by Timothy M. Jones, for the Brown County Fair

Springfield, IL — Two speedy dynamos in their respective divisions of the Illinois county fair circuit have committed to the 2007 Brown County Fair.

Morethan I Deserve, June’s Illinois County Fair Horse of the Month, will go postward in the 3-year-old colt pace on Thursday, August 2. Celebrity Mistress, who recently broke the all-age track record at the Macoupin County Fair, will race in the 3-year-old filly trot. Both Mid-Western Illinois Racing Association contests feature a purse estimated at $12,000.

Timothy M. Jones photo

Morethan I Deserve will be heading to the Brown County Fair on August 2.

Morethan I Deserve, a Cole Muffler sired gelding, will attempt to win his ninth of ten starts at the fairs. Those include an all-age track record performance of 1:56.1 at the Decatur-Macon County Fair on June 17. He also narrowly missed track records at the Greene County Fair and the Macoupin County Fair by two-fifths and three-fifths of a second, respectively.

Owned by Francis Grummel and Deborah Humenai, and trained by Leo Grummel, Morethan I Deserve has over $33,000 in lifetime earnings to date. His nine consecutive wins include a dead heat win at Carlinville on July 17 with the only horse to defeat him, All This And More. The lone blemish in a strong summer campaign was by a head in a Summer Preview at Springfield on June 9.

Owned by Francis Greer, Celebrity Mistress will take on rival 3-year-old filly trotters in an M-WIRA contest on Wednesday, August 1.

The Meadowbranch Mike sired daughter, trained and driven by Alan Bowen, is the proud owner of a new all-age track record of 2:03.4 set at Carlinville on July 16.

Celebrity Mistress is also the reigning queen of the Downstate Classic with her 2:03.4 timed mile at the Decatur-Macon County Fair on June 16. In that race, she was fourth and parked second over at the three-quarter pole, but unleashed a torrid stretch drive enabling her to cross the wire first by three-quarters of a length over Snow Tunnel and driver J.D. Finn.

She has won four of six starts in 2007 with lifetime earnings of nearly $25,000. Her only two defeats occurred when hampered with starts in the second tier of seven- and eight-horse fields, unable to overcome breaking horses in her path.

The Fair’s signature event, the Taser Gun Pace for Illinois bred 4-year-olds and up with a purse estimated at $18,000, also on record as the richest and fastest event in Illinois county fair history, will highlight Thursday’s card.

Post time both evenings is 7:00 p.m.

The 72-hour entry box closes at 10:00 a.m. prior to each race day. For more information, please contact Speed Superintendent Ed Teefey’s race office at (217) 773-3930.

Fair attractions also include the Queen Pageant, July 31; Grand National Tractor Pull, August 3; Demolition Derby, August 4; the return of the beer tent for the second consecutive year; and the free carnival on Thursday evening, sponsored by the Farmers State Bank of Mt. Sterling.

If you are planning on attending the free carnival, please stop by the Farmers State Bank to pick up your arm band.

Mt. Sterling, Illinois is located 65 miles west of Springfield, Illinois on US 24. For more information, please visit the Fair’s Web site at http://www.browncofair.com, or call the fair office at (217) 773-3939.