Camel, Buffalo, Zebu and Llama Race in Bowie

Walk a Mile

February 25, 1972 (42 years ago today): The Noah's Ark Animal Race was held at the Bowie Race Track, featuring a camel, buffalo, llama and a zebu (a single-humped cow from Asia).

Two camels were scheduled to race, but one of the camels died at the race track after traveling to Bowie from Missouri.

Walk A Mile, Llama Fleece and One Large Hump

The second camel had to be muzzled for the race after it injured a track worker earlier in the week.  The camel became aggressive in the starting gate during a practice run.  It bit the arm of Michael Pearson, an "exercise boy" at the track, and then shook Pearson's arm violently.  Pearson suffered a broken arm, and he required surgery for his injuries.

One Large Hump (the zebu) won the race, followed by Llama Fleece (the llama), and Walk A Mile (the camel) came in third.  Home on the Range (the buffalo) "wallowed in the mud," according to The Baltimore Sun, and it didn't finish the race.

Walk A Mile (the camel) was favored to win after easily winning two heats earlier in the week.  Walk A Mile, however, was forced to wear a muzzle during the last race after breaking Pearson's arm, and jockey Charley Cooke speculated that the muzzle caused the loss.

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