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Dax became the first two-time winner of the annual Sly Fox Bock Fest Goat Race on Sunday, May 2 at the relocated Sly Fox Brewhouse & Eatery in Phoenixville's Maple Lawn Shopping Center in front of a record crowd. By repeating his 2009 winning run, Dax, owned by Tana Goodshall and raced by Karl Lorah, goes into Sly Fox history as the last winner at the pub's old location and the first at the new one.
The Bock Festival is held on the first Sunday of May every year and the Sly Fox Maibock, released that day and tapped at the end of the championship heat, is named in honor of the winning entry. In addition to that honor and a personal Gold Medal, the winning goat earns his owner a $75 gift card good at both Sly Fox locations, Sly Fox Brewhouse & Eatery in Phoenixville and Sly Fox Brewery and Restaurant in Royersford.
Lorah says his goat is a pure runner, totally untrained, as is his stablemate, Huxley, who finished third, and that Dax would be back in 2011 to try for a three-peat. "We are bringing the title back to Berks County, and we'd like to thank everyone at Sly Fox," he told the Pottstown Mercury. "There was no training for this. They are free range goats. I'd get up behind them to spook them and it doesn't faze them. They are very friendly and very casual. We have to thank Chestmont Disposal and Western Berks Landfill for feeding them."
Dax's closest competitor was Raul, who also trailed him in 2009, tying for second place that year.
This was the largest Bock Festival ever as attendees consumed 76 kegs worth of beer, almost 20% more than the prior busiest year in 2008 and 1.5 times the volume done last year in the rain. Crowd estimates ranged from 2,500 - 3,000 to an exuberant 5,000 by Sly Fox Brewhouse founder Pete Giannopoulos.
Perhaps as impressive as Dax's performance was the fact that Sly Fox managed to put together the complex event and races in little over a week after opening at the new location. "The brewery's not even fully hooked up yet," laughed brewmaster Brian O'Reilly, "and we're still figuring out where to put things, but there was no way we were not going to hold the festival and run the goats."
