from The Dan Patch Project

One hundred and nine years after setting a world’s record at the Minnesota State Fair, the great Standardbred Pacer is getting ready to stage a comeback thanks to a grassroots effort by a group of area horsemen.

The Dan Patch Project t-shirts.

The group formed the non-profit fundraising organization, The Dan Patch Project. Together with renowned equine sculpture Alexa King, they have committed to fund and install a bronze sculpture of the horse at the Minnesota State Fair’s west-end transit hub in time for the 110-year anniversary of his record. The sculpture will be placed on the spot where the race horse barns stood while Dan Patch was racing. Dan will be facing the finish line where he set his world record.

The sculpture will feature Dan Patch with his driver and race bike pacing over a bronze track. In warm months, water will flow over the track and past the figure, creating the illusion of movement.

A secondary smaller installation celebrating the kinship between Dan Patch and his owner, M.W. Savage, will be installed in front of the public library in Savage, Minnesota.

The Dan Patch Project is a fiscally sponsored project of Springboard for the Arts.

T-shirts and replicas of Dan Patch’s shoe may be purchased at the group’s website. Replicas of one of the great horse’s shoes, which was scanned from an original lent to the group by John and Pamela Messner of Oxford, Indiana, can be engraved and installed in either the State Fair or Savage locations, or simply purchased as souvenirs.

Tax deductible donations can also be made through the website, http://danpatchproject.org/

For more information go to the website or contact the group at danpatchproject@gmail.com