Improved Pig Races

Our friend The Oldtimer writes from the wilds of Spokane to share a story from that city's Spokesman-Review.

[Leave it to The OT to read the Spokesman-Review. No Post-Intelligencer, Times-Democrat, or even a Courant. Nope: The Spokane Spokesman-Review. But I digress.]

It is the season of county fairs, and if one were to perform a Google news search for "improved pig races," one would be able to click through to the story (past the pay-to-play firewall), where the Spokane Spokesman-Review observes:

Sunny skies and good musical acts helped push attendance at this year's Spokane Interstate Fair above 200,000 for the first time since 2003, a 13 percent increase over last year's total.

[snip]

A new logging show, as well as improved pig races and some rearrangement of exhibits also helped to bring in more visitors . . . .

We have no doubt that rearranged exhibits just might tweak attendance. Logging shows would draw a certain demographic. Which leaves us with the vaguely disquieting feeling that many of those extra 24,000 visitors came for the "improved pig races."

The Spokane Spokesman-Review (we do love saying that) includes no explanation, perhaps protecting trade secrets from those bastard outsiders from Yakima. This void leaves The Oldtimer to speculate:

I don't know whether Washington allows parimutuel betting on pig races. If it does, that might explain why improved pig races boosted fair attendance. On the other hand, since this is a fair, the reference might actually be to some sort of weird genetic efforts create a pig master race.

Yes. Yes, indeed: Parimutuel wagering; a pig master race. It's all very clear now.