Edgar Cato

Edgar Thomas Cato, one of Aiken’s most influential horsemen, died on June 21. Mr. Cato was born in Aiken County in 1925 and grew up in Augusta. Along with his father Wayland Sr. and his brother, Wayland Jr., he founded the Cato Company in 1946. Cato stores specialized in women’s apparel and were an immediate success. By 1948, the company had seven stores in small towns in South Carolina. A year later, the company had over $1 million in revenue and it continued to grow and expand.

Mr. Cato was a sportsman, horseman, pilot and philanthropist. His sailing adventures took place mainly in Newport, R.I. and Charleston, S.C. He competed successfully in many regattas and was a two-time 12 meter world champion and an IRC champion. He was a supporter of and contributor to the International Yacht Restoration School and Sail Newport’s public access sailing programs. He also created the Hissar Sailing Center at the College of Charleston and the Edgar T. Cato Dinghy Park in Newport.

Many people will remember Edgar Cato wearing his hunting pinks and serving as the Master of Foxhounds of his own private pack, the Flat Branch Hounds at his Augusta Plantation in Windsor. He was not just an avid foxhunter, he was also a supporter of foxhunting and of the Aiken equestrian community. According to Linda Knox McLean, he was the largest single donor the Hitchcock Woods has ever had.

He had interests in horse racing and especially in steeplechasing. His steeplechasers, racing under the name Brigadoon Stable, were frequent entrants in races on the National Steeplechase Association circuit, including the semiannual races in Aiken. His most successful horse in recent years was Erin Go Bragh, who won the New Jersey Hunt Cup in 2008. His commitment to the sport was deep and he served two terms as a board member of the NSA.

Finally, he was a generous supporter and sponsor of polo. He created Loughrea Plantation about ten miles east of town, a spectacular polo farm that has two of the best tournament fields in the area. His Brigadoon polo team, captained by his daughter Christine, has been an important presence in low, medium and high goal tournaments in South Carolina and Florida.

A memorial service for Mr. Cato was held Saturday, June 25 at the Aiken Thoroughbred Hall of Fame and Museum.

Polo Plans

Once again, numerous polo players are staying in Aiken for the summer, and there are several players who will be hosting informal, private chukkers on their own fields to give their green horses some experience and keep their hand-eye coordination up to par. At least two clubs will be offering organized games and practices. One is Overbrook in Wagener, and the other is Aiken Polo Club, which has not had a summer polo program for about 20 years.

According to Overbrook's Clint Nangle, the polo at his club will be casual and laid back. "If you want to go charging down the field, it's probably not the right place for you - we have a style of play that is more easy-going," he says. Practices are currently scheduled for Wednesday evenings at 6:30 pm and Saturday mornings at 9:00 am, but the schedule could easily be modified to accommodate players' schedules.

Overbrook is also offering coaching chukkers with pointers on rules and plays, and has been running a full lesson program with private and semiprivate sessions available for riders of all types, beginners through advanced. Clint says that the lessons have been quite successful, bringing in numerous new players, both from the greater Aiken equestrian community and from Lexington and Columbia. The chief instructor is Christine Cato, who brings a wealth of polo experience at all levels, from low goal club chukkers up to the 20 goal and beyond. (For more information, check out the website: www.overbrookaiken.com or call 803-646-8350.)

Aiken Polo Club's summer season is not just the first summer polo it has offered in a long time, it is also the first arena polo the club has ever had. The club will be using the new polo arena at Hilltop Farm east of town on Hatchway Bridge Road. Practice chukkers are scheduled for Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 9 am, with more practice days if there are enough people who want to play.

Aiken polo club's manager, Craig Fraser, says that there are plans to have lessons, lease horses, clinics and a progression league. The practice season starts June 18 and will conclude in mid August or carry on until the fall outdoor season starts in September if people want to play. For chukkers, call the regular APC hotline: 803-643-3611. For more information, contact Craig: craig@pologuy.com or 803-292-3377.

In other polo news, this spring New Bridge Polo Club decided to encourage more participation at their club. They are lowering their dues by almost 50 percent, bringing them more in line with other club dues in the area. Now, homeowners at New Bridge can play polo for $3,000 per year, while outside players can join for $3,500 per year. New Bridge holds three practices a week and maintains practice and stick and ball fields. Members are welcome at the practices, can use the stick and ball fields, and get a discount on club tournaments. They can even use the other club amenities, which include a swimming pool and tennis courts. Practice days are Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, so they mesh perfectly with Aiken Polo Club, which holds practices on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. If you join both clubs, you will have somewhere to play six days a week!

