{"id":798110,"date":"2019-07-30T20:09:16","date_gmt":"2019-07-31T02:09:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/?p=369320"},"modified":"2019-07-30T20:09:16","modified_gmt":"2019-07-31T02:09:16","slug":"mini-burro-makes-history-by-winning-sundays-historic-world-championship-pack-burro-race-in-fairplay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/local-news\/mini-burro-makes-history-by-winning-sundays-historic-world-championship-pack-burro-race-in-fairplay\/","title":{"rendered":"Mini burro makes history by winning Sunday\u2019s historic World Championship Pack Burro Race in Fairplay"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery p402_hide\" readability=\"6.7461645746165\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-369320-707\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/FairplayBurro-SDN-073119-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/FairplayBurro-SDN-073119-1024x679.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Julie Bullock \/ Special to The Daily | Marvin Sandoval and his miniature burro Buttercup race down Fairplay's Front Street during Sunday's 71st annual Fairplay Burro Days World Championship race, which Sandoval won in his first try. With the win, Buttercup became the first miniature donkey to win the race.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"0.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"12\">\n<p><strong>Marvin Sandoval and his miniature burro Buttercup race down Fairplay&#8217;s Front Street during Sunday&#8217;s 71st annual Fairplay Burro Days World Championship race, which Sandoval won in his first try. With the win, Buttercup became the first miniature donkey to win the race.<\/strong><br \/>Julie Bullock \/ Special to The Daily<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/FairplayBurro-SDN-073119-1024x679.jpg\" alt=\"Marvin Sandoval and his miniature burro Buttercup race down Fairplay's Front Street during Sunday's 71st annual Fairplay Burro Days World Championship race, which Sandoval won in his first try. With the win, Buttercup became the first miniature donkey to win the race.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/FairplayBurro-SDN-073119-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/FairplayBurro-SDN-073119-1-1024x678.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Julie Bullock \/ Special to The Daily | Bryan Shane, of Fairplay, runs with his burro, Margarita, on the town's Front Street during Sunday's 71st annual Fairplay Burro Days World Championship Pack Burro Race.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"1\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"13\">\n<p><strong>Bryan Shane, of Fairplay, runs with his burro, Margarita, on the town&#8217;s Front Street during Sunday&#8217;s 71st annual Fairplay Burro Days World Championship Pack Burro Race.<\/strong><br \/>Julie Bullock \/ Special to The Daily<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/FairplayBurro-SDN-073119-1-1024x678.jpg\" alt=\"Bryan Shane, of Fairplay, runs with his burro, Margarita, on the town's Front Street during Sunday's 71st annual Fairplay Burro Days World Championship Pack Burro Race.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/FairplayBurro-SDN-073119-2-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/FairplayBurro-SDN-073119-2-1024x678.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Julie Bullock \/ Special to The Daily | Racers and their burros barrel down Front Street at the start of Sunday's 71st annual Fairplay Burro Days World Championship Pack Burro Race.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>Racers and their burros barrel down Front Street at the start of Sunday&#8217;s 71st annual Fairplay Burro Days World Championship Pack Burro Race.<\/strong><br \/>Julie Bullock \/ Special to The Daily<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/FairplayBurro-SDN-073119-2-1024x678.jpg\" alt=\"Racers and their burros barrel down Front Street at the start of Sunday's 71st annual Fairplay Burro Days World Championship Pack Burro Race.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/mini-burro-makes-history-by-winning-sundays-historic-world-championship-pack-burro-race-in-fairplay\/?#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/mini-burro-makes-history-by-winning-sundays-historic-world-championship-pack-burro-race-in-fairplay\/?#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>FAIRPLAY \u2014 In a year when 12-foot-high snow drifts prevented Fairplay\u2019s World Championship Pack Burro Race from reaching the 13,185-foot summit of Mosquito Pass for the first time, it was a 33-inch tall miniature donkey who was up to the challenge on rugged Rocky Mountain terrain.<\/p>\n<p>Leadville ultra runner Marvin Sandoval \u2014 all 5 foot, 3 inches and 140 pounds of him \u2014 paired with 3 1\/2-year-old Buttercup to capture victory at the 2019 Fairplay Burro Days World Championship on Sunday. In Sandoval and Buttercup\u2019s first world championship race, the duo completed the altered 26.4-mile course in a time of 4 hours, 58 minutes and 7 seconds \u2014 5 seconds ahead of runner-up Bob Sweeney and his (much larger) burro Yukon (4:58:12).<\/p>\n<p>Despite her diminutive stature \u2014 small even for a miniature donkey, which is classified as 40 inches or smaller in burro racing \u2014 Buttercup led Sandoval to the finish line after he employed a racing strategy in which he saved as much of her energy as he could until the home stretch. Once they crossed the finish line on Fairplay\u2019s Front Street, Buttercup became the first miniature donkey to win the Fairplay race, an event historically dominated by standard- and mammoth-size donkeys in its 71-year history.