Urbana, IL — Wyatt Avenatti tallied nine wins Tuesday evening (July 23) at the 171st Champaign County Fair in Urbana, making for what is believed to be an all-time record for a Standardbred driver at an Illinois county fair in the modern era.
With nine wins from 10 drives on the non-betting card, Avenatti scored six victories in Illini Colt Stakes action and three in Illinois Topline events. His tenth and final mount, Lous Interceptor, was third in a division of the Illinois Harness Horsemen’s Association race for trotters.
Avenatti, 28, won with Shady Maple Becker, Fox Valley Nautica, Vel Cinderella, Fifty Dollar Note, Great Seats, Big Flicka, Fox Valley Reeva, I Understand, and Truly A Winner.
Illinois racing historians, as well as officials with the Illinois Department of Agriculture, could not immediately recall a program on which a driver scored an equal or greater number of victories since the Illinois fair circuit went from two-heat races to single dashes in 1997.