Fans of the Aiken Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame & Museum

04/14/2026

04/06/2026

Breyer Horse Kids Fun Day is almost here!

04/02/2026

The Aiken Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame and Museum will be closed Friday, April 3 - Sunday, April for official City of Aiken Holidays. Have a good weekend everyone!

03/25/2026

For more information contact 803-643-2121 or [email protected]!

03/23/2026

Happy birthday to 2009 & 2010 Aiken Trained Horse of the Year, Quality Road! https://www.aikenracinghalloffame.com/Quality_Road.html

Happy Birthday to leading sire and mane icon Quality Road!

03/23/2026

The Hall of Fame is sad to report that one of our docents has passed away. Kathy loved her cats and horses and was a respected veterinarian. She will be missed.

View Dr. Kathleen M. Bissell's obituary, send flowers, find service dates, and sign the guestbook.

03/14/2026

The Hall of Fame will close at 2 pm on Saturday, March 14 pm.

03/10/2026

Joe Sharp is speaking at Friday's Breakfast at the Gallops at the Aiken Training Track. Tickets are $20 in advance and $30 at the gate and can be purchased at
https://e.sparxo.com/Breakfast-at-the-Gallops-2026

Joe Sharp has been involved in Thoroughbred racing his entire life. His father, Marc Sharp, has trained horses since 1981, and his mother, Sara Escudero-Calhoun, rode the stable pony. After a few years as a jockey and exercise rider, Joe moved to training. He worked for Mike Stidham for five years and spent about four years with Mike Maker during which time he oversaw Maker’s Keeneland stable.

Joe scored his first win as a trainer on Sept. 10, 2014, when his first starter, Holiday Drama, won a claiming race at Kentucky Downs. Holiday Drama was ridden by Joe’s wife, Rosie Napravnik, a two-time leading jockey at Keeneland whose career wins include the 2014 Kentucky Oaks (G1) and Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) with champion Untapable

Joe, who gallops and breezes many of the horses he trains, races at Fair Grounds during the winter and has horses in Kentucky and New York during the year.

03/10/2026

Joe Sharp trained, Creole Chrome who recently won the 2026 Louisiana Stallion Of The Year Star Guitar Stakes.

Sharp is the guest speaker at this year's Breakfast at the Gallops on Friday, March 13 at the Aiken Training Track. Tickets are $20 in advance and $30 at the Gate. Purchase tickets at
https://e.sparxo.com/Breakfast-at-the-Gallops-2026

CREOLE CHROME ($3.80) led them all the way in the $100,000 Louisiana Stallion of the Year Star Guitar Stakes at Fair Grounds. Axel Concepcion rode the three-...

03/10/2026

Breakfast at the Gallops is almost here, March 13 at 8 am. Get your tickets at https://e.sparxo.com/Breakfast-at-the-Gallops-2026 now! Tickets are $20 in advance and $ 30 at the gate.

Larry Rowe, former exercise rider with Greentree will speak about being the exercise rider for Stage Door Johnny. Stage Door Johnny trained at the Aiken Training Track and won the 1968 Belmont Stakes.

For more information contact [email protected] or 803-643-2121.

03/07/2026

Larry Rowe, former exercise rider will be one of the guest speakers at Breakfast at the Gallops at the Aiken Training Track on March 13, 2026.

Tickets are $20 in advance and $30 at the gate. Tickets can be purchased at https://e.sparxo.com/Breakfast-at-the-Gallops-2026

Rowe was born in Lewis County Kentucky. At the age of 14, Rowe began working for Lexington horseman, John T. Ward. Ward owned the Fort Springs Training Center, which was near the Keeneland racetrack in Lexington, Kentucky. Rowe was assigned four yearlings to care for, which included cleaning their stall, grooming them and breaking them.

He was a natural with horses, and when he was old enough, he started traveling to some of the major tracks with John Ward’s horses – Belmont Park and Saratoga in New York, Hialeah in Florida. Aiken was well-known amongst the country’s leading stables as the place to winter, and it was no surprise that Larry found his way there, too.

Lower did a lot of riding for John Gaver. Gaver was the trainer for Greentree, the renowned racing and breeding operation operated by John Hay ( Jock) Whitney and his sister Joan Whitney Payson. Under his tenure, the stable produced such champions as Shut Out, Capot, Tom Fool, and Stage Door Johnny.

While in Aiken, Larry also exercised horses for S. Allen King, the trainer for the Philadelphia socialite and Eclipse-award-winning breeder, Adele Paxson.