When Atlanta Steeplechase attendee Mary Cho speaks to you, the striped 30-inch feather projecting from the brim of her hat pokes your face.

"I've been putting everyone's eye out all day with this thing," apologizes Cho, whose headpiece won first place in the most beautiful hat contest. With its assemblage of silk flower petals, a blooming peony and plumage of every sort and color, it looks like an ikebana arrangement attacked by kamikaze birds.

Alison Church/Special (ENLARGE)

Jockey Danielle Hodsdon riding Fra Diavolo takes the lead in the first lap against jockey Padge Whelan on Jazzitupgeorge.

Alison Church/Special (ENLARGE)

(L-R) Julia Ann Gore delights in the work of Connie Woltz's 'Beach Bunnies' hat which Woltz made for the whimsical hat competition at the Atlanta Steeplechase.

Alison Church/Special (ENLARGE)

(L-R) Jerry Cannon and Evan Kohler-Camp of the Atholl Highlanders Pipes & Drums USA group practice as they wait to perform in the official opening ceremonies for the 42nd annual Atlanta Steeplechase.

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To say that wearing hats to the Steeplechase is a big thing is an understatement.

Hats are perhaps more important than horses at this annual event — the 43rd Atlanta Steeplechase, held Saturday at Kingston Downs near Rome.

Men and women show off canvas-weave hats of every shape and circumference, but the art of elaborate hat wearing is without question a chick thing.

Some delight in having that rare fashion opportunity to match, say, a wine-colored hat with a pink bow to a pink sundress. Others express their individuality, cresting their headgear with, say, a hedge of red and green silk carnations and a plastic dog.

Most seem to take it as an opportunity to belong, just for the day, to another class and another era.

"Hello, Audrey Hepburn!" one young woman calls to friend in an identical white cloche. They collapse into each other's arms laughing, as pretty in their cotton sundresses as spring flowers.

Every half hour or 45 minutes, the horses thunder by, kicking up clods of dirt, and the preening and sceneing stop for a few moments as people crowd to the edges of the track to take in the sight of these spectacular animals.

This year, Kingston Downs is one of only six racetracks in the U.S. hosting a steeplechase, with hedges and ditches placed along turf courses. They are always one-day meets, so if the weather gods smile, the event is a success.

The weather Saturday in northwest Georgia couldn't be better: sunny and breezy enough to rustle skirts. This being the South, tailgating is the activity of choice.

Some tailgates say, "University of Georgia Home Game" — gallon bottles of booze and plastic tubs of dip. Others seem ready for Chastain Park Amphitheater with their tablecloths, flowers and grilled salmon. At one particularly baroque tailgate, the table holds so much cut crystal it can barely fit a plate of cheese and crackers.

While horse racing is the main attraction, organizers set up a number of other diversions. Beside the hat competition, they include a skydiving demonstration, bagpipers and the U.S. Disc Dogs Southern Nationals, where the regional champion is named from among scores of yapping, leaping, Frisbee-crazed canines.

As women indulge their latent interest in hats, men express their once-a-year hankering for a stogie. Smoke vendors of all sorts capitalize. The Old Havana Cigar Co. of Rome and Cartersville has a trailer with a take-out window. Men line up like kids at a Good Humor truck.

Best-hat winner Cho hands her prize — a $500 gift certificate to a Buckhead shop, Intermix — to her friend Wendy Verola, who designed the hat and accompanied Cho to the Steeplechase. Verola's own hat, a leopard print, came in second.

"Maybe I've got a new career," jokes Verola, who works as a laser technician in Atlanta.

The two Atlanta women find a patch of grass in the bright sun, tuck their legs under their skirts and, mojitos in hand, soak in the scenery.