Quietly and without much fanfare Jimmy Devaux continues to
be a force to be reckoned with. Last year the former Mighty M driving champ,
competing both here and at Saratoga Raceway, reined 413 winners which
ranked him 19th in races won in North America.
And again this season Devaux is off to a good start. On a
wet and snowy Monday afternoon ( Jan. 20) here at Monticello Raceway Devaux
started the day slowly producing just two seconds and a third place
finish in his first seven drives but before the day was over he drove the
winners of the last three races on the card to come away with the proverbial
hat trick.
His trotting victory with VIP was the veteran gelding’s
second in a row this year and his ninth win in his last 10 starts.
With his three wins on Jan. 20 Devaux’s 17 winners are
currently third best on the local leaderboard just a few victories behind both
Bruce Aldrich, Jr. (21), and Jimmy Marohn, Jr. (18).
Although not expressly noted, last season Devaux, like his
brother-in-law, Bruce Aldrich, Jr, also did double-duty driving at both
Monticello and Saratoga Raceways. His 184 wins at the Spa City oval was
fourth best and his 229 here was the third best output. And his total of 413
wins last year was his career best .
Devaux, 46, has currently driven 3481 winners with over 3000
of them recorded since the turn of the century.
For Devaux, who lives and breathes harness racing, 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 barns learning about racing and how to care for the
horses,” Devaux related. “Eventually he let me jog and then train(the
horses). I’d 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?”
At the end of the 1998 season 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 break-out 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.”
But after nearly a six-month layoff Devaux returned with
vengeance. He won the driving title here in 2002 and was among the leading
drivers here year in and year out.
During November of the 2012 season Devaux reined his 3000th
winner.
“I’m living a dream. I mean how many people can do something
they thoroughly enjoy and make a living doing it,” he said. “I’m a lucky guy.”
