Du Quoin, IL — Tuesday (Aug. 27) is Championship Day at the Du Quoin State Fair, and the number of Illinois-bred horses to be crowned is certainly plentiful. A total of 15 pacers or trotters will come away with the status as a title holder in their respective divisions.
The reason for the abundance of championships is that most of the added-money events were split into two divisions, and all four 2-year-old races will have two or three trailers in each, making them 11- or 12-horse fields.
After today’s championships are concluded, some interesting questions will be answered, such as:
- With several inexperienced 2-year-old olds starting behind some horses for the first time, will any of their races be affected and to what degree?
- Will Gorgeous Big Guy (Marcus Miller) extend his winning streak to 13 in a row? The 3-year-old Erv Miller trainee has never lost a race to an Illinois-bred pacer.
- Can Curt Grummel’s Whiskey Lou stay perfect in her sophomore season? The Lou’s Legacy filly is seven-for-seven in 2024 and gets a rare inside post today for driver Casey Leonard.
- Will the 2-year-old gelding Cash Money Twenty (Casey Leonard) follow his dazzling seven-length win in his Illinois debut with another 1:51-and-change clocking in a division of the Director’s Cup?
- Unbeaten in six starts this season on a mile track, can the Flacco Family Farms’ reigning division champ Lous Private Eye keep that achievement intact despite leaving from the middle of his field with five trotters starting inside of him and another five going out to his right?
- Is the Jamaica Patton-trained Hypeyourbestieup (Travis Seekman) sharp enough to prevail for the fourth consecutive time moving further outside with the seven-hole in her 3-year-old division of the Time Dancer?
- Can the Husted Stable’s Fox Valley Sadie overcome a start in the second tier, avoiding possible traffic problems, and follow her nine-length romp at Springfield with her 10th win in 17 lifetime starts? In her last Illinois start, she dominated with a career fastest 1:51.1 clocking from post two.
- Will three-time Illinois Harness Horse of the Year Fox Valley Gemini, with 63 lifetime victories and more than $760,000 in purse earnings, go off as the longest shot in the older male pacing showdown as predicted in the morning line? He’s listed at 15-1.
Repeat winners: Marvelous Mystery (Marcus Miller) and Niko Man (John DeLong) followed their Springfield victories in the ICF older trotting divisions with triumphs in the same divisions at the Du Quoin State Fair.
The 4-year-old mare Marvelous Mystery followed her Curt Grummel stablemate Funky Wiggle through three consecutive :28 quarters and overtook the 2022 Illinois Horse of the year in the late going of the 1:52.3 mile.
Niko Man found racing room at the top of the late and breezed to a four-length triumph in 1:55.1 for trainer Ken Rucker in the male division. Lousraptor (Chris Brown) trotted a big effort to be second best.