Swift swines run rings at fair

Does he grow pinker when he’s angry, or gain super-pig strength?

Who knows — but one thing’s for certain, and that is that The Incredible Pork, a racing pig at the Orange County Fair, was the swiftest swine Friday afternoon.

The Incredible Pork emerged victorious after racing through two heats of four little pigs during one of the fair’s daily pig races. The little pink porkers are set behind gates, released at the same time — think of horse racing — and scurry around a half circle of hay, wood chips and hurdles in seconds to a trough of food waiting at the finish line.

Some, however, don’t want to make the effort to run all that way and instead walk out of the gate, then meander around the hay, sniffing and snorting for things to eat.

As Shawn Williams, a fairgoer from Long Beach explained, “It’s just good family fun.”

Yes, the pig races in all their snorting glory have become a cherished tradition at the fair, enough for some to come solely to see the little guys race around the track with their ears flopping and curly tails bouncing.

“It’s just something about the pigs. We get to see them when they’re [grown] near the front with their little piglets, then we come over here and see them race,” said Wendy Jeffries, who brought her daughters, 4-year-old Summer and 8-year-old Nikki, to watch the races. “It’s a tradition. We always go every year to see the pig races.”

Carl Hassel from Los Angeles, visiting the fair with his family, was a little disappointed. He picked a little pig named UConn to win it all; instead, it ended up being the wanderer searching for food early in the race.

“He never made it out of the gate too well,” Hassel said, chuckling.

The All-Alaskan Pig Races, named “All-Alaskan” because the races originated in Alaska, not the pigs, run daily through the rest of the fair.

For more photos, click here.

THINGS TO DO

ALAN JACKSON

Alan Jackson and the Zac Brown Band will perform at 7 p.m. at The Pacific Amphitheatre. Tickets are available at all Ticketmaster outlets, online at ticketmaster.com, by phone at (714) 740-2000 and at the box office.

SADDLE UP!

At 10 a.m. Saturday, the fair will present the OC Fair Cattle Drive, when 300 steer will be driven through the streets of Costa Mesa. Beginning at Fairview Park, the Cattle Drive will proceed south on Placentia Avenue, east on Victoria Street, north on Harbor Boulevard and east on Fair Drive before entering the fair through Gate 2 at Vanguard Way.

WOODWORKING

The Orange County Woodworking Assn. will give live demonstrations on fretwork, carving, turning in other hands-on demonstrations until 9 p.m. in the Centennial Farm.

JOSEPH SERNA may be reached at (714) 966-4619 or at [email protected].