Cahill Weighing in at Hoosier Park
By Hannah Gentry
Born and raised in Kentucky, Steve Cahill has been coming to Hoosier Park Racing & Casino for a long time but this is his second year as a racing official. Last year, Cahill joined the track after being contacted by Kevin Greely, racing secretary, to be the new horse identifier. In this position he would check horse tattoos to make sure each horse was correctly identified for an individual race. This year, Cahill has moved into the Clerk of Scales position.
“This position (Clerk of Scales) has a lot of responsibility to it,” said Cahill. “But, I definitely enjoy taking it on.”
Cahill has been in and around the horse business since he was very young. As a child, his grandfather was a horse trainer. This is when he found his passion for it.
“I fell in love with the horses when I was young,” said Cahill. “I’ve been doing this for so long and it’s something I really enjoy.”
Cahill came out of the Army in the early 1980’s. A good friend of his asked if he would be interested in training some horses. Cahill jumped at the chance. He began training horses at River Downs in Cincinnati, Ohio. He started training in 1982 and had some really great success as a trainer. He trained in Kentucky and Ohio in the summer time, and during the winter season, he would travel to Tampa Bay Downs in Florida to continue training.
Around 1988, Cahill returned back to his home of Kentucky where he began to start a family. Also around this time, he began attending Northern Kentucky University where he would later receive a Bachelors degree in Computer Information Systems. There, he also began working as a racing official at River Downs up until 1995. At Rivers Downs, he was in various roles such as paddock judge, clerk of scales, and assistant racing secretary.
Cahill moved on to live in Ohio where began working for a company in Cincinnati called Cincinnati Bell, programming their long distance network for a few years. At this same time, Cahill was still part of the racing industry. He was an assistant trainer in the morning, beginning his day around 4 am. Then, he would put on his suit and tie and head to work for the day.
“When 9/11 hit, my life and work definitely changed a lot,” said Cahill, who ended up leaving his job at Cincinnati Bell. “It was then I went back to horse training full time.”
Cahill trained full time up until last year when business wasn’t at the level he would have liked for it to be and he decided to make a different move. That’s when he was lucky enough to speak with Greely and was offered the position of horse identifier. This was the first year he had been a racing official since 1995.
The past two years during the winter season Cahill followed the Thoroughbreds to Tampa and has served as assistant trainer for Aaron Reed and Richard Kohnhorst. This past winter, Cahill received a call and was asked to come to Indiana Downs to be clerk of scales for their Thoroughbred season. To keep continuity to what he was doing, Greely asked him to return to Hoosier as clerk of scales rather than identifier.
As a clerk of scales, a typical day for Cahill consists of coming to Hoosier Park early in the morning to prepare for the racing day. He goes over the changes and scratches with the stewards. He posts those changes on the board so all the valets will be prepared for the evening. He is also in charge of reporting to mutuels, the track announcer, and the race marketing team for any changes in the programs. Being clerk of scales also requires Cahill to do weight checks on the jockeys before and after the races.
“I think the best thing about my job is working with so many great people,” said Cahill. “What I really like about Hoosier Park is how team oriented everyone is. Things run really smooth here and I’ve gotten a chance to work with and meet some very interesting people.”
Cahill also went on to discuss how being a trainer and a racing official helps him understand and deal with issues on racing.
“Knowing how to delegate between the two different parties is really beneficial,” said Cahill. “Since I’ve been on both sides, I think that makes my job a little easier. I really enjoy the position that I’m in here and all of the people I work with.”
For more information on Hoosier Park Racing & Casino, log onto www.hoosierpark.com.
Photo by Linscott Photography