Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

Odds On Racing's

Trainer of the Month
for June 2006

Jim Dennis

As a Hall of Fame driver, Jim Dennis won 2,677 races and drove the winners of $12.9 million. He will probably always be best remembered for having conditioned and driven the great pacer, Sir Dalrae p, 4, 1:56f ($678,314), the 1973 Harness Horse of the Year, as well as Mr Dalrae, p, 5, 1:522 (1,150,807), the 1984 Pacing Horse of the Year and Adios Vic, who defeated the immortal Bret Hanover four times during his career.

Jim Dennis

Adios Vic
Perhaps the most exciting win in their rivalry came in the 1965 Review Futurity at Springfield, Ill., which Bret Hanover entered on the crest of a 35 race win streak. Dennis got a pocket trip with Adios Vic and they powered to a 27 second final quarter-mile -- stunning at the time -- and defeated the three time Horse of the Year in what may be the greatest upset of all-time.

Sir Dalrae
Owned by A La Carte Stable of Inglewood, California, which everyone around Hollywood Park knew meant Willard Smith, whose restaurant is a favorite with harness horsemen, Sir Dalrae was sired by Porterhouse out of Smith's mare, Queen's Crown. Trained by Dennis, the colt didn't get to the races as a two-year-old and won only once in four starts as a trotter in 1972 before Dennis dusted off the hopples. One his finest achievements was when Dennis made the successful transition of Sir Dalrae from his initial racing career as a trotter to a pacer.

As a pacer he won 11 times that year, moved rapidly up the ladder and, racing in stakes company in 1973, he won 20 times in 27 starts and earned $307,354. During one memorable stretch, he won 15 stakes in a row with 13 in two minutes or faster.

Fans and harness writers, alike, adopted this West Coast Wonder and when the ballot box was opened, Sir Dalrae had 187 of the 216 votes cast. His best timing was 1:56 on the 5/8 mile Sportsman's Park track.

The Man
Dennis trained his stable in the Golden State for several decades. He was a leading driver at Yonkers and Roosevelt Raceways in New York and at Hollywood Park in Los Angeles. He also campaigned his stable in Chicago from 1963 until 1991 and raced at both Greenwood and Mohawk Racetracks. He was inducted into the national Hall of Fame in 2001.

He was the model horsemen

"He was the model horsemen," said Phil Langley, president of the U.S. Trotting Association and long-time Chicago racing secretary. "He was a great trainer and driver. He ran an immaculate stable and the fans loved him because they knew he was always going all out. "

Jim Dennis passed away February 23, 2004 at his home in Solana Beach, California at age 79.

2006 Archives
May: Delvin Miller
April: Chuck Sylvester
March: Billy Haughton
February: Bill Robinson