Willie Hartnett, who manages the club says that there are a few other changes on the horizon this fall. For instance, the club always holds an 8 goal, the Copa de Plata in the fall, but this tournament is usually just a club event. Now it will be a USPA event, and a qualifier for the National Presidents Cup, held each April in Palm Beach. There is a lot of enthusiasm for this tournament and for all the other  fall tournaments. In fact, Willie says that there are already a handful of entry forms in the office from teams that are either very organized or very eager for the season to begin. "We expect a big season on the 8 to 12 goal level," he says.

Aiken International Horse Park

The Equine Steering Committee of the Greater Aiken Chamber of Commerce is moving forward with plans to develop a world class international horse park in Aiken. Although the ESC has been talking about a horse park since its inception in early 2009, it has yet to create a formal plan and a proposal to do so. This spring however, the committee commissioned Jeff Wallace, a former editor at the Aiken Standard, to put together a draft of a white paper entitled a "Vision for an International Horse Park in Aiken County." The paper was then circulated to the members of the Equine Steering Committee, the chamber's board of directors, and to the membership of the Equine Support Council for review, comments and suggestions.

The proposal, which is 16 pages long, gives a summary of the history of the horse industry in Aiken and makes a case for the construction of a "comprehensive multi-use facility amenable to all equestrian disciplines." The ideal location for the park is deemed to be "somewhere in the 1-20 corridor, close to but not in Aiken proper." The park is envisioned as something that will help the equestrian industry in town, but which also is something that Aiken itself needs for a healthy future. Since the 1950s, the Savannah River Plant has been the major driver in Aiken's economy. With closures at the plant "more the rule than the exception", Aiken would be well advised to "look to other areas to bolster its future economy."

The proposal calls for a facility that encompasses at least 600 to 1000 acres, with space for a cross country course, permanent barns, a covered arena, and an "architecturally striking" signature building that is seen as a tourist destination in itself. The park would also have its own trail system, which would, ideally, connect up with a countywide system of trails that the Equine Support Council is in the process of establishing. The plan calls for the use of as much green technology as possible in the construction of the park, thus making it a "national model for conservation and green development." Use of green technology might also make the construction of the park eligible for various government grants and loans.

All of this is still in the very early planning stages, however. Not only is the draft white paper being modified through discussions with members of the Equine Support Council, but the Equine Steering Committee has yet to decide how the park should be funded, who exactly should own it, and even if they should pursue the project. An international horse park of the size and stature envisioned by the ESC's plan would necessarily cost many millions of dollars. Exactly where that money might come from in these uncertain economic times is certainly an important question. But proponents of the horse park are not daunted. Even if the money for the project is not all there yet, and even if the facility has to be constructed in stages, they believe that a horse park is vital to the future of the equestrian industry in the area, and even to the future of Aiken County itself. 

Aiken International

Horsemen who train in Aiken are doing quite a bit of traveling these days, and will be doing more in the near future. This spring, Shawna Harding, whose base of operations is Aiken, was selected as one of three riders to represent the U.S. at the World Cup Dressage finals in Leipzig, Germany at the end of April. After that competition, she stayed on in Europe to continue competing, giving her two mounts, Come On III and Rigo, valuable experience and exposure on the international circuit.  Come On III is a stunning 12-year-old Dutch Warmblood that Shawna has owned and campaigned since he was a youngster, while Rigo is a10-year old Hanoverian gelding owned by Tonya Rowe.

Earlier this year, Shawna won the $25,000 Carol Lavell Advanced Dressage Prize which helped fund her trip overseas. Other fundraisers included an auction of 30 bags of feed donated by Charlie Herrick, owner of Banks Mill Feeds. Shawna will be showing in Germany, Austria and Italy before returning to the states.

This summer, a number of Aiken-based combined driving competitors will also descend on Europe. In August, Jennifer Matheson, Suzy Stafford, Wendy O'Brien and Shelly Temple will be transporting their ponies and vehicles to Germany to train with the U.S. driving coach Michael Freund before traveling to Lipica, Slovenia to represent the United States in the FÇdÇration Equestre Internationale World Pony Driving Championships. There, they will be joined by another Aiken based driver, Janelle Marshall, who will represent Australia, her native country. The World Pony Championships take place from September 21-25.

