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."
"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. 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.
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