The Carolina Cup Racing Association announced April 13 that its 2018 spring meet will feature both the historic Carolina Cup and the Marion duPont Scott Colonial Cup. As a result, the CCRA Board of Directors decided on April 11 to suspend the fall meet, at which the Colonial Cup has been contested since 1970, beginning this November.

Combining the Carolina Cup and the Colonial Cup on the same afternoon will create a memorable day of racing at the Camden, S.C., Springdale Course, said Carolina Cup CEO Nick Ellis.

“The Carolina Cup has always been our flagship event, and adding the Colonial Cup to the program will provide new significance to the spring meet,” said Ellis. “The change will permit the CCRA to focus its efforts on the spring meet and to preserve its commitment to its charitable beneficiary, The Health Services District of Kershaw County.
Ellis said that the decision to move the Colonial Cup meet to the spring was not taken lightly by the board and followed decades of financial losses on the November races.

“Quite frankly, the organization tried everything possible to maintain the Colonial Cup meet on its original fall date,” he said. “But times have changed; college football has grown in importance and resulted in significantly lower attendance and revenue at the Colonial Cup.”
He said transferring the Colonial Cup to the spring date perpetuates Scott’s commitment to top-level racing at the Springdale Course.

“Her guiding principle was to have the highest-quality racing at Springdale. This change in the schedule will allow the board to maintain its commitment both to her legacy and to the Camden community,” he said.