For Jeff Nisonger, harness racing is addictive.
“It gets in your blood,” he said. “The adrenaline rush, it’s kind of like a drug.”
On Saturday, Nisonger and other horsemen at McGhees’ Mile will be showing the Aiken community what their sport is all about during the Standardbred Races.
Gates will open at 9 a.m., and the post time for the first race will be noon.
There will be eight races for standardbreds and one for miniature horses, said Janis McGhee, whose family owns McGhees’ Mile, on Monday.
Nisonger, who is an owner, a trainer and a driver, will be busy because many of the 18 pacers and trotters in his stable will be participating.
And Nisonger will be driving some of those animals while sitting behind them in a sulky.
Even though the races won’t be official, they’ll serve a useful purpose.
“It’s mainly an educational experience for 2-year-olds that have never raced before,” Nisonger said. “It teaches them to go behind the starting gate (which is mounted on a moving truck) and to be with other horses in a race field.”
Those young standardbreds won’t be going all out the entire way.
“The drivers will carry watches, and there will be a designated time for a mile that we will want to go in,” Nisonger said. “During the last little bit, we’ll turn our horses loose. But the older horses I have will actually be racing from the start in their races.”
Nisonger, who lives in Ohio, brought horses to McGhees’ Mile this winter for the first time.
“I wanted to get away from the cold,” he said. “A lot of people suggested this place. They called it a hidden gem.”
Nisonger has enjoyed his time here.
“The town is very nice, and the people are very friendly,” he said.
Nisonger, 36, became interested in harness racing while he was growing up in the Buckeye State. A friend of his mother’s introduced him to the sport.
“I was about 8 or 9 years old, and I learned about it from the ground up,” Nisonger said. “I started by cleaning stalls and taking care of the horses, and it progressed from there. I ended up liking it, and I got to be around some good horsemen.”
In early January, Nisonger scored his 3,000th career victory as a driver. He got the win with a 10-year-old mare named Brooklets Sugarland at Miami Valley Raceway in Ohio.
“I’ve had a lot of horses in my stable, but I haven’t had any great ones,” Nisonger said. “When they get really good, I try to sell them and make money while I can.”
McGhees’ Mile is at 620 Banks Mill Road.
General admission tickets are $10 each in advance and $12 at the gate. Children who are 10 years old or younger get in free.
The cost for general parking is $5.
Railside parking bundles, which include two general admission tickets, are $50 apiece.
For more information, call 803-617-8511.
By Dede Biles
She is a general assignment reporter for the Aiken Standard and has been with the newspaper since January 2013. A native of Concord, N.C, she graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.