Dan Patch, King of Pacers
Dan Patch was a world-famous harness race horse who lived here until 1916. He was purchased and brought to Minnesota by Colonel Marion Willis Savage, who lived in Bloomington at the site of the present-day Masonic Lodge on the bluffs overlooking the Minnesota River. Colonel Savage purchased 700 acres of property on the south side of the river as the home of his "Taj Mahal" stables, which consisted of several barns and two tracks.
Dan Patch was foaled in Oxford, Indiana, but was sold to Colonel Savage for the price of $60,000 (about $1.2 million in today's dollars). Colonel Savage moved him to Minnesota, and the horse was so famous, that people flocked from miles away to come see him. He garnered so much publicity that Colonel Savage built a train line that ran from downtown Minneapolis all the way down here to this location. Dan Patch had his image on everything: cigars, washing machines, children's toys, stoves and farm implements. He was the most famous athlete of his time. In fact, there was so much mail sent to Dan Patch through his owner to his stables in Hamilton that the railroad ended up renaming the town from "Hamilton" to "Savage."
Dan Patch only lost two heats and never lost a race. He was so good, in fact, that other horse owners would refuse to run against him, leaving Dan Patch to run against the clock.
In fact, one year in the early 1900s, Dan Patch ran against the clock at the Minnesota State Fair. A crowd of 93,000 was on hand to watch him attempt to break the record, which is a record attendance for any Minnesota sporting event to this day. On that date, Dan Patch set a record of 1:55 for his one mile run. However, because of the use of a prompter with a windshield, a rule that had only very recently been changed, the record run was not officially recognized. Colonel Savage was so mad that he renamed his "International Stock Food Farm" as "International 1:55 Stock Food Farm." The 1:55 record was not broken until 1960.
Dan Patch was the Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretsky, and Babe Ruth of his time. He regularly won purses of $10,000 to $20,000 in races, and he would bring in as much as $21,000 in public appearances. He had a huge impact on people in public appearances. A young boy named Dwight Eisenhower saw him race at the Kansas State Fair, and another young boy, Harry Truman, wrote him fan letters.
Dan Patch died on July 11, 1916. His owner, Colonel Savage, was so heart broken by the loss of the horse, that he died only 32 hours later.
Dan Patch is buried somewhere on the stable grounds in an unmarked grave. The stables and the race track are long gone, but the legend of Dan Patch will never be forgotten. Streets are named for Dan Patch in both Savage and at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds. The stadium for Prior Lake High School is named for him. A 1949 motion picture "The Great Dan Patch" was made about him. There's even a mention of him in the song "Ya Got Trouble" from the musical "The Music Man."
Dan Patch may be gone, but he's definitely not forgotten!
You can solve this puzzle by doing the following:
A = The year of the infamous Minnesota State Fair race (190x)
B = The day of the infamous Minnesota State Fair race
C = The month of Dan Patch's birth
D = Price for a hair out of Dan Patch's tail
E = The month of the infamous Minnesota State Fair race
F = The year that Dan Patch was purchased by Colonel Savage (190x)
The cache is at N 44 46.ABC W 093 20.DEF.
You can validate your puzzle solution with certitude.