by Mike Paradise for the Illinois Harness Horsemen’s Association.

Springfield, IL — The Springfield State Fair got under way Friday afternoon and for most of the Chicago circuit horsemen who made the drive down to compete it’s been an opportunity to get away and enjoy a complete change in scenery and atmosphere

However for young driver Marcus Miller, it meant returning to a very familiar setting . . . because Marcus is back home.

“Springfield is my home and this is the track where it all began for me. It’s where I began jogging horses and began learning to be a driver,” said the 20-year-old son of trainer Erv Miller. “We moved to Springfield when I was a little boy so I’ve been coming to the State Fair here all my life. Of course early on it wasn’t just the horses. It was the rides, the food, and all the other activities that go on.”

This is Marcus’ first full year of catch driving on the Chicago circuit and he has shown he belongs and has a bright future ahead. The young man has surpassed 900 drives for this year and Friday nailed down his 120th winner of the season. Horses Marcus has driven are closing in on the $700,000 mark in purse earnings . . . and most of the Illinois stake season is still on the horizon, starting with the Springfield State Fair.

Marcus had five drives on Friday’s opening Springfield card, all 2-year-old elimination races. He posted victories with Showmeyourstuff (1:59.1) in a male trotting colt elim and with his dad’s recent Mini Me stake champion Power Of The Moment (1:52.1) in the second freshman pace elimination and also had a pair of second place horses.

Marcus also made the juvenile filly pace final with Lyfslykaboxachoclt, and with Ima Bonasera in the first male colt elim. All four will compete in their respective $50,000 championships next week.

“Iam Bonasera is green. He only had two starts (both wins) heading into Springfield but he’s a good size horse with potential. He has shown quick speed and he could turn out to be a nice horse. His brother was Enzo The Baker and he was a champion (Springfield and the Orange ands Blue Final) colt last year.”

“There a big difference between Springfield’s mile oval and Balmoral’s,” added Marcus. “Most horses race better at Springfield but so don’t. Springfield’s track is all clay while Balmoral is mostly limestone with some clay added for the summer. Also down here the track is more of an oval than Balmoral’s so it doesn’t have as long of a stretch. It also doesn’t have an open stretch. You’ve got to drive your horse differently here than you would at Balmoral.”