The FEI World Pair Driving Championships (for horses) will be held in Conty, France from August 24-28. Aiken will also have a representative in that event: Joe Yoder, a recent Aiken transplant, will be driving a pair of Gelderlander geldings owned by Jack Wetzel and trained by Vance Coulthard, both well-established Aiken horsemen. Jack's Gelderlanders started out as a four-in-hand of carriage driving horses, and were a familiar sight leading Aiken's many carriage parades. Just about two years ago, they entered their first combined driving event with Bill Long, a veteran competitor, acting as whip, and last fall, competed in the World Equestrian Games in Kentucky. This winter, Joe Yoder took the reins, driving them to the top of the standings in numerous pair competitions on the national circuit. In March, Joe and Wetzel's pair won the United States Equestrian Federation's National Pairs Championship.

Wetzel's team will fly to Germany to train with Michael Freund in early July. They will probably enter some warm-up competitions before taking on the world in France. 

Fire at True Prospect

Early in the morning of May 31, a fire destroyed the barn that the event rider Boyd Martin was renting from Phillip Dutton at Dutton's True Prospect Farm in Pennsylvania. There were 11 horses in the barn at the time, and three people living in the upstairs apartment. Lillian Heard, Caitlin Silliman and Ryan Wood were awakened by the fire and sounded the alarm. Along with Phillip and Boyd, they managed to rescue five horses from the blaze. The surviving horses were transported to the George D. Widener Hospital for Large Animals at the University of Pennsylvania New Bolton Center. Six other horses perished. Lillian, Caitlin and Ryan were treated and released from Jennersville Hospital.

The horses in Boyd's barn included numerous upper level eventers, some up-and coming horses, as well as the personal horses of Caitlin Silliman and Lillian Heard: Lillian's Ariel, a young mare competing at the Preliminary level, was one of the horses that died. The other horses that did not make it out were Call Me Ollie, Charla, Phantom Pursuit, Cagney Herself and Summer Breeze. Survivors included Catch a Star, Ambassador's Rose, Otis Barbotiere, Minotaure du Passoir and Neville Bardos, the horse that Boyd rode at the 2010 World Equestrian Games. After several weeks of treatment for burns and smoke inhalation, all five horses have been released from the clinic, but only one, Ambassador's Rose, has so far been able to return to work. The prognosis for the remaining horses is unclear, although they are reported to be healing rapidly.

The eventing community was shocked by the tragedy, and immediately united around all those affected by the fire. In the weeks since, there have been numerous fundraisers to help defray costs for Boyd as well as to help Ryan, Lillian and Caitlin, who lost all of their possessions in the fire. The outpouring of support has been immense, with charity auctions at various events, bake sales, special schooling events and an online charity auction on eBay. Many individuals and companies have stepped up to offer their support. For instance, EcoGold, a Canadian company that sponsors Boyd, donated 50 percent of proceeds from orders of their saddle pads to Boyd's team, raising over $8,000 in two weeks. At one charity auction, $14,000 was raised - then Alan Shinton, a generous supporter of eventing, stepped up to match those funds, bringing the total to $28,000. The June 12 Lumber River Starter Horse Trials at the Carolina Horse Park in Raeford, N.C. donated a portion of their funds to victims of the fire. Closer to home, Full Gallop Farm in Aiken made their June combined test a benefit for the True Prospect recovery funds.

Separate, tax deductible funds have been set up for Caitlin, Lillian and Ryan. There is also a general relief fund. To donate or for more information, visit the website at South California Equestrian Sports (www.scesports.org) or go to Boyd Martin's site. (www.boydandsilvamartin.com) 

Boyd Martin and his team make their winter home in Aiken where they are based at Bridle Creek Equestrian Community. Fire investigators in Pennsylvania have determined that the fire was accidental and electrical in origin. 

Aikenite Flies

A special thoroughbred with an obvious Aiken connection is bringing acclaim to his home town on the stakes racing circuit. Aikenite, a 4-year-old owned by Dogwood Stable, has been having a great 2011 so far and is rapidly becoming one of the city's favorite sons.

Aikenite started out the year with a second place finish in a race in March. Then, in April, clinched a 21/4 length victory in the Grade II Commonwealth Stakes at Keeneland. On May 7, Kentucky Derby day, he was entered in the prestigious $348,900 Grade II Churchill Downs Stakes on the Kentucky Derby undercard. He drew the number one position (not his favorite) and was sent off as the seventh choice of the betting public. But his jockey, John Velasquez, gave him a great ride, letting him sit off the pace for much of the race, and then sending him home in the stretch. He ran down the race leaders to win by a nose and take home a winner's purse of over $200,000.

