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Local artist ponies up for piece of LV history

After other retired mechanical ponies finish their stories about the many happy children who rode them outside supermarkets, Alonzo will awe them with tales of being ridden hard and put away wet, Las Vegas-style.

For a dozen years, Alonzo the mechanical pony was the center of attention at the Double Down Saloon at 4640 Paradise Road, where the faux bucking bronco provided a moving stage for female customers with a desire to show their skills. Clothing was sometimes optional.

On Thursday, Alonzo was put out to pasture, auctioned at the Double Down for $2,000 to benefit First Friday events in the Downtown Arts District.

"It's got to stay in Vegas. It's a piece of history," said Mark Zeilman, a local artist who topped an online bidder in England. "If there is a God, there will be more Las Vegas strippers riding him."

Zeilman said he had no immediate plans for Alonzo and would probably find a way to make the artifact a part of First Friday.

"We put it in the middle of the room and it was an attraction for years," said P Moss, owner of the notoriously raunchy Las Vegas rock 'n' roll bar. "We even had competitions. These events were legendary. It's a legitimate piece of Las Vegas folklore."

Moss said people "came out of the woodwork" to ride Alonzo one last time when he announced the pony would be auctioned. Alonzo went to New York when Moss opened a second Double Down there five years ago, and was shipped back two weeks ago specifically for the auction.

Alonzo was purchased for about $300 from a cowboy-type at the Mountain Springs Saloon who had the ride in the back of his pickup, Moss said.

"I looked at it and said, 'I want that,' " Moss said. "I'm known as the P.T. Barnum of Paradise Road."

Cindy Funkhouser, a First Friday founder, said the Double Down has been a great supporter of the event. It costs $10,000 to $15,000 to hold First Friday, which draws about 6,000 people to the Downtown Arts District, she said.

"Dirt and Diamonds," a montage of a Double Down scene by photographer Shane O'Neal, went for $220 at the auction, and a meeting with Mayor Oscar Goodman was sold for $75. More than $2,500 was raised at the auction, Moss said.

Auction organizer Jimmy Foster said he contacted nightclub owners from Light Group and Wynn Las Vegas, hoping to spark interest in bidding and to keep Alonzo on the circuit. None of them attended.

"The nightlife community did not support the auction as well as I (had) hoped," Foster said. "I did have people from the Artisan (hotel) on the phone line with me as they were considering it. But when it came down to it, they did not offer up a bid."

Contact reporter Hubble Smith at hsmith@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0491.

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