Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

Chevie Cash Favored in Hoosier Cup

June 23, 2005

Chevie Cash, whose 1:50.4 win at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds last year was tied for the second fastest among all two-year-old pacers, is among the horses preparing to race Saturday night in the $500,000 Hoosier Cup at Hoosier Park in Indiana. The draw for the Hoosier Cup will be held Wednesday. Eliminations and the final all will be raced Saturday.

Other three-year-old pacers expected to participate in the Hoosier Cup include Max Hempt Memorial winner Up Front Jerry, Allamerican Inca, Team Hutch, Up Front Tornado, Thin Blue Line, Michael’s Marvel, Beretta Hall, and Climb The Ladder. Team Hutch has won all five of his starts this season and won last year’s American-National for two-year-old male pacers. He has won 11 of 22 lifetime races and $325,462. Allamerican Inca won divisions of the Bluegrass and International Stallion in 2004 and was second to Village Jolt in the Breeders Crown. He has won five of 11 career starts and earned $422,751.

Last year, Chevie Cash won 12 of 16 races and earned $169,325. Of the four races he lost, he went off stride in three. This season he has one victory in three starts and has remained on gait in every performance.

"He certainly has the raw talent," said driver Dale Hiteman, who has been behind Chevie Cash for 14 of his starts. "It’s just a matter of harnessing it and getting him to perform at the right time. The stakes season can be long, whether you’re racing at the Meadowlands or in Illinois or Indiana. We’re trying to get him to peak at the right times and to be consistent all year. Hopefully, we’ll have another good year with him. It’s not a given that he will have another great year just because he was good at [age] two. That has to be earned and proven over and over."

Trained by Ron Guhy and owned by Chevrolet dealer Clyde Stevens of La Center, Kentucky, Chevie Cash was second by a head to Team Hutch in his most recent start, at Hawthorne Racecourse.

"He’s raced real good this year," Hiteman said. "He got a couple of tough trips, but I thought he’s raced well. I think he’s a little bit of a nervous horse and he’s still learning. I think he has a big heart. Hopefully, this year he’s a little more mature and will be a little more consistent."

Previous winners of the Hoosier Cup include Art Major and Real Desire, who went on to be named Horse of the Year as a four-year-old. Last year’s race was won by Skydancer Hanover.

"It’s one step at a time," Hiteman said. "First, we’ve got to get to the finals. Your goal is to make it to the finals and win if you can. That’s what we’re going to do."