“S” is for South Carolina Jockey Club

“S” is for South Carolina Jockey Club. The earliest record of horse racing in South Carolina is February 1734. During the next two decades the sport increased in popularity in the colony, but it became organized with the founding of the South Carolina Jockey Club in 1750. By the turn of the nineteenth century, the club ushered in what would be called the “golden age of racing.” The club’s annual races, usually held in January or February, served as the high point of the Charleston social season and as a common meeting place for members of the planter class from across the state. The loss of thoroughbreds during the Civil War and the economic decline that followed led to the demise of horse racing in the state. The South Carolina Jockey Club disbanded in 1899