Thousands of locals make 538 Two Notch Road part of their travel plans year after year, and it’s extremely familiar territory for Chad Ingram, known in large part for his role as president of the Aiken Training Track.
Ingram and Bill Gutfarb, the track’s president, help oversee about 78 acres of world-class equestrian territory, with the overall facility dating to a few months before America’s entry into World War II.
Among the big names at the time were William B. Wood, F.S. von Stade, and Devereux Milburn, all joining their efforts and leading the track to receive a letter on May 6, 1941, with G. H. “Pete” Bostwick as president; von Stade, vice president; Wood, secretary/treasurer; and Norm E. Cullen, Assistant Secretary/Treasurer.
More than 80 years later, Ingram draws on his business background to help keep horses running and a mile of land in gallop-worthy condition. He and his wife, Mandy, live within sight of the track, across the street.
The busiest time of the year is also on the near horizon, with the 2022 Aiken Trials scheduled for March 19 and Aiken Training Track as the host site. This year’s event represents a turnaround, as the 2021 competition was canceled due to COVID-19 concerns.
“I really wouldn’t consider myself a horse person,” Ingram said. “My wife is a horse lover, and I come from a more business background, so I’m trying to help Aiken Training Track by supporting whatever I can do to help with the business side of things and guide it towards sustainability.” . future.
“I’m happy to try to help the organization … help make it a little bit better, solving problems, solving problems that come up, and everyone involved is involved for a good reason, so that’s been nice. They don’t have to be involved with the track. They’re involved with the track because they want to help it. They’re not doing it for a paycheck.”
Gas-related paychecks and convenience stores played a big part in Ingram’s family history, which includes the Kent’s Korner chain of businesses that dotted Aiken County a couple of decades ago. Barney Garvin, one of Ingram’s great-uncles, started the process through the Garvin Oil Company.
The growth eventually meant that Ingram, a Savannah native, moved to New Holland to spend most of his childhood there, as the family business needed all hands on deck.
Garvin, Ingram recalled, “had, I believe, two full service stations, one in Wagener and one in Salley, and there was a store in Williston as well.”
“My dad moved back to New Holland, to be with his uncle, basically, for the winter of his life, and he started helping out with the business, and then he decided to not only help my uncle out with his business, but to start his own business. And that was the convenience stores, and that was Kent’s Korners.”
The chain started in Williston in the mid-1970s, said Ingram, whose parents are named Kent and Phyllis, and ended up sending their son, for high school, to King Academy, “between Batesburg and Saluda,” followed by a acquainted with Clarke. County, Georgia, in the successful pursuit of a degree in English from the University of Georgia.
Back in Aiken County, the decision finally came to offer Kent’s Korner stores for sale, and the locations were divided among a variety of buyers, with Circle K and Brabham Oil (eventually leading to some Enmarket facilities) in mix.
The family now spans several hundred miles, with Ingram’s eldest son, Colt, attending Monmouth University in New Jersey on a golf scholarship and racking up honors in pursuit of a career in business. The youngest son, Winston, is across the state line as a sophomore at Westminster in Augusta.
Back home, the challenge of maintaining a training facility is considerable, as the racing industry is “not…thriving like it used to,” according to Ingram’s estimation.
Cary Frommer, he said, is one of the most frequent users of the Aiken training track, with dozens of horses as part of the track’s four-legged population.
The colder months mean prime time for the track: “between Thanksgiving and the Masters,” as Ingram put it. For the past few summers, two trainers have decided to keep their horses at Aiken, rather than retreat to cooler locations, so the track has remained open.
“It can be like 25 horses, maximum, 15 to 25, in the summer… They train basically from dawn to noon.”
It also provided a description of the facility. “It’s called sandy loam, which is basically the foundation. It’s a sandy loam runway, and that’s really where we hang our hat here,” she said. “He could be one of the best in the country.
“Our board is made up of all volunteers, and it takes a lot of time,” he said. “I hang out with people from Aiken Training Track, and you’ll find me at the Track Kitchen maybe once or twice a week, and maybe Palmetto Golf Club. I’m there in the afternoons, usually playing a little golf.” compete with someone.
While much of Ingram’s daily attention is focused on horses moving over 30 miles per hour, he personally likes to move much faster hundreds of feet above the ground.
“Flying is…a hobby for life,” he said. “I enjoy going to golf tournaments with my oldest son – junior golf. That’s over now, but we went to a lot of junior golf tournaments, like father-son trips, and then I play golf too.”
His vehicles of choice include a Piper J-3 Cub, a 1966 Mooney and an Aerostar, with trips normally based out of Aiken Airport, he said.
“I’m also qualified in helicopters, but I don’t fly them much anymore,” he said.
Gutfarb, one of Ingram’s most frequent collaborators, described him as thoughtful, calm, quick to respond to inquiries and generous in providing office space for track-related meetings.
Ingram’s roles also include a place on the Aiken Town Equine Committee, which exists to advise the “Aiken Town Council on matters affecting the Aiken Equine Community.”
Also on the committee are Jack Wetzel, Courtney Conger, Brooke Thomas, Tara Bostwick, Deborah Taussig-Boehner, Susan Trotter, Dr. Lisa Handy, Lela Wulf, and Sarah G. Widasin.
