Founders' Day Horse Races
Who: Eli Donovan and [OPEN]
Where: Founder's Day Festival; front pasture on the Donovan farm, with a makeshift 'track' set up for the races.
When: Thursday, September 5, 1867; mid-afternoon
Status: Incomplete
Summary: Eli's opened the doors of the stable to the public for a series of horse races, both short and long distance.
Note: Open to spectators AND participants! Feel free to jump in just to watch, ^_^

***

Eli scrubbed his sleeve across his forehead as he surveyed the ring of posts marking off the impromptu racetrack one last time. He hadn't been sure if he could pull this off -- the stables weren't exactly centrally located on the town's main street, after all, where most of the other activities were taking place during the festival. It was entirely likely that he'd gone to all this trouble to set up in one of his front pastures, get the word out amongst the townsfolk, and encourage the locals to bring their own horses to match against his in both short and long distance races -- and no one would show up, because they didn't want to stray from the town square.

He could have set up a route through the streets of the town, probably, but he hadn't wanted to disrupt the festival, if he could help it. Horses at full gallop weren't exactly the safest of animals in close quarters, and even if he'd managed to get the streets cleared for long enough to run the races, he'd have had to deal with possible injuries of onlookers. No, more practical to just set up a track on his own property and open his doors to the public for the day.

Not to mention it might just draw a few new customers, if he was lucky.

Eli scanned the 'track' again critically. He and a couple of the stable hands had spent the past week pinning off a section of the field with a hasty, sturdy low fence, to serve as both pen and spectator seating during the races. The inside ring of posts were less structural than just markers, laying out the course for the race participants. The short distance races would be a single lap around the posts, and the long distance would be five laps -- and since a few of Eli's own horses would be participating in the races, he'd tapped the local preacher to serve as judge, just in case the results were close at the end. He didn't want anyone to have any reason to question his own impartiality when it was all over, and having a man of God declaring the winner seemed the best way to head off any arguments about fairness.

With a squint up at the sun high overhead, Eli figured they probably had just a few more minutes before people started showing for the short races -- provided anyone ventured off the beaten path, that is. He was eager to get things underway, but he he was even more anxious to get himself out to the town square once the races were over. For one thing, he'd be expected to hand out prizes for the races, and for another, he'd promised Lizzie he'd meet her there. Apparently there was to be dancing or some such nonsense, and despite the fact that he was hardly the most graceful of men, he had no intention of leaving her unescorted for the evening.

First he had to get through the races, though. The track was as clearly defined as he could make it, and staring out at the posts wouldn't do him any good. Eli strode down the path toward the stables, intending to check on the horses and see if anyone had arrived to participate in the races yet.