Veteran pacer Our Lucky Chip made his seasonal debut a winning one with a 1:50.3 effort in the co-featured event of the evening, a $22,000 Invitational Pace, at Hoosier Park Racing & Casino on Saturday, April 12.

Guided by regular driver Trace Tetrick, Our Lucky Chip’s 1:50.3 performance marks the fastest mile of the season over Hoosier Park’s seven-eighths mile oval thus far.

In a talented group of eight, Our Lucky Chip was hurried from the gate, but settled along the rail in third. Jammin Joshua and Sam Widger also left alertly and were the first to get a call around the first quarter mark in :27.3. Tyber Tyke and LeWayne Miller protected their rail position and were nicely placed in second. Tetrick gave Our Lucky Chip the green light and the duo reached the front at the half-mile mark in :55.

Royal Outlook and Peter Wrenn were the first to commit to the outer flow and Ideal Choice and Tyler Smith quickly followed suit. With a three-quarter clocking in 1:23.1, Our Lucky Chip appeared to be up to the task. With a final quarter in :27.2, Our Lucky Chip easily paced on to the wire to win by three lengths. Tyber Tyke rallied gamely for the second-place finish while Jammin Joshua rounded out the trifecta.

As the heavy betting favourite, Our Lucky Chip returned $4.20 to his backers.

Owned by trainer Jason Miller and Bradley Roller, Our Lucky Chip has now increased his lifetime bankroll to $511,992. The five-year-old son of Arts Chip-Lady Moira scored his 24th win from 45 lifetime outings.

The victory also marked win number five for Hoosier Park’s current leading driver, Trace Tetrick. Tetrick scored his first win of the night with Lieutenant Steve for trainer Sandra Rose and then went on to score with The Riddler for trainer Tom Harmer. Tetrick doubled up in the evening’s ninth and 10th races as he scored with trainer Erin Elliot’s Firstclassalthway and Mark Riever’s Justa Cowboy, respectively. Tetrick currently leads all drivers at Hoosier Park Racing & Casino with 24 trips to the winner’s circle.

Live racing continues at Hoosier Park Racing & Casino on Tuesday, April 15 at its regularly scheduled post time of 5:15 p.m.

(With files from Hoosier Park)