Joe Gerrard (left) and Mike Held get Koen's Star, a 3-year-old pacer, ready for a workout at McGhee's Mile Track in Aiken. This year's Triple Crown will end with harness races Saturday. RON COCKERILLE/STAFF

He was preparing for the third and final leg of the Aiken Triple Crown, Saturday's Aiken Harness Races.

Mr. McGhee said the annual event has grown. Relatively few entrants took part when he purchased the mile track from the city five years ago. This year, the standardbred horses stabled there span to the back side of the white fencing around the mile track.

Mr. McGhee has increased the numbers each year for the past three years by reducing the boarding fee at the training center to $300 a year. He then advertised heavily within the horse-racing community.

"We did it for one reason. So we would have enough horses to put on a first-class race program to benefit the athletic program at the University of South Carolina Aiken," Mr. McGhee said.

The harness-racing action will start at 1 p.m. at McGhee's Mile Track with the first of eight scheduled one-mile races by 2- and 3-year-old trotters and pacers.

Trotters run by moving their left front leg and right rear leg forward in tandem. Then the horse switches, using the other two legs as a pairing.

Pacers also have distinctive gaits. Both legs on one side of the horse move forward in unison, then the other pair follows.

Drivers ride behind the horses on two-wheeled sulkies.

Saturday's forecast calls for mostly cloudy skies and high temperatures in the mid-70s.

Of the three Aiken Triple Crown races, the harness races are considered the most family oriented, said Randy Warrick, USC Aiken's athletic director.

Most of the horses that will race Saturday live and train at the facility and are familiar with the surroundings. This lends itself to an environment in which horses, trainers, grooms and the public can mingle, Mr. Warrick said.

Because Sunday is Easter, at least 25 plastic Easter eggs will be hidden throughout the grounds, each containing prizes.

Reach Carly Phillips at (803) 648-1395 or carly.phillips@augustachronicle.com.