In his next race, the $500,000 Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park on May 30, Aikenite came in fourth. It was a fast race: the winner, Tizway, turned in the second fastest time for the race in its history. Aikenite is now being prepped for the Grade I Forego Stakes at Saratoga, and may even be headed to the Breeders Cup in early November. Cot Campbell certainly hopes that he is. In fact Cot has made an interesting wager with Lucky's Race and Sport Book in Las Vegas. At 10-1 odds, he has bet $5,000 that a Dogwood horse will win a Breeder's Cup race this year. Dogwood currently has 40 horses, including several promising 2-year-olds that have yet to show anyone what they can really do, so all of Cot's chances are not riding on his 4-year-old. But if he Aikenite does win, it will be sweet for Dogwood and for all his local fans.

On another note, Aikenite has so far banked over $700,000 in his race career. If he wins over $1 million, he will become eligible to be named the Aiken Trained Horse of the Year by the Aiken Thoroughbred Hall of Fame and Museum located in Hopeland Gardens. 

SPCA Barn Tour

The fourth annual Aiken Barn Tour took place on Saturday, April 16. This tour, in which participants were invited to take a look inside some of Aiken's most beautiful barns, included eight properties, all of them located along Aiken's 302 equestrian corridor east of town. Barns on the tour included numerous private stables, all of them constructed within the past six or seven years, and all of them spectacular.

The tour started at 11 a.m., and for seven of the barns it was self-guided: people on the tour got a map and then drove themselves to the various properties. Many of the properties were quite close to each other. For instance, Peter Michaels's Quartermore Farm on Flowing Well Road was right across the street from Mary Guynn and Justin Pimnser's Dollamor, and right around the corner from Laura and Mike Regan's Evergreen Farm and the Hunt Box on Hickory Creek, owned by Jim and Gayle Curtiss. Other properties included Chequers, a lovely farm in Hatchaway Bridge Farms where Arthur and Sandy Vann breed Gypsy Vanner horses; Bridlewood, which is John Abbott's show hunter barn; and Windswept farm, a private dressage facility owned by Theresa and Pat Blewett.

The piäce de rÇsistance came at 2:30 with the guided tour of Crestview Farm on Cooks Bridge Road. This property, hidden behind massive electronic gates, includes barns, paddocks, pastures, polo fields, and pavilions, all custom-built to the highest standard and using unique materials. Although Crestview held the final game of the 2010 Silver Cup on its tournament field last fall, this was the first time that the public was invited to take a look at the barns. Visitors were impressed, to say the least.

After the guided tour, Crestview's president, Alan Meeker, put on an exhibition polo match on his field. This match featured numerous Aiken-based players, including Meeker himself, as well as several players who haven't spent much time in Aiken before, such as Carter Carnegie, who is the interim co-president and CEO of the Breeder's Cup, Ltd.

The barn tour got lucky with a sunny day and had a great turnout. All proceeds went to the Aiken SPCA, which is a nonprofit no-kill shelter. Just a few weeks after the barn tour, on May 19, the SPCA celebrated the groundbreaking of its new expanded facility, the Albrecht Center for Animal Welfare. The facility new which will include the SPCA adoption center, an educational and training center and a regional spay and neuter clinic, is scheduled to be completed in the spring of 2012.

The Townsend Cup

Back in March of 1923, a team of three American polo players in Manhattan played an international arena polo match against a team of three British players. The John R. Townsend International Cup was put on in conjunction with the national arena polo championships in the Squadron A Armory which once stood on Madison Avenue between 94th and 95th streets.

The British team arrived a month before the tournament started and spent the intervening weeks practicing the indoor game as it was played in America. The Americans were beating the British pretty badly in practice, until a few days before the tournament when the British were able to ride their own horses which had been brought over by ship. Then, they surprised everyone by beating an accomplished American team by a score of 10 to 4. But when it counted, the Americans came out on top, winning all three games by decisive margins (41/2-1, 11-2, 10-4.)

The British didn't return to contest the cup again until 2004, when again they lost, playing at the Empire Polo Club in California.  They lost once more in 2008, playing against a team that included John Gobin, an Aiken resident and 6-goal arena player.

The Townsend Cup returned to Empire this March 26. The American team consisted of two players with Aiken connections, John Gobin and Tommy Biddle (9 goals), who played along with Shane Rice, a 7-goal arena player who has been a part of the Aiken scene in recent years.

Once again, the American team was dominant, downing the British by a score of 15 to 9.

