SEAN BOSTON
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The pig races are back at the Kansas State Fair after a year hiatus, and have been a huge success so far at its new location.
"They've went really well," Aryn Hedrick with Hedrick's Exotic Animal Farm said. "I love the response down here. I know there have been some questions of where they are since they're not in the normal location, but they're right here between the petting zoo and the grandstand on the south end."
Hedrick and his staff were thrilled to be back at the State Fair this year.
"They were excited about it," Hedrick said. "We had a lot of calls wondering why we weren't here and I don't know, there was miscommunication or something somewhere, so we're back and have had a good crowd response. My guys are excited to be doing it again."
The pig races will run at 10 a.m., noon, 2 p.m., 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. every day for the remainder of the fair, which ends on Sunday.
The pigs live a pretty simple life during their time on the fairgrounds.
"The pigs have a pretty lazy life," Hedrick said. "They don't have to do a whole lot. We have a couple sets of pigs we rotate around. They run five races a day that takes a few seconds. The rest of the time they're back here in the Hog Hilton. We have air conditioner and fans on them, and they get feed and water, so they don't have to do a whole lot."
Each race has an Oreo cookie placed on a silver platter at the finish line for the winning pig.
"I'm not sure where it originated," Hedrick said. "We've used that for probably 30 years and they love them. They'll really race for that cookie. We call it the oink-e-o cookie."
The pigs don't just see the Oreo cookie during the fair.
"Sometimes when we're getting close to fair time we'll give them some," Hedricks said. "That way they kind of know what they are. They know when you start walking up to the fence what's going on. They want that cookie. They have a sweet tooth, I guess."
The new location has helped Hedrick and his team not have to go back and forth between two locations like years past.
"It saves running across the fairgrounds to another location," Hedrick said. "It keeps my guys right here close where they can be doing other things also."
Fairgoers can expect to see fun family entertainment when checking out the races.
"It's fast and furious," Hedrick said. "They're running really well. They were in Nebraska for a short time and then we switched them out. They had about a week and a half off and then came here. They know it's time to run again and they want to get that cookie and go out and beat their fellow pigs."
