Leroy Hunt’s Scrappy Comingup (Cornelius Cavett) has his sights set today on Du Quoin’s County Fair Challenge for ICF 3-year-old male pacers (Terry Young Photo)



By Mike Paradise for the I.H.H.A.

  It’s the opening day of the Du Quoin State Fair three-day harness racing meeting. For horsemen and their owners who participated on the summer long Illinois County Fair racetracks it’s the most prominent program of the year, money-wise and for prestigious honors.

 Eight County Fair Challenge events are on the 14-race card, all offering a $10,000 purse. A late afternoon post time of 4 pm will get the program under way. A pair of ICF championships for aged horses will follow the County Fair Challenge affairs.

 The Ken Rucker stable’s Niko Man (John De Long) will be a heavy favorite to follow his Springfield championship in the aged male trotting division with another in Du Quoin’s $12,000 older horse showdown.

  Looking to pull off an upset are Lousraptor (Chris Brown) and Tankmetodennyland (Travis Seekman), who start inside of Niko’s Man (post three), along with Zions Realy Chilly (Kyle Wilfong), Lous Interceptor (Jordan Patton), Lous Lancelot (Marcus Miller), Whatta Year (Juan Franco) and Lousdobb (Casey Leonard), second best in the Springfield confrontation.

 Lous Lancelot is returning to Illinois after campaigning mostly at Pocono Downs where he took a new lifetime mark if 1:54 flat. The 5-year-old son of Lous Legacy will race this evening out of the barn of trainer Jim Eaton.

 The ninth race aged filly and mare trot final will precede the horse and gelding championship and while its short on numbers, just four starters, it boasts a pair of former ICF champions—Funky Wiggle (Kyle Wilfong) and Marvelous Mystery (Marcus Miller), both from the barn of Curt Grummel, and the Steve Searle stable’s Loulita (Casey Leonard) who is two-for-two this year at Du Quoin.

 Zena Lou (Wyatt Avenatti), another Searle trainee rounds out the competitive field that saw two lengths separate the first three finishers—Marvelous Mystery, Funky Wiggle, and Loulita—in the Springfield division championship.

 Major Illinois Sales Near: The Du Quoin meet signals that two of the most significant Illinois yearling horse sales are right around the corner.

  The Land of Lincoln Sale takes place this upcoming Saturday at the Walker Standardbred Farm in Sherman, Illinois starting at 12 noon. The digital sale catalog on the 67 horses to be sold can be downloaded at landoflincolnsale.com/catalog.

 The Illini Classic Yearling sale will be held just two days later on Monday, September 2nd at the Illinois State Fair Grounds

Springfield beginning at 11 am. Entries and catalog information on the 149 yearlings that will go on the auction block on Labor Day are available at illiniclassic.com/2024-yearling-entries.