Ismael Martinez on Gold Touch (left) and Kim Baker on Mrs. Coolidge run neck and neck during their race in 2002. STAFF/FILE

Horses to try new surface

AIKEN - The Aiken Training Track, home to the first leg of the Aiken Triple Crown, welcomes racers this year to a new surface.

It's the first complete resurfacing that Ron Stevens, president of the track, can remember and the last planned change for the track in the foreseeable future, he said.

The track has played host to some well-known horses.

Kentucky Derby winners have run in the Trials. Preakness and Belmont Stakes winners have come, 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.

Mr. Stevens said they want to "keep the reputation of sending horses out of Aiken that are fit and ready to win." Horses that trained at the track in 2002 won more than $7 million in prize money last year.

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Track planners laid more than 5,200 cubic feet of sand on the track this summer to form a new cushion.

A New York "dirt expert" was brought in to help with the process.

Located on Two Notch Road, the track was built by the late Fred H. Post and his son, William, and opened in 1941. The Trials started the next year. Saturday will mark the 61st running of the Trials.

The races are billed as a chance for young horses to get acclimated to a race environment. Thousands of tailgating race-goers help the cause by lining the track to cheer the horses.

The number of races is not set until the week of the event, depending on the number of entrants, but over the past few weeks, trainers have been testing horses to see who might show well.

"We'll find out which horse has got the speed and who is mentally ready," Mr. Stevens said. "It's a learning experience."

There usually are up to seven races, depending on how many horses are entered. Three quarter-mile races and three half-mile races usually fill the day. Two-year-olds run in the shorter races and 3-year-olds run in the longer races.

About 300 horses train at the Aiken Training Track throughout the year, and that's how the track's board of directors wants it, Mr. Stevens said.

The track is run by several shareholders who don't operate the track to make a profit.

Staff writer Josh Gelinas contributed to this report.

Reach Matthew Boedy at (803) 648-1395 or matthew.boedy@augustachronicle.com.

--From the Friday, March 21, 2003 printed edition of the Augusta Chronicle