Daryl Busse

[LUCPARK]

Busse, Paisley, Hiteman, Banks, and Magee, now that was a driving crew!

Paisley
Magee
Busse
Banks
Hiteman

In thst order

Dave has more wins

Butch was better when need be

Hiteman  good but never great

[Grandstand Handicapper]

Some good Chicago horsemen there.

[luker2453]

That group dominated the circuit in the 80's and 90's, no doubt.  When you could go to watch the races at Sportsmans Park on a Saturday and there were 25,000 people in the stands.  Those kind of crowds will never happen again.

[LUCPARK]

i wood also add jim curran ,,very good driver better than hiteman

[Grandstand Handicapper]

That group dominated the circuit in the 80's and 90's, no doubt.  When you could go to watch the races at Sportsmans Park on a Saturday and there were 25,000 people in the stands.  Those kind of crowds will never happen again.

I remember that. I used to go to Chicago, not just to race, but for the grand circuit, American National, Orange and Blue, etc. I remember nights where there was well over $1m in purse money on the line, and yes, the crowds were massive---like when I first started going to YR and RR. What impressed me even more were the Chicago area "OTB's"---they were really cool. I got to know Butch Paisley, who was always very welcoming to out of town horsemen. Of course I also got to know Dave Magee, and when he was in his prime, he could drive with anyone, anywhere. He drove some great horses in his career. While the population of horses in Chicago may not have been the best of the best, there were always good horses, and on occasion, a few that could compete on the biggest stage. Regardless, I always liked Chicago racing, and just one reason was that back in the day you had all the different size tracks there.

[toothman]

were joe marsh and merritt dokey from illinois?
if so