DuQuoin, IL — Hot (97 degrees) and humid (80 percent) conditions with a “feels like” temperature of 112 degrees made for an uncomfortable afternoon of harness racing Friday (June 30) at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds for both horses and horsemen alike, nevertheless the sweltering weather didn’t slow down the red-hot driver Cordarius Stewart a bit.
The 29-year-old Stewart widened his lead as the driver colony’s frontrunner with five more first place finishers. “Cash Deposit,” as he’s known by many his fellow horseman, is winning at a sizzling 33 per clip thus far at the Hawthorne-sponsored Illinois State Fairgrounds meeting.
Stewart’s five-bagger on Friday consisted of Perfect Promises (race three), Tell The Dream (race four), Swan Appeal (race seven), Fox Valley Tasha (race 11) and L Dees Jack Lopez (race 12). He now has 16 winning drives in the first six Fair Grounds programs. Casey Leonard is next, with 11.
Friday’s featured winners-over trot saw last season’s ICF freshman filly champion Marvelous Mystery show her heels to a field of older — and mostly male — trotters in front-end fashion. Rated by her trainer and co-owner Curt Grummel, Marvelous Mystery sprinted out from post one to a quick lead, cut fractions of :28.2, :58.1 and :1:27.4, and trotted a :28.2 last quarter to gain in her initial win as a 3-year-old after two earlier third-place finishes. The 1:56.1 mile was a more than a full second faster than the daughter of Lou’s Legacy previous best winning time for owners Leo, Craig and Curt Grummel.
Justa Nother Bag, driven by 26-year-old Wyatt Avenatti, was second best, a half-length behind while his 28-year-old brother, Matt, guided La Lolita to a third-place check.
In her previous start, a week ago, Marvelous Mystery made a rare break in the Violet stake, fell far behind the field, and made up about 18 lengths to be third.
The co-headlining 12th race conditioned pace gave Stewart his fifth winning drive on the card when L Dees Jack Lopez held off the fast-closing Showboat Shooting (Juan Franco) and Hidden Assassin (Travis Seekman) in 1:56.
Sensing slow fractions, Stewart took L Dees Jack Lopez out of fourth on the backside, and the 6-year-old pacer brushed to the top before the :59.2 half. The Erv Miller trainee got away with a leisurely :29.1 third panel and had enough left in the tank to post his second straight triumph for proprietors Doug Overhiser and the Erv Miller stable.