials at the Aiken Training Track. It continues March 23 with the 36th Aiken Spring Steeplechase and culminates with the Aiken Harness Races March 30.

The Aiken Trials

Saturday will mark the 60th year for the Aiken Trials. The race around the mile-long training track serves as an introduction to competitive racing for young horses being groomed for bigger and better things, said Ron Stevens, who has trained hundreds of thoroughbreds at Stevens Race Stable since 1986.

Jockey John Hamilton (left) rode Treasure Lake to victory in a race in last year's Aiken Trials. MICHAEL HOLAHAN/FILE

"It's a wonderful place for young horses to get experience with crowd noise," Mr. Stevens said. And crowd noise they will get, as organizers estimate thousands will turn out for the race.

Kentucky Derby winners from decades past have graced the Aiken Trials. Preakness and Belmont Stakes winners have come here, too. In all, about 40 champions have run in the races.

In 1989, Summer Squall finished third at the Trials. It was the last race the horse failed to win until the 1990 Kentucky Derby, where he finished second. Two weeks later, Summer Squall won the Preakness.

"Anything you can do to get ready to win one of those, that's what we're doing right now," Mr. Stevens said.

Owners from all over stable horses in Aiken. The thoroughbreds train here in the winter off-season, which traditionally ends with the Aiken Trials.

Horses are usually on the training track each morning by 7. Trainers run them hard on some days and lightly on others.

"(The inexperienced horses) get all fired up and nervous," Mr. Stevens said. "We want them calm. We want them like a good athlete, competitive but not hyperactive."

Billy Bernard has been a training rider in Aiken since 1980.

"When you're working with a horse and you see it go on, you get a sense of pride that you helped it be as good as it could be," he said. And if the horse is good enough, "you could go on with it, be a part of the big show, stand in the winner's circle."

There will be five to seven races Saturday, depending on how many horses enter, Mr. Stevens said.

The Aiken Steeplechase

Unlike the Aiken Trials, an unsanctioned event without prize money, the Aiken Steeplechase is but one stop on the National Steeplechase Association tour of the East Coast.

The steeplechase is run at Ford Conger Field.

The sport dates back 250 years to when English and Irish noblemen would race from one church to another.

Steeplechasing in Aiken began in 1931. It started in Hitchcock Woods and was a success from the start. These days, it draws up to 30,000 people, according to organizers.

Horses made their way over the eighth jump in the Budweiser Cup race in last year's Aiken Steeplechase. FILE

It's the "biggest sporting event in the CSRA after the Masters, said Aiken Steeplechase Association board member Bernie Kane.

He added there is a waiting list for people who want to tailgate along the course's railing.

"There are people who drive in with pickup trucks with picnic supplies you wouldn't believe," Mr. Kane said.

On the other hand, said Mrs. Thompson, "You have the Rolls Royces that show up with butlers serving drinks. You've got both ends of the spectrum."

The Aiken Harness Races

The Triple Crown's third leg is tame compared to the first two events.

"Our event tends to be more family oriented," said Randy Warrick, athletic director at the University of South Carolina Aiken, which is sponsoring the harness races for the 15th consecutive year.

Money raised from the races will help provide scholarships for USC Aiken athletes, Mr. Warrick said.

"For us, it's a great cause. We hope to duplicate last year," Mr. Warrick said.

Harness horses are standardbreds. It's fitting that USC Aiken sponsors the event, because the school's mascot is the pacer, one type of standardbred that will run at the event.

A pacer has a distinctive style of movement - both legs on one side of the horse move forward in unison, then the other pair follows.

The opposite of the pacer is the trotter, which moves the left front leg and the right rear leg forward at the same time, and vice versa.

The March 30 event will feature eight races at the McGhee's Mile Track off Banks Mill Road. The USC Aiken pep band will play, as will Bobby Tuba's New Orleans Dixie Land Band.

Reach Josh Gelinas at (803) 279-6895 or josh.gelinas@augustachronicle.com.