OUR HISTORY

The Elloree Trials is a Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing event held annually in Elloree, South Carolina. The track was built in 1940 on a geological depression called a savannah or Carolina Bay.  It had hosted races for 10 years, until a ban on para-mutual betting closed the track. The races resumed in 1963 and were held annually until the COVID pandemic kept the races from happening in 2020 and 2021. 

The event returned for one year in March 2022. Hard-working Administrators, Margaret Anne Baker Garrett, and Debbie Jobe, worked tirelessly, along with the Smith Family, each year to produce the Trials.  Shortly after Debbie retired in late 2022, the beloved “Miss Anne” passed away.  The Elloree Trials was not held in 2023.  That following summer, a group of volunteers pulled together to work with the Elloree Training Center and the Smith Family to get the Trials “back on track”.  The Elloree Palmetto Jockey Club was formed and the races returned in 2024!   The event is known to attract thousands of people, and some years up to 6,000 people have been in attendance.