Decision Made to End World Trot
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Du Quoin's 29-year run as "Home of the World Trotting Derby" has ended with the state's decision to cancel both the 2010 derby and its companion World Trotting Derby Filly Division.
Eliminating the World Trotting Derby and other high ticket stakes is a move seen by many as a $1 million Du Quoin State Fair budget cut that will certainly leave Southern Illinois nervous about the future of the fair itself.
Du Quoin State Fair manager John Rednour told the Du Quoin Evening Call late Wednesday his administrative staff is on track for a full 10-day fair in 2010 which would run from Friday, August 28 through Labor Day on September 6.
Rednour said any thought to ending the fair or its non-fair events, campventions and RV rallies would be devastating on Southern Illinois' economy. "Without the fair, I could see at least five businesses in Du Quoin closing." Millions of dollars roll through the region's dining and hotel & motel industry because of the fair.
The decision to end the derby was apparently made jointly by the Illinois Department of Agriculture, the racing division and the fair.
The World Trotting Derby was created after a 1979 vote by the Hambletonian Society to move harness racing's Crown Jewel from the Du Quoin State Fair (its home since 1957) to The Meadowlands in East Rutherford, N.J. The Hambletonian is part of harness racing's Triple Crown that includes the Hambletonian, the Yonkers Trot and the Kentucky Futurity and has flourished since the move.
The Hambletonian's future in Du Quoin was tenuous, at best, and the Saad Jabr family's purchase of the fair in 1979 sealed the society's decision to move the race. Unlike his father Gene Hayes and uncle Don Hayes--who twice before had successfully interceded to return the race to Du Quoin under multi-year contracts, the late W.R. Hayes II was unconvincing. The society and east coast horsemen saw the Jabr purchase of the fair as the perfect time to capture and move the race.
The World Trotting Derby as a replacement never completely rose to the ranks of being a harness racing classic. It nonetheless was the early September acid test for 3-year-old trotters. Many set world records at Du Quoin and most went on to become either the United State's Trotting Association's 3-year-old Trotter of the Year or Horse of the Year. Many beat the records set in July in the Hambletonian.
The late Curt Green, harness racing author and onetime manager of the Du Quoin State Fair, created the World Trotting Derby. Former Illinois Gov. Jim Thompson's staff and later Gov. Jim Edgar styled programs that would largely garner pari-mutuel revenue from betting on races at Maywood Park to pay for the World Trotting Derby purse.
At this writing, the owners 2009 World Trotting Derby winner Muscle Hill have not yet been paid by the State of Illinois, but will be paid soon.
March 15 is the deadline for initial eligibility payments to enter what would have been the 30th anniversary World Trotting Derby. The decision to end the 3-year-old trot comes on the eve of that deadline.
"The racing board and staff gets cut in this, too," said Rednour. "Many people came down here on overtime."
"As much as we hate to lose it, the State of Illinois will save that purse and the costs involved around it. We will save the cost of not only the derby, but the filly race and other races," said Rednour.
It was the Magic Mile at Du Quoin, the Review Futurity in Springfield and the American National in Chicago that brought the fast multi-million dollar colts, fillies and geldings to the Midwest. Will we ever see that again? We may see it only because many horsemen recognize the Magic Mile as the fastest harness track in the world. Owners looking to add value to their colts in future syndication may still come. Only time will tell.
Some Illinois horsemen will actually applaud the decision to end the World Trotting Derby. For the past two years they have lobbied to move that purse money into Illinois owned and bred programs.
"Cutting out the World Trotting Derby is not something I want to do. You know me, I have always been a horseman," said Rednour. "But, I don't think taking the World Trotting Derby away will hurt us that much."
While the fair staff has been asked to create scenarios for a shortened fair, Rednour said a 10-day fair just makes sense. "The real income times for the fair are the first weekend and the last (Labor Day) weekend," he said.
"There is a problem to cutting back the fair to seven or five days," he said. He said the fair is working to create night show and free entertainment schedules. At this writing the USAC and ARCA racing programs are intact.
He said the fair will sponsor most of the entertainment. It may also lease the facilities to other producers to host their own shows. "Maybe we can come up with some $2 and $5 ticket events to fill seats," he said.