Zappa Wins Inaugural Pine Bluffs Corgi Derby [VIDEO]
Meet the fastest corgi in the Cowboy State. Zappa defeated 25 other corgis to win the inaugural Pine Bluffs Derby on Saturday.
The event at Pine Bluffs Distilling drew several hundred spectators, many of whom drove for hours to see the corgis run. Zappa was part of a contingent of corgis from Lander, including his own mother, who he outran in the opening heat.
Zappa's owner Is Lannie Hamilton is a veterinarian in Lander who trained the six-year-old corgi to run with dog biscuits. Now, whenever he hears the word "biscuit", Zappa takes off.
A fast start helped Zappa hold off the second place corgi Radar, who nearly came from behind to win the race. Radar's owner Rich Ratliff from Cheyenne said his dog spent the last month training for the event. Although he came up just short, Ratliff claims Radar will be back next year.
"Radar stumbled out of the gate, then came on strong," Ratliff said. "We'll work on getting off to a faster start next year and, hopefully, we can bring the trophy back home to Cheyenne."
26 corgis competed in the Pine Bluffs Derby. The dogs were separated into five heats, with the winning corgi advancing to the final round.