Pigs race for fun, Oreos at DuPage fair

The rainy weather didn’t deter the pigs — nor the people who came out to watch them at the DuPage County Fair on Thursday.

The pigs put on their usual five shows a day, and the bleachers as well as the surrounding area were filled with people to watch the race.

And as for Matt Schopbel, owner of Swine Time Pig Racing, well, pigs are his life.

“I was raised in it,” he said. “My parents bought the company in 1989 and I took over in 2009.”

Taking over includes serving as master of ceremonies. He entertains the crowd with endless pig-themed jokes. He’s even given all the pigs names, such as Sponge-hog Square Pants, Albert Swinestein, Kermit the Hog, Miss Piggy, Lindsey Loham and Pigtailer Swift.

People enjoy the banter, he said.

In each show there are three races with four pigs at a time, then there is a final race among all 12 of them.

Schopbel encourages the crowd to pick a favorite in the big race and cheer for their selection.

Pigs, by the way, are smart, easy to train and people enjoy watching them.

“Training pigs is along the lines of teaching a dog to sit,” Schopbel said. “It’s reward-based.”

The reward in this case is an Oreo cookie. Schopbel puts one at the end of the track before each race as motivation. The pig that wins the race gets the cookie, but Schopbel gives all of them a treat at the end as well.

Pig races will continue throughout the rest of the fair at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 4:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. though Sunday.