Wieners become winners at Old World Village

Bronco, left, and Tino race neck and neck. Chris Preusse | Lariat

The two-year-old, 10-pound Benny bounded his way across rain-soaked stone to victory at the Inge Invitational, the latest event in the Old World Wiener Nationals.

The doubleheader event consisted of two separate tournaments of 16 unique four-legged racers, each competing in a series of head-to-head races along adjacent 50-foot tracks.

A dog was eliminated after two losses, gradually narrowing the competition until a winner emerged.

This format is uniform across all Old World Wiener Nationals events which start in March of each year, occurring monthly, then every other month beginning in September. The title of Sunday’s event, the Inge Invitational, was an homage to Inge Mckellop, the event’s founder and owner of the village’s Wiener Dog Store.

It’s been nearly 40 years since Mckellop began the tradition as a part of the Old World Village’s Oktoberfest festivities. Since then, the wiener dog races have become both a key attraction for the shopping center and a cornerstone of the community as a whole. Despite the longevity of the tradition, Sunday’s races saw the event crew having to navigate a seldom-seen challenge.

“It was the first time in 11 years we raced the dogs in rain,” said event organizer Jessica Reese.

However, a well-prepared team and a thorough array of pop-up canopies allowed the races to proceed smoothly, allaying worries of cancellation expressed by commenters on social media in the days prior. In fact, the added environmental factor brought unique challenges that made this particular contest special.

“Some dogs did not want to even move, other dogs did not care. That’s what made today’s event so interesting,” said Reese.

Conscious of the weather’s potential threat to performance, owners made sure their dachshunds were ready for what was to come. In the hour before the races began, each team had their dachshund practice running the track about three times on average. For many of the owners, however, this was not the only time they had spent practicing.

“We trained last night in our apartment,” said Diego Ortiz, who co-owns the 1-year-old, 20-pound mini dachshund, Zorro, with his partner Allison, “we simulated his little vents, and then we would justice them open it up, and then just have him run.”

Although it was their first time, Diego and Allison believed Zorro had what it took to win.

“[Allison’s] mom was a competitive softball player in college, so hopefully he gets some of that spirit,” said Diego.

When it came time to race, Zorro proved that he might just have inherited some sportiness, triumphing over his first opponent. Although he wouldn’t make it to the end, Allison and Diego suggest that Zorro still walked away feeling like a winner. According to them, his favorite part was getting to see and meet all the other dachshunds.

One of these new friends was fellow mini dachshund Carlos, owned by Kevin and Jayline Prado. Carlos is one of the Old World Wiener Nationals’ regular racers, competing in three separate tournaments last year, even earning himself a victory in one of them.

Carlos made a fierce bid for a second victory. After a double win streak and a photo finish against Treasure, Carlos placed fourth overall. Still, this did not discourage the Prados a bit.

“He’ll be back in two weeks,” said Jayline as they left, in reference to the Princess Theresa Trot on Sept. 27 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Winning dog Benny and runner-up Belilo will both have the opportunity to participate in the Old World National Championship on Nov. 15 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., where 10 of the tournament winners from throughout the year will compete to be the year’s champion.

Comments

comments