from the USTA Communications Department

Columbus, OH — A Peoria, Ill. harness racing fan is to be honored at this year’s Illinois State Fair.

The Illinois Department of Agriculture announced Tuesday that 69-year-old Ralph Gauwitz, Jr. would be given a plaque to commemorate his more than 50 years of support of harness racing in the state. Gauwitz attended harness racing events at the Peoria fair when he was 12 years old.

Gauwitz eventually became a breeder and horse owner. He travels to fairs and breeding farms in Illinois and has been a regular for decades at harness races at the Illinois State Fair and Du Quoin State Fair.

Charlyn Fargo, the state Agriculture Department’s bureau chief of County Fair and Horse Racing, says racing fans have seen Gauwitz “at the races for decades.”