Trenton, NJ — When he was a youngster growing up in Sullivan, Ill., Marcus Detweiler would sometimes hitch ponies to a cart and go for a spin.
“I would take a type of miniature jog cart out and just went for a pleasure ride,” Detweiler said. “I wasn’t exactly trying to go anywhere.”
Little did Marcus realize it, but those rides were foreshadowing a career that is getting him somewhere.
Flash forward to the present and Detweiler is making his mark as a driver on the Illinois fair scene. After getting his qualifying/fair and training licenses this year, Detweiler has driven in 42 races, posting nine wins, nine seconds, eight thirds and $17,937 in purses.
Three weeks shy of turning 19, he has a stable in Charleston, Ill., with five horses he owns, trains and races. Detweiler owns two others that his mentor, Kevin Miller, trains; and he drives other horses trained mostly by Miller and Mike Titus.
“I give all the credit to Kevin and what he’s taught me,” Detweiler said. “Coming into his barn the first day I probably asked him 100 questions. I know he was tired of me asking those questions. But it’s made me what I am today. Everything from harnessing a horse to figuring out the best way to drive a horse in a race all comes from him.”
Marcus quickly added, “But not the mistakes. They don’t come from him.”
When he opened his stable in Charleston, Detweiler became friends with Titus.
“He’s now a good friend of mine,” Marcus said. “We’ve been good buddies as long as I’ve been down there. He’s been pretty much a second or third father to me. He took me under his wing and would help me with anything I needed.”
Growing up in Sullivan — the county seat and largest city in Moultrie County with a population just over 4,400 — Detweiler and his dad, Lester, began purchasing broodmares when Marcus was 10.
“That just came over time,” he said. “We got to be good friends with some people that were in the Standardbred business. Me and dad got an itch and bought a broodmare and carried on with a little bit more than just one.”
As he began to attend yearling sales, Marcus met Springfield trainer Rick Schrock, a relation through his dad.
“Going to the yearling sales and always hearing the horses were doing good, and never actually knowing what was going on after the yearling sale, I talked to Rick and that’s how things got started as far as me putting my foot in with harness racing itself,” Detweiler said. “He recommended me to Kevin Miller, and it’s worked out so far.”
Marcus was still in school when he began working for Miller in 2019, so that was basically a summer job.
“I started washing down horses, all the basics,” he said. “Then it went to training horses and going to races with him and it just carried on from there.”
When Detweiler graduated in the spring, he and Lester had a sit-down conversation about the future.
“We wanted to figure out whether this was what I wanted to pursue,” Detweiler said. “We narrowed it down to what it is now, where I have a couple of horses and I can continue working for Kevin.”
Detweiler hit the board for the first time on June 8 at the Macon County Fair in Decatur. Sitting behind Til You Can’t — a horse he started training before handing it off to Miller — Detweiler finished second.
“I couldn’t really figure that filly out and Kevin was able to get her going somewhat again,” Marcus said.
It took 22 more days before Detweiler got his first win, driving Miller’s Bapa’s Ole Fashion to victory at the Schuyler County Fair in Rushville.
“Kevin’s orders were to pretty much trip him out and if he’s got anything left give it as much as you can around the three-quarter pole,” Detweiler said. “It played out that way and then I saw the pace was going decently slow the first half, so I went first up.
“I just kind of played chill until the three-quarter pole. He had a little more in the tank than I thought. I was expecting to finish second or third, but that horse is a little special to me. Kevin was on the verge of being done with him, I took over with him a little bit at my barn, so it was a little extra special.”
It was also a bit surreal winning for the first time.
“Absolutely,” he said. “I had to do a double take to make sure I actually won it because that feeling never hit me before.”
Detweiler felt just as good — maybe even better — on July 22 at the Edgar County Fairgrounds in Paris. He not only had his first two-win day, but one of the winners was Foxman, who he co-owns and Miller trains.
“That’s a pretty special horse to me,” Detweiler said. “To be able to own him and also sit behind him as many times as I had, and to eventually win with him is quite special.”
Marcus has been fairly consistent over the summer, never going into a prolonged slump where wins or finishing in the money are concerned. His next step is to gain a Provisional license in the fall and be able to race at Hawthorne when it opens.
He says he is doing “a decent amount” of training and the main goal was to own and drive his own horses.
“I’ve gotten a few more opportunities with Kevin as well, but catch driving isn’t actually my total goal,” he said. “It’d be pretty cool, but I don’t really see that happening any time soon. I’m just kind of getting my name out there. People somewhat know who I am from working for Kevin but as far as my own barn and my own driving, I’m still getting my name out there.
“Obviously there’s always more steps you can take. But I’m very content with where I’m at right now.”
Detweiler’s dad still stops by to help on occasion, but Marcus focuses on the horses and Lester owns a grocery store.
“It was pretty much a father-son bonding type thing that turned into a hobby, but a business as well, “Detweiler said. “I absolutely love it. I don’t know what I would be doing if I wasn’t doing this, but it wouldn’t be as fun as what it is now.”