The Walla Walla Track Record Falls
During a massive fair week gathering, spectators witnessed the local track record shattered as horses competed for a $500 purse.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Two thousand people were at the race track this afternoon witnessing some of the finest racing ever pulled off on a Walla Walla track. Mack Mack, in the 2:14 trot for a purse of $500, won in three straight heats, setting the track record at 2:13 in the first heat. The horses scored repeatedly in the first heat before they got away with Mack Mack in the lead. Mack Mack pulled away from the bunch at the half post and came under the wire 20 feet in advance of The Commonwealth. In the second, Mack Mack shot to the front from the start. The third was a repetition of the first as far as Mack Mack was concerned. It was evident that the new track is much faster than horsemen supposed.
“Two thousand people are out at the race track this afternoon witnessing some of the finest racing ever pulled off on a Walla Walla track.”
The Walla Walla Fairgrounds remains a historic site, and the excitement surrounding these 1903 races reflects the intense community investment in local sporting spectacles that defined turn-of-the-century Washington life.
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