Jim Dennis (May 9, 1923 – February 22, 2004) was an American harness racing driver and trainer. He was inducted into the Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 2002. Dennis was born in

Rexburg, Idaho Rexburg is a city in Madison County, Idaho, United States. The population was 39,409 at the 2020 census. The city is the county seat of Madison County and its largest city. Rexburg is the principal city of the Rexburg, ID Micropolitan Statist ...

. His father and five Uncles drove

Standardbred The Standardbred is an American horse breed best known for its ability in harness racing, where members of the breed compete at either a trot or pace. Developed in North America, the Standardbred is recognized worldwide, and the breed can trace i ...

s. Dennis drove his first winning horse at age 13.Jim Dennis page at Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame
/ref> Prior to his serving in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

, Dennis considered a

rodeo Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working va ...

career. One of the top horses Dennis drove was Sir Dalrae. Sir Dalrae, who had been bred to

trot The trot is a ten-beat diagonal horse gait where the diagonal pairs of legs move forward at the same time with a moment of suspension between each beat. It has a wide variation in possible speeds, but averages about . A very slow trot is someti ...

, was the 1973 Harness Racing Horse of the Year. Dennis also drove Adios Vic. Adios Vic defeated Hall of Fame horse

Bret Hanover Bret Hanover (May 19, 1962 – November 21, 1992) was an outstanding American Standardbred racehorse. He was one of only nine pacers to win harness racing's Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Pacers and won 62 of 68 starts. He was the firs ...

four times. Dennis was a leading driver at

Roosevelt Roosevelt may refer to: *Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919), 26th U.S. president * Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945), 32nd U.S. president Businesses and organisations * Roosevelt Hotel (disambiguation) * Roosevelt & Son, a merchant bank * Rooseve ...

and

Yonkers Raceway Yonkers Raceway & Empire City Casino, founded in 1899 as the Empire City Race Track, is a one-half-mile standardbred harness racing dirt track and slots racino located at the intersection of Central Park Avenue and Yonkers Avenue in Yonkers, New Y ...

plus

Hollywood Park Hollywood Park may refer to: Places United States * Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California * Hollywood Park, Chicago, a neighborhood in North Park, Chicago, Illinois * Hollywood Park, Inglewood, an entertainment complex and m ...

but also campaigned out of

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

from 1963 to 1971. By the time Dennis finished his harness racing career in 1991, he had won 2,677 races and the horses he had driven had earned 12.9 million dollars. Dennis died at his Solana Beach, California home on February 22, 2004.Hall of Famer Dennis dies
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dennis, Jim 1923 births 2004 deaths American harness racers People from Rexburg, Idaho People from Solana Beach, California United States Harness Racing Hall of Fame inductees