Wet Fair continues through Friday
Horse racing was canceled Monday for the first time in at least two decades due to heavy rains leaving dangerous and muddy conditions on the race track, a Neshoba County Fair racing official said, as Mississippi’s Giant Houseparty continues through Friday.
A full slate of music is on tap for the rest of the week. Philadelphia native Michael Hardy, or HARDY as he is known professionally, hit the stage Tuesday night. Trace Adkins is on at 8 p.m. tonight.
The A.J. Yates Jr. Memorial Late Night Sing is tonight at the Pavilion at 1 a.m.
Abby Seale was crowned Miss Neshoba County on Monday night. (See story, page 8A.)
Bud Dees, one of the race coordinators who made the call to cancel the races, said he does not remember the races being canceled in recent memory.
“It was just too wet and too muddy,” Dees said. “It was a call we had to make not a call I wanted to make.”
Jerome Donald of Philadelphia, a longtime racing horse owner, said they have not canceled a race this decade. “It’s been about 20-25 years, they canceled a race…,” Donald said.
Former jockey Dewayne Clair said he remembers a past race that was held in a blinding rainstorm. “I can’t remember the last time it was canceled. I remember racing one year and I couldn’t even see and we still raced,” said Clair of Cabin 919.
Racing was scheduled to resume on Tuesday at 2 p.m. and continue throughout the week.
Political speaking was set to begin this morning (Wednesday) on the Square at the Pavilion at 9 a.m. with District Attorney Steven Kilgore kicking off. The schedule includes a host of local officials and representatives as well as Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann and Transportation Commissioner Willie Simmons.
Speaking is set to resume on Thursday with Brent Bailey, Central District Public Service Commissioner, starting the day on Founders Square at 9:30 a.m. Attorney General Lynn Fitch, speaker of the Mississippi House of Representatives Phillip Gunn and Gov. Tate Reeves are also scheduled to speak to close out the political speaking.
Dance music at the Pavilion is from the local band Pinnishook.
"It's going to be awesome," Carrie Stokes Atkinson, singer and keyboard player for the band, said. "We have been practicing non-stop. This is kind of a reunion show. We haven't played a show in like a year and a half so this is going to surprise some people."
Two of HARDY’s friends are scheduled for the last two nights. Jordan Davis is scheduled for Thursday at the Grandstands followed by Riley Green on Friday evening. Green’s performance will be followed by a fireworks show.
“I have known both of them for quite a while,” HARDY told the Fair Times. “I have been meaning to text those guys and tell them to be prepared. This isn’t an average show.”
As for the races, Dees said they would have “the track in great shape” and that the horses would be running “lightning fast.” He said that they would continue to monitor the weather and other conditions and make decisions accordingly but did not anticipate any further cancelations as of Monday evening.
Two jockeys injured Sunday were O.K., Dees said. One of the horses started bucking which threw the rider off and knocked off another shortly after they left the gate on the backstretch. One was transported to the hospital and the other suffered only a scratch on his arm.
See the full schedule at neshobacountyfair.org.
Season Tickets are $50, day tickets are $20 and children nine and under are free.
The 2021 Neshoba County Fair concludes Friday at midnight.
The 2022 fair is already scheduled for July 22 through July 29, 2022.