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By Kimberly Rinker
May 24, 2005
Dave Magee scored career victory
10,000 in Balmoral Park's $8,750 Eighth Race on
Saturday night with the six-year-old gelding Up Front
Northern in 1:52.1. That victory gave Magee entry into
a very exclusive club as one of only six drivers in
harness racing history to achieve 10,000 wins. Dave's
red, white and black colors have been a familiar sight
on the Chicago harness racing scene and throughout many
tracks in North America since he sat behind his first
horse in the late 1970s.
"I feel very fortunate to be
in this position," Magee said. "The last few
years have been very good to me, and I've been very
lucky to have the opportunity to have driving some
outstanding horses over the years."
Magee had scored win number 9,999
earlier in the night in Balmoral Park's $7,500 Third
Race, a Cardinal elimination for three-year-old
state-bred colts and geldings with Team Hutch. The
sophomore son of Sportsmaster took the lead at the half
and never looked back, pacing in 1:52.3 and winning by
nearly five lengths.
Magee had a few anxious moments
during the past week, however, as he was only two wins
away going into Friday night’s card at Maywood
Park.
"It seems like when you get
this close, things start happening that you don’t
quite expect," Magee noted. "Just things here
and there start going wrong with horses, and not that
there’s a great deal of pressure, but
there’s self-inflicted pressure to get the wins
so I can just get back to driving without thinking
about that."
The 51-year-old Magee, a native
of Green Bay, Wisconsin, is the first Chicago-based
driver to achieve 10,000 lifetime victories.
"When I first started
driving horses I didn't think that this would become an
occupation," Magee said. "But I just got very
lucky. I can honestly say, also, that I've never taken
my success for granted. I'm always very thankful to be
in this position."
Magee has captured driving titles
at every Chicago racetrack including a record 12 times
at Maywood Park and 11 times at the now-defunct
Sportsman's Park.
"I've changed my driving
habits a bit over the past few years because I think
racing seven days a week is just way too much,"
Dave noted. "Five would be much more appropriate
for everyone, including the horses. I also cut down on
my driving because I enjoy spending time with my
family, and racing seven nights a week just doesn't
allow for much of that."
"I'm not going to forecast
quitting driving at this point in my career," Dave
added. "I'm still very competitive and I still
enjoy winning races. If I'd stop driving horses, then
I'd end up working at some other profession."
Magee became just the sixth
driver in harness racing history to achieve this goal,
and the fifth in North America. His peers include:
Germany champion Heinz Wewering with 15,500+ wins;
Herve Fillion with 15,105; Cat Manzi with 11,000+ wins;
Walter Case with
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11,000+ victories; and Dave Palone
with 10,300+ wins.
"I met Heinze Wewering when
I was in Germany a few years ago, and was lucky enough
to visit his training center," Dave said. "He
has a training center that is bigger than Maywood Park,
and a ton of blacksmiths and assistant trainers on
call. He's quite an entrepreneur and is a great
horseman. If he's not driving one of this own trotters,
then he's probably driving the best trotter in any
given race."
The Big Rock, Illinois resident
grew up in a harness racing family and started driving
at the Wisconsin fairs as a youngster. He began his
professional career in 1973 and five years later posted
the first of 27 consecutive seasons with at least 200
winning drives.
In 1994 he captured the North
American dash crown with 630 winners and was named
Driver of the Year by Harness Tracks of America.
"I think one of the hardest
parts of driving and probably of anything that you do
when you take pride in your effort is the amount of
pressure you put on yourself," Dave said. "If
you don’t live up to your own expectations it can
be hard on you emotionally. You have to stay on an even
emotional plane. That's one of the ways that my family
is so helpful to me. They keep me grounded. When I go
home I'm just a dad and a husband. The kids could care
less if I won five races that night or finished up the
track with 12 of them. I'm expected to be the same
father and husband no matter what, and that's nice, as
my driving isn't an issue at home."
Dave shares his life with wife
Cathy Jo, and his children: Matthew 24; Lindsey 22;
Ross, 15; Jess 13, Emily 11, and Erica 6. He was
inducted into Harness Racing's Living Hall of Fame in
Goshen, New York in 2001 and in 1995 the father of six
represented the United States in the World Driving
Championship and was crowned king of that tournament.
"Of course being inducted
into the Hall Of Fame was certainly a great
honor," Magee said. "And I think that the
number of wins I've achieved is a reflection of
consistency and longevity in my position as a driver. I
understand that you can’t win every race and if I
don't do as well as I think I should I can get pretty
frustrated. Even on a night when I do well, there's a
lot of times that I think that I still could have done
better."
Magee's mounts have earned well
over $800 million in his 33 years as a reinsman and
2005 is the 27th straight year his horses have won at
least $1 million in purse monies.
"I've never really worried
about the numbers or amount of wins," Dave said.
"I've always concentrated on relationships with
people, integrity, honesty and on being of good
character, both on and off the racetrack. These were
the things that were most important to me--these were
things that I could live with. The numbers just sort of
followed. I knew that if I did the best I could and
concentrated on these things, that if I was really
successful, that was great, and I just did ok, that was
fine too. I could live with myself either way. I've
just been very fortunate to be in this position."
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