The Free Press, Mankato, MN

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August 6, 2008

Tootin Lady among fair winners

Fair offers food, fun, and of course, harness racing

Colleen Flaherty

ST PETER — If Tootin Lady was your pick Wednesday, you were in luck.

The horse’s first-place finish had a $4,000 purse. And the crowd at the Nicollet County Fair eagerly awaits on this perfect Wednesday afternoon to find out who picked a winner and gets a piece of the action.

It was the first day of the fair, and harness racing, with 11 races and 67 racers, is a popular attraction year after year.

“It’s a great event for young and old and in between,” said Jill Gorman, Nicollet County fair director.

St. Peter is one of the three towns (Cannon Falls and Wheaton are the other two) in Minnesota where these races still occur since they built a track specially for it in Shakopee.

“It’s great to see racers from all over the Midwest here. I’ve always loved horses and it’s fun to see at a local level,” Gorman said.

Harness racing is more than a hundred years old and only standard bred horses are used, said Ron Banks, president of Minnesota Harness Racing Association.

“It’s always nice to race here. We bring in a decent crowd,” Banks said.

The purses, which range from $2,300 to $5,000, are generated by Canterbury racing. A lot of money is made at Canterbury, but their roots are in the county fair, Banks said.

Kasandra McCabe, 14, is the daughter of a Fair Board member and has been working at the fair for six years.

“Harness racing is so exciting. It’s so intense when you see the horses running at full speed,” McCabe said.

Paul and Sandy Wytaske brought their 6-year-old grandson, Eli, to watch the races for the first time.

“It’s a good place to go, especially to bring the kids,” Paul Wytaske said. “With gas prices the way they are, it’s nice to go somewhere close to home.”

What makes it especially fun for the audience is choosing the winner. Participants are given a program and slips of paper to pick the winner, then they place their slips in a bucket. If they win and their ticket is chosen, they win a cash prize or a door prize.

Pat Mears was one of the lucky winners of the cash prize, but he isn’t a seasoned gambler.

“I just pick from the colors and the names. I really just like to watch the horses,” Mears said.

The fair will go onto Sunday with plenty of excitement left, including a growing favorite, the demolition derby.

“The demo is my favorite, like bumper cars without the protection,” McCabe said.

The harness races will continue to be a staple of the fair for many years to come, Gorman said.

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