CAMDEN, S.C. — The Carolina Cup is taking place on Saturday in Camden and while the efforts to get the place ready are still underway, the jockeys are also preparing to hit the track in hopes of taking home the trophy.
“It’s exciting and it’s a big kick,” says Bernie Dalton, a jockey preparing to compete at the Carolina Cup on Saturday.
“I’ve always loved horses, I grew up and just down the road from the racing stables in Ireland and I used to see the horses riding by every morning and I guess I was intrigued from an early age,” said Dalton.
Dalton is perhaps happiest when he’s riding horses but he also trains horses.
“My wife and I run the barn here so we do about everything”. He goes on to say, “we usually start early, and everybody usually has an early start in the race we usually start sorta right now so at like seven o’clock in the morning”.
Dalton has won over one hundred races here in America. “I ride one at the Cup called ‘Step to the Bar’ and he probably will be one of the longshots of the race, it’s a small field and it’s in our backyard so we’re gonna take a shot”.
The event he says sometimes become overwhelming for the horses, especially with a large crowd like the race is expecting this year.
“It’s a big crowd a lot of noise it can get the horses very on edge ya know so your job is basically to keep your horse calm, ” he said.
Dalton says he has a plan to win his race but he doesn’t want to give that secret away just yet. Adding, “like any other race it will involve tactics, and you know hopefully they jump well early and you can get a good position and close.
The race kicks off Saturday morning with gates opening around 9 a.m. Click here for information.