When harness racing returns to Aiken today, Kenny Edwards will be one of the people riding in the two-wheeled carts behind the horses and using reins to guide them.
He can't wait to be in the thick of the action at McGhees' Mile.
"This is what we all work for," Edwards said. "There comes a point where you need to find out where you're at with the horses you train, especially the babies, which is what we call the 2-year-olds. We'll be able to see how much speed they have and if they're afraid of the starting gate or not."
The McGhees' Mile Standardbred Races will have eight 1-mile events - seven for trotters and one for pacers.
"With the babies, we'll be looking at the ambition they have to try and beat other horses," Edwards said. "The will to win is a big deal in our business; and when horses don't have that, you're not real happy with them."
Edwards has been a blacksmith for 50 years and a trainer of Standardbreds for 38 years. He is in charge of five trotters stabled at McGhees' Mile, which is at 620 Banks Mill Road.
Edwards owns one of the horses, a 7-year-old named Sammy Merlot.
"I do just about everything," Edwards said. "I train horses, I drive horses, I shoe horses and I haul horses. I even painted my barn here."
Edwards has been in Aiken since late last year, and he'll leave in early May to travel to race meetings in Ohio and Delaware.
"I like Aiken because it's warmer in the winter than it is up North," Edwards said. "I also like the convenience of everything because it's all right there together. There's a Home Depot at one end of the street and a Lowe's at the other end of the street. The movie theater is just a block from my condo, and there's a Waffle House nearby."
In addition, Edwards is a fan of the track at McGhees' Mile.
"It doesn't have a concrete surface like a lot of tracks do," he said, "It's not real fast, but it will get a horse in shape."
From 1971 until 2003, the Aiken Harness Races were part of the Aiken Triple Crown. After they ended, Pacers & Polo filled the gap, and there were no competitions at McGhees' Mile for more than a decade.
The Harness Races used to be popular with families, and Edwards believes they will turn out again to see the Standardbreds battle to finish first.
"I have a feeling we are going to have a lot of people here because it doesn't cost much money to get in," Edwards said. "It will be a good time because the guy who is calling the races, Roger Huston, is the best there ever was. In harness racing, he's known as 'The Voice.'"
The gates will open at 9 a.m. for the McGhees' Mile Standardbred Races. Post time for the first event will be noon.
General admission is $10 per person, and general parking is $10 per vehicle. Children 10 and younger will get in free.
Dede Biles 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.