Illinois champions will be honored on Saturday night
by Neil Milbert
It’s the Year of the Horse and in Illinois his name is Cash Money Twenty.
By virtue of his accomplishments in 2025, Cash Money Twenty will officially begin his second straight 12-month reign as Illinois Horse of the Year on Saturday night (Feb. 28) when he is crowned at the Illinois Standardbred Banquet at Poe’s Catering in Springfield.
“He was as good as he was as a 2-year-old,” said trainer Mike Brink, looking back on a 3-year-old campaign in which the gelded son of Stevensville—Hostess Lisa, by Sagebrush recorded nine triumphs and four seconds in 14 starts versus 11 wins and one place in 12 outings in 2024. “He’s kind of a handful — not an easy horse to race. He got beat a few times but when it counted, he was there [in the winner’s circle].”
In addition to repeating as Illinois-bred Horse of the Year, Cash Money Twenty is being honored as the state champion 3-year-old male pacer.
William and Sherrie Bycroft of Des Moines, IA (whose stable is known as Heart and Soul Racing) are the principal owners of Cash Money Twenty, while his driver, Casey Leonard, also has an ownership share.
“In his last two starts [5¼-length conquests at Hawthorne Race Course in both the Cardinal and the Robert F. Carey Memorial on the Night of Champions] he proved he was the best horse in Illinois,” Leonard said.
Cash Money Twenty began his career in Minnesota at Running Aces and, according to Brink, he will be returning there this summer to race for another trainer.
Leonard also was the driver of another repeater as a state champion, the 3-year-old filly trotter Lou’s My Number.
The daughter of Lou’s Legacy—Ants Iner Pants, by Band’s Gold Cup returned to Hawthorne in November toting the baggage of a slump at Springfield but she responded to the change of scene by winning a Night of Champions qualifier by 4¼ lengths and then rallying to capture the Beulah Dygert Memorial by three-quarters-of-a-length.
A winner of six of her 16 starts in 2025 she ended the year by extending her winning streak to three races.
Trainer Steve Searle is the co-breeder of Lou’s My Number in partnership with Thomas Wisniewski and owns her in in partnership with Chris Paloma, Mike Paloma, and Mike Buzzard.
“Steve had some issues with her and we fooled around with her equipment in the Springfield races,” Leonard said. “He did a great job. She has a great last quarter and she was outstanding when it counted.”
Whiskey Lou’s coronation as the 4-year-old and up mare trotter will mark the third year in a row she is being honored at the Illinois Standardbred Banquet after she reigned as the 2-year-old distaff champion in 2023 and the 3-year-old titlist in 2024. The daughter of Lou’s Legacy is owned by her breeder Randy Wilt and is trained by Curt Grummel.
The nomadic Niko Man is the repeat champion older horse/gelding trotter. Now a 6-year-old, he repeatedly raced in open company outside Illinois last year and his 25-race resume showed five wins, seven places, and one show.
Perennial Hawthorne driving champion Leonard, and long-time trainer stalwarts Brink and Searle also will be honored at the banquet for being inducted into the Illinois Harness Horsemen’s Hall of Fame earlier this year. Leonard joins his father, trainer Terry Leonard, who was inducted last year.
One of the three retired horses being honored is Fox Valley Gemini, who was trained by Terry and driven by Casey when he was a winner on the Night of Champions for six years in a row from 2017-22 and Illinois Horse of the Year in 2018 and 2019.
The other Hall of Fame inductees being honored in recognition of either their exemplary racing or breeding careers are Lou’s Legacy, whose nine-year reign as the top Illinois trotting sire ended in 2025, and Fox Valley Topaz, 2008 Dan Patch Award winner as the top 2-year-old pacing filly in North America and 2008 Illinois Horse of the Year.
Dr. Richard Flacco, patriarch of Flacco Family Farms, who brought Lou’s Legacy to Illinois and made him the state’s most dominant trotting sire, is joining his pride and joy as a Hall of Fame honoree.
Also being honored at the banquet for their Hall of Fame induction are Ed Teefey, who has long been one of the most distinguished standardbred leaders, owners and breeders in the state, and the late trainer Robert Phillips, whose horses won 1,123 races and earned $7.6 million before his death in 2022.
Track announcer Peter Galassi and starter Mike Titus will receive Lifetime Achievement Awards at the banquet in recognition of their dedication to Illinois racing.
Galassi began calling races in 1979 at (now-defunct) Quad City Downs and has gone on to an outstanding career at (now-defunct) Balmoral Park, Hawthorne, and the State Fair at Springfield. He was at the microphone for some of the sport’s greatest moments during the past quarter century on Super Night at Balmoral and Hawthorne’s Night of Champions.
Titus has been a part of Illinois harness racing since he was a child and has gone on to become one of the Midwest’s finest starters.
The following horses complete the list of Illinois-bred divisional champions to be honored on Saturday night:
• 2-Year-Old Filly Pacer: Fox Valley Fastrack
• 2-Year-Old Colt/Gelding Pacer: Keyser Soze
• 3-Year-Old Filly Pacer: Fox Valley Jasmine
• Older Male Pacer: Fox Valley Kodiak
• 2-Year-Old Filly Trotter: Shady Maple Chick
• 2-Year-Old Colt/Gelding Trotter: Go Go Chrome
• 3-Year-Old Colt/Gelding Trotter: Sunburnt Silverado
• Pacing Broodmare: Fox Valley Jazzy
• Trotting Broodmare: Armbro Bahrain
• Pacing Sire: Somestarsomewhere
• Trotting Sire: Southwind Chrome
Based on their performances at the Illinois county fairs the following horses also will be award recipients:
• Pacers — Calico Sunset, Fillys Revenge, Fox Valley Barbie, Fox Valley Lava, Jim’s Big Boy, Just Chasing Tails, He’sadarkshark, Incredible Stevie, Truly A Winner, Vertical Speed, and Whiskey Lullaby.
• Trotters — Do Better Dez, Lou’s Lottery, Lousraptor, One Trip Chip, Royal Champ, Shady Maple Becky, Shady Maple Caddy, Shady Maple Credit, and Toughestofthetough.
