In 1941, a group including Pete Bostwick, Mrs. Ambrose Clark, and Skiddy von Stade Sr. organized to build the Aiken Training Track on 75 acres that included parts of the Post and Mead polo fields. Frank Phelps designed the one mile oval track, modeled after Keeneland Race Track in Lexington, Kentucky, as a facility for training Thoroughbred race horses. A distinctive feature of the track is its Horine turns, or flattened curves, which created a longer straightaway and made high-speed turns easier. The Aiken Trials began there in 1943 as an impromptu event to benefit the American Red Cross War Fund, and the site has trained six Kentucky Derby winners, three Belmont Stakes winners, and nine Preakness winners.

Photo: Tom Bosse

Photo: Tom Bosse

Photo: Tom Bosse

Photo: Tom Bosse

Aiken, South Carolina · USA