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think she was the one who wanted to win,\u201d Sandoval said. \u201cShe\u2019s tiny compared to the donkeys that she\u2019s racing against. She\u2019s a mini mini.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Months ago, Sandoval would have found it far fetched that he would win the world championship race, let alone with Buttercup. The experienced ultra runner \u2014 who won the Leadville Race Series\u2019 Leadman trail run and mountain bike challenge in 2015 \u2014 only came across Buttercup serendipitously several months ago while down in New Mexico, just a few months after he first got into burro racing. At the time, Sandoval and his wife scoured Craigslist for miniature donkeys for their daughter and came across some for sale in New Mexico. But when the final purchase of the miniature donkeys didn\u2019t work out as planned, the family stopped at a roadside burger joint for one last meal in New Mexico before heading home.<\/p>\n<p>Glancing at Craigslist again, Sandoval saw three miniature donkeys for sale 20 miles away. One of those donkeys was Buttercup, who Sandoval decided to run with just two days before the June 8 Creede Donkey Dash.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd when we showed up, Buttercup walked right up to me, and I was sold,\u201d Sandoval said. \u201cJust a little cutie, a sweetie pie \u2014 you wouldn\u2019t think she\u2019s a determined racer if you just met her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After Buttercup earned her racing legs in Creede, the pair taking third place at that race, Sandoval decided to stick with her for the Fairplay world title race instead of racing her sister Snickers, a donkey Sandoval thinks is faster but who he\u2019s never really been able to run with due to a lingering injury.<\/p>\n<p>Practicing on county roads near his home in Leadville, Sandoval knew he and Buttercup would have a chance. Then once the race started, he saw her competitiveness and her zest to lead the race\u2019s pack early in the race.<\/p>\n<p>It was with two miles left in the race, as they neared town, when Sandoval led Buttercup off course. Race veteran and 2019 fourth-place finisher George Zack yelled ahead to Sandoval helping him return to the course. The yell made Buttercup anxious, though, Sandoval having to settle her saddle on her back before she sprinted as fast as she had all day through the finish line near historic South Park.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI knew that no miniature had ever won because there was even a question by some of if a miniature could do it,\u201d Sandoval said.<\/p>\n<p>Sandoval and Buttercup will race in this weekend\u2019s second leg of the annual burro racing triple crown, the 71st annual Leadville Boom Days Pack Burro Race, a 21-mile race that will reach the top of Mosquito Pass. If they win in Leadville, Sandoval said the duo might also race at the following Sunday\u2019s third leg of the triple crown, the 46th annual Buena Vista Gold Rush Days Pack Burro Race, a 13-mile course.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Long day in Fairplay<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Fairplay local Bryan Shane and his burro, Margarita, were the final racers to cross the finish line Sunday night.<\/p>\n<p>Shortly after 9 p.m. \u2014 10 hours, 52 minutes and 59 seconds after they started the race \u2014 crowds cheered the pair home after seeing the glimmer of Shane\u2019s headlamp from just outside town. Behind a police escort due to the darkness, Shane said Margarita gave it one last inspired go through the home stretch after he thought she wouldn\u2019t budge after pausing for 90 minutes on the outskirts of town.<\/p>\n<p>Shane said he knew about 9 miles into his first long-course race that Margarita wasn\u2019t feeling like racing. So he was elated to see the crowd\u2019s reaction when they opened the gate to Front Street from historic South Park.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy favorite quote for the day is a Mike Tyson quote,\u201d he said, \u201c\u2018Everybody\u2019s got a plan till they get punched in the face.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/mini-burro-makes-history-by-winning-sundays-historic-world-championship-pack-burro-race-in-fairplay\/?\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: Summit Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Marvin Sandoval and his miniature burro Buttercup race down Fairplay&#8217;s Front Street during Sunday&#8217;s 71st annual Fairplay Burro Days World Championship race, which Sandoval won in his first try. With the win, Buttercup became the first miniature donkey to win the race.Julie Bullock \/ Special to The Daily Bryan Shane, of Fairplay, runs with his [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-798110","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-18 14:56:04","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSMT The Mountain","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/798110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=798110"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/798110\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=798110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=798110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=798110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}