A fact from Potato race appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 3 June 2018 (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:
Did you know... that the early 20th-century American rodeo event of mounted potato racing could become violent, with biting being almost the only tactic that was prohibited?
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Sports, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of sport-related topics on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.SportsWikipedia:WikiProject SportsTemplate:WikiProject Sportssports articles
Assess : newly added and existing articles, maybe nominate some good B-class articles for GA; independently assess some as A-class, regardless of GA status.
Cleanup : * Sport governing body (this should-be-major article is in a shameful state) * Field hockey (History section needs sources and accurate information - very vague at the moment.) * Standardize Category:American college sports infobox templates to use same font size and spacing. * Sport in the United Kingdom - the Popularity section is incorrect and unsourced. Reliable data is required.
* Fix project template and/or "to do list" Current version causes tables of content to be hidden unless/until reader chooses "show."
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Equine, a collaborative effort to improve Wikipedia's coverage of articles relating to horses, asses, zebras, hybrids, equine health, equine sports, etc. Please visit the project page for details or ask questions at the barn.EquineWikipedia:WikiProject EquineTemplate:WikiProject Equineequine articles
This article is within the scope of WikiProject United States, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of topics relating to the United States of America on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the ongoing discussions.
It is not made clear in the artcle where these races originated or take place. An info?Djflem (talk) 06:12, 22 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]
I don't think there are any sources that explicitly said it was an American thing, although that was the assumption I made. I never found anything about where they were invented specifically. I can have another look through tomorrow though. ♠PMC♠ (talk) 07:20, 22 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Djflem, having reviewed the sources and searching through them again, I didn't find any that said explicitly where or when these races were invented. Going by the sources on Newspapers.com, the earliest mention I can find that isn't talking about potatoes as a species is actually in Scotland in 1865, and then one from Australia in 1868. They're only lists of winners and don't go into detail, but from the context of the other events listed around them, I assume they are foot races, not the mounted version, so possibly the footrace version was a British export.
An article from Buffalo in 1871 is the first to explicitly describe what the potato race consists of; by the description it's clearly the on-foot version. Later in 1871 in Pennsylvania there's a mention of a potato race smack in the middle of a list of equestrian events, so I assume that's the horse version but can't say for sure. Most reports I've found of the horse version mention cowboys, rodeo, or some location in America, but there's none that explicitly identify it as an American invention.
They petered out by the 1930s, which I've now added to the article. ♠PMC♠ (talk) 00:45, 23 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]
"although the violent mounted version has largely died out." Largely. So the violent ones are still being held somewhere?
Not really seeing any other problems, which means a re-read later today when more awake might be in order. Courcelles (talk) 13:26, 16 August 2018 (UTC)[reply]
"Largely" was kind of a weasel way for me to admit I'm making an assumption/reading between the lines a bit. I don't have any sources that definitely describe one of these events happening post like, 1940ish, but I also don't have any sources that say they're dead for sure. I don't mind to take it out. ♠PMC♠ (talk) 21:29, 16 August 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Sqdly, likely for the best to just not make the (logical) assumption here. Courcelles (talk) 06:06, 17 August 2018 (UTC)[reply]
I pulled out "largely" but left the rest; I feel like if they were still happening anywhere in some kind of organized fashion, I'd have found a source past 1930. I was very, very thorough. ♠PMC♠ (talk) 06:38, 17 August 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Agreed, and promoted. Nice work on a subject few have heard of before Courcelles (talk) 09:28, 17 August 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Courcelles, a bit belated but thanks for the review! ♠PMC♠ (talk) 21:47, 19 August 2018 (UTC)[reply]
