Aiken horseman Jack Wetzel recently gazed out over a 65-acre green space at Powderhouse Road and Audubon Drive.

"You wouldn't know that you're in the middle of a town in South Carolina," he said.

The property, which was renamed Aiken Horse Park when Mr. Wetzel and Bruce Duchossois bought it six years ago, has been known by other names, including Clark Field in honor of Ambrose Clark, an Aiken sportsman and the uncle and mentor of polo player G.H. "Pete" Bostwick.

Ford Conger Field possibly is the name most closely associated with the property.

On Saturday, about 30,000 spectators are expected to converge on the field for the 40th renewal of the Aiken Spring Steeplechase, the second leg of the city's Triple Crown.

"This is the best sporting event in Aiken," said Georgianna Conger, the late Ford Conger's daughter and an Aiken Steeplechase Association board of directors member. "Historically and now, it is a significant sporting event. It's so wonderful to be able to continue the gentleman's tradition."

More than 1,000 people attended Aiken's first steeplechase in Hitchcock Woods on March 14, 1930. Ten horses raced over a three-mile course along the Aiken Hounds drag lines, and several hundred children from the Aiken Preparatory and Fermata schools watched the race atop their ponies for a better view.

World War II and community development brought an end to the steeplechase, but the tradition was revived in 1967. The efforts of horsemen such as Mr. Bostwick, Mr. Conger, Charles S. Bird III, Paul Mellon, MacKenzie "Mack" Miller and Willard Thompson returned the event to prominence.

"It has a long history," Mr. Wetzel said of the sport. "Certainly, the people of Aiken County love it."

Mr. Miller, a thoroughbred trainer for Charles Engelhard Jr., received his Aiken house and 15 acres from Mr. Engelhard's widow after he died, Mr. Wetzel said. The trainer later bought an adjoining 55 acres, which includes the steeplechase course, he said.

"Originally, it was a private training field for the Engelhards and the Clarks," Mr. Wetzel said.

Ms. Conger said her father helped Mr. Bird organize the races after they moved to Aiken in 1965. She also said Mr. Miller, who was a close friend of her father's, named the property Ford Conger Field after her father died in 1993.

Mr. Wetzel said he and Mr. Duchossois bought the land to preserve it as a steeplechase track and as open space.

"It was going to be a housing development of 500 homes," Mr. Wetzel said. "Five hundred houses would have really wreaked havoc on the city of Aiken."

The grounds are the site of other equine events as well. They include the Aiken Spring Classic, a hunter and jumper show, and, since 1992, a fall steeplechase.

In addition, Mr. Wetzel said, "Each Wednesday during the training season, the thoroughbred trainers are allowed to use the field to train their grass horses."

Reach Betsy Gilliland at (803) 648-1395, ext. 113, or betsy.gilliland@augustachronicle.com.