by John Manzi, publicity director, Monticello Raceway

Monticello, NY — Jimmy Devaux reined five winners on Monday, September 24, at Monticello Raceway and extended his lead over Stephane Bouchard in races won this year at the Mighty M. With his five driving victories, Devaux currently leads Bouchard by eight wins, 227-219.

Monticello photo

Jimmy Devaux won five times on the Monday card at Monticello.

Devaux began Monday afternoon by driving both winners of the early daily double. He won the first race with Peter Lutman III’s DVC Uptown Girl in 1:58.3 and came right back in the next race and reined Dave and Ed Reich’s trotter Mr Taurus to a 2:04.2 victory.

Devaux’s next trip to the winner’s circle came behind Paul Kasofsky and Fred Wilson’s Katrina Maree N when he reined the foreign-bred mare to victory in a 1:57.3 clocking.

He then won the ninth with Wagon Wheel Campgrounds’ In Concert in a time of 2:00.2 and completed his five-bagger by reining Paul Kasofsky’s Yeah Baby to a 1:59.2 victory in the final race on the card.

Since the turn of the century, Devaux has registered 1,795 driving victories at Monticello Raceway and had he not been sidelined two times from racing accidents since 2000, his victory total would have been hundreds more.

Devaux, who passed the 2,000-win plateau this summer, lives and breaths harness racing and his burgeoning success is a realization of a lifelong dream.

“When I was growing up my dad (Butch) was racing horses at Saratoga (Raceway) and Monticello (Raceway) and I spent as much time as I could with him at the barn learning about racing and how to care for the horses,” Devaux related. “Eventually he let me jog and then train (the horses). I loved it and realized that I wanted to make harness racing a career.”

Like many other aspiring drivers of the present era, Jimmy began driving in amateur races. It was at Monticello Raceway in 1990 that Devaux notched his first driving victory.

“You never forget that,” Devaux said with a smile, referring to his first winner. “It came right here at Monticello Raceway behind Clarich St Pat. I believe we went in 2:03 and a piece.”

Though he had always been a dedicated worker Devaux struggled to get his career off the ground.

By 1998 he still hadn’t registered 140 winners but in 1999 his star began to rise. That year local trainers were beginning to avail themselves of Devaux’s services and he responded by driving 113 winners in just 579 starts.

Off to what appeared would be his breakout year, Devaux’s 2000 campaign was cut short when he was involved in a racing accident which sidelined him for six months. He finished that season with just 96 winners.

“I broke my wrist in a racing accident and it didn’t heal right so they had to break it again and reset it again,” Devaux explained. “I was getting nervous as many months went by and I began to wonder if my wrist would ever be strong enough to drive again.”

However, after nearly a six-month layoff Devaux returned with a vengeance.

After finishing as runner-up to his brother-in-law Bruce Aldrich, Jr. in driving victories during the 2001 campaign, Devaux was the recipient of the “Rising Star Award,” which was presented by the Monticello-Goshen Chapter of the U.S. Harness Writers Association at the scribes’ annual end-of-the-year awards banquet.

Devaux made the writers look good when he copped his first driving title the following season.

He then finished second to Billy Parker, Jr. in 2003 and 2004, but in 2005 another racing accident sidelined Devaux and he endured three more months of inaction, but still finished with 196 winners, which was fourth best to Bouchard’s 419.

During the 2006 campaign, Devaux had 215 driving victories, which ranked him fourth to Greg Merton’s 288.

This season, bolstered by many of Paul Kasofsky’s foreign-bred horses, Devaux has a powerful barn and barring any unforeseen obstacles he figures to battle Bouchard right down to the wire for the local driving title this year.