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Author: Kimberly Rinker
Published on: April 21, 2002
Blustery weather conditions in
the Windy City could not stop Chicago driving champion
Dave Magee from scoring his 9,000th victory, and
joining an elite group of reinsmen who have reached
that evasive pinnacle.
Like Mike LaChance, Herve
Fillion, Cat Manzi, and Walter Case, Jr. before him,
“driving” Dave became just the fifth driver
to accomplish that feat in the history of harness
racing.
A native of Green Bay, Wisconsin,
the 48-year-old sulky pilot guided Fritz Feist to
victory in Balmoral’s first race Saturday night,
April 20th, in 1:53.3. Magee also went on that night to
pilot He’s In Charge to victory in 1:52.1 in the
seventh race, and Universal Dream to a 1:51.1 clocking
in the tenth event.
“It feels good to get this
race won,” Dave said afterward. “I really
didn’t want this hanging over my head the entire
night.”
Wife Cathy Jo mirrored her
husband’s thoughts. “Dave really never
shows whether or not he feels pressured by
something,” Cathy Jo noted. “I think he was
probably very happy that he won the first race at
Balmoral since he was down to drive in nearly every
race on the program.”
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“I feel tremendously
grateful to all of the owners and trainers who have
used me to drive their horses over the years,”
Dave added. “Lately there have been many highs in
this business for me, and to hit this plateau is more
than I ever expected.”
Magee has consistently ranked in
the top 25 in earnings among all North American drivers
for the past 16 years, and has ruled the roost of
drivers in Chicago, winning driving titles at Maywood,
Sportsman’s, and Hawthorne during the last two
decades.
To date this season Magee has
driven the winners of $533,790, and his lifetime purse
earnings are $69,227,942, which puts him 11th among
drivers on the all-time money earnings list.
Dave was first licensed in
January 1973, racing at the Wisconsin fairs and at the
now-defunct Quad City Downs in East Moline, Illinois,
before bringing his red, black and white colors to
Chicago.
1979 was Dave’s first $1
million season, and since then, he has not slowed down,
scoring eight consecutive $3 million seasons or better
from 1988 through 1995. In fact, Dave’s best year
came in 1994, when he piloted 630 winners to the tune
of $4.3 million in earnings, garnering HTA’s
Driver Of The Year crown.
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Both 1992 and 1993 saw
Dave drive the winners of over $4 million, and from 1991
through 1997 Dave’s UDRS was never lower than .314.
In 1995 Dave competed in and won
the World Driving Championship, part of which was held
on his home turf in Chicago, racing several legs of the
series at Sportsman’s and Balmoral Parks. He then
traveled to Germany to defend his title in 1997 as the
U.S. representative, which was ultimately captured by
that country’s Heinz Wewering. “The real
thrill of that competition was getting to know all the
other competitors,” Magee said. “It was
also a great honor to represent my country in the
series.” Over the years Magee has teamed with
some of harness racing finest equine superstars,
including Hambletonian entrant Dreamaster, and last
season’s Illinois sophomore pacing star, Mini Me.
Magee was a favorite on numerous
occasions behind mid-80s star Mr. Dalrae, as well as
Ultra Osborne, Barb’s Trick, and the great
Anniecrombie.
He has also piloted national
greats such as Artsplace, Odds Against, Continental
Victory, Island Fantasy and Chairmanoftheboard, to name
just a few.
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