‘It's the joie de vivre’: Horse races and human race blend together at King’s Tree Trials

The big winners Saturday of the 26th running of the King’s Tree Trials were Beach House and Anna Redwine. Not necessarily in that order.

Beach House is a 6-year-old Thoroughbred that won the 2022 King’s Tree Cup, the featured race among seven romps on the track at the sprawling McCutchen Training Center in the Kingstree, uh, suburbs. A crowd of approximately 2,500 people saw four quarter horse sprints and three half-mile Thoroughbred runs that were the main event. Horse gawking was supreme. People watching was even better.

Redwine is a filly – er, woman – from Columbia. She and her partner, Joe Fern, and their fun-loving friends won the Best Tailgate trophy. Some people among the pickup trucks and SUVs and vans and tents and food and drinks and grills and decorations and chips and dips and meat and sweets and cowboy boots galore and more would say her trophy was the ultimate prize of the festivities.

Elijah Craig was there in the infield. Everywhere.

“At the end of the day, it's the joie de vivre,” Redwine said. “We are here to enjoy life on a beautiful day in Williamsburg County.”

Two jockey spills involving the same horse and rider before and during the fifth race, a quarter horse event, added drama to the hot, sunny afternoon that was a striking contrast to the cold, wet and windy conditions at the 2021 trials. The jockey, Sayvion McClary. was taken by ambulance to a hospital but was not seriously injured.

But let’s cut to the chase.

Beach House is owned by Brian McClam of Kingstree and trained by R.B. “Bobby” McCutchen and his son Jason. The horse was ridden by Lamont Smalls, who won four of the day’s seven races.

In the first 19 years of the Kings Tree Cup, dating to 1996, winners were owned and trained by McCutchens five times. One other winner was trained by a McCutchen.

In the past nine years, dating to 2013, McCutchens have dominated. They have owned seven winners and trained eight. They almost seem apologetic for success with the home-track advantage.

Beach House has won previously, but this was his first race since McClam bought the horse recently from the McCutchens. That makes McClam undefeated as an owner.

McClam, a row crop farmer who owns and operates M3 Farms outside Kingstree, watched the race from the back of his pickup truck more than 100 feet beyond the finish line. He wasn’t sure Beach House beat Let’s Go Brandon to the finish line, but his horse won by one length.

“I’m into it now,” McClam said when asked if winning his first race has whetted his appetite. “I’m ready to get stupid and spend some money now.”

McClam said he has known the McCutchen family all of his life. His youth baseball coach was Bobby McCutchen. Brian and Jason McCutchen graduated together from Williamsburg Academy.

Smalls, who has worked 10 years at the McCutchen Training Center, said Beach House seemed a little nervous going to the gate.

“She wanted to kick a little, but we got her settled in,” the jockey said.

Beach House and Andy’s The Best battled through the two turns.

“He was a little in front of me,” Smalls said. “I swooshed up a little bit, and when we got to the three-quarters pole, she grabbed the bit and said, ‘Take it home.’”

Now, back to the human race and the party in the infield.

Redwine, Fern and a group of artists from Columbia came to the grounds on a mission.

“We really went all out this year, because we've been deprived for the past few years with the monsoon and frigid air last year and with COVID,” Redwine said. “We decided to really do it up and have a big time and celebrate what we love about Kingstree.”

Their tailgate scene celebrated horse culture and horse statuary, featuring garlands, framed paintings, an elaborate picnic and extensive bar.

Tom Thompson is an attorney with the Jenkinson, Kellahan, Thompson & Reynolds firm in Kingstree. He says he has never missed a King’s Tree Trial.

“It's my hometown,” said Thompson, a former president of the Williamsburg Hometown Chamber that runs the event. This is the biggest reunion we have. It's a wonderful event held by some wonderful people and a great place.

“This is the one event that I look forward to more than anything every year. This is like my Christmas, New Year's, Easter, Hanukkah, you name it, all wrapped up in one.”

The best part?

“It's the people,” Thompson said. “The out-of-towners that may have been from here but you haven’t seen in months or years. Some people you see every day. It’s just a good time, laid back, chill. … Nobody’s in that rat race. You just sit back, eat something, have something to drink, have a good time, watch the horses.”

Did he say watch the horses? Wink, wink.

“I haven't seen a horse yet today,” Thompson said.

It was early in the afternoon.

“I'm sure I will,” he said.

He grinned. He paused. His eyes twinkled.

“As long as they have this,” Thompson said of this exquisite blend of horse races and the human race, “I’ll be here with a spread ready to go.”