Aiken Dry Goods

Polo players will have a new place to shop for mallets, boots, tack and other equipment this spring at Aiken Dry Goods, a store that has just opened on Laurens Street, right next to the Hotel Aiken.

Aiken Dry Goods offers an eclectic mixture of clothing that ranges from designs by Free People and True Grit to riding clothes by Euro-Fit and Gersemi. There is also jewelry and various décor items. The back wall is devoted to tack, mostly imported from Argentina, and the back room will soon stock polo mallets, boots and other gear of the game.

Jami Chandler, who moved here recently from Saratoga Springs, is in charge of the clothing and décor part of the store, while her partner Matthew Fonseca, a 3-goal player based in Aiken, will be looking after the polo equipment. Matthew is planning to stock Tato's Mallets as well as hard-to-find Argentine brands such as Sebastian Ucha and Casablanca Polo Gear.

Aiken Dry Goods is on Facebook.

Horse Show Season

April is horse show season in Aiken. Of course, there have been horse shows going on all winter long, including schooling shows at Three Runs Plantation on the southside and at Belvoir Farm South in Windsor. The Progressive Show Jumping Aiken Challenge Series, held at Highfields Event center on Gaston Road, included five AA rated shows from January through March, each of which boasted a mini prix and hunter classic.

But April is when the horse show crowds really come out. It all starts with the Aiken Horse Show in the Woods, held this year from April 1 through 3 at the historic horse show ring in the middle of the Hitchcock Woods. This show is a 95-year-old tradition, started by Louise Hitchcock in 1916 and carried on every year since. The horse show has traditionally been one of the social and competitive highlights of the season, bringing out many riders who can normally be found on the hunt field. It offers traditional classes from old-fashioned hunter shows, including the flat and over fences classes in the foxhunter division (for horses that have been out at least six times this season with a recognized hunt), hunter pairs, hunt teams, the family class, and leadline and costume classes for young children. There is also a full sidesaddle division (including over fences classes) and a gentleman's hack class.

The Aiken Horse Show, which is a benefit for the Hitchcock Woods Foundation (owner and operator of the Hitchcock Woods) is the one time each year when automobiles are allowed into the woods. Spectators come to enjoy lunch in the ringside tent, where they can also bid on an assortment of items at the silent auction. These items range from jewelry to a full African safari donated by International Ventures.  Often, there are also rare books, photographs and Aiken historical memorabilia.

The horse show season heats up with the Aiken Spring Classic I and II, which are held over two long weekends (April 20-24 and April 27 through May 1) at Highfields. These shows are easily the biggest of the year, drawing competitors from all over the region and beyond. Marquee classes include two grand prix, held both Sundays at noon, and the $10,000 United States Hunter Jumper Association Hunter Derby Classic, held on Saturday the 23rd.

In 2011, the Spring Classic has an added attraction for spectators, especially those who may be unfamiliar with hunter/jumper shows. This is an event called "Grace over Fences," which is the final installment in the Equine Performing Arts series put on by the Greater Aiken Chamber of Commerce. The first two events in the series introduced spectators to foxhunting and to polo. Grace Over Fences will feature the hunter rider Liza Towell-Boyd and the show jumping rider Harold Chopping, who will put on a jumping demonstration on Friday evening, April 29 at 6:00 pm.

The event, which also includes cocktails and dinner, falls on an important day for anglophiles: on that same day, Prince William will marry Kate Middleton at Westminster Abbey in London. For those who want to feel a part of the royal wedding, there will be a sunset reception honoring the royal couple. The dress is cocktail attire: "Dress to impress the Queen," advises the invitation. (It seems unlikely that she will be there.) For more information or for tickets, contact the Aiken Chamber of Commerce website: www.aikenchamber.net, or 803.641-1111.

The Aiken Spring Classic shows are being held in a series with the Camden Spring Classics I and II, which will take place at the South Carolina Equine Park in Camden from April 6-10 and from April 13-17. The four shows will form the Carolina Spring Circuit - a full month of AA sanctioned events, including a complete social schedule with various fundraisers and parties.

According to Cathy Cram, who is running the shows in the Carolina Spring Circuit along with her husband Rick, uncertainty in the economy has meant that competitors are generally waiting until the last possible minute to sign up for their classes. Because of this, there is no telling how big the shows in Aiken will end up being. However, as of this writing, entries are about on a par with last year's entries at the same time. How big was last year's show?
"We had to put up 500 stalls," says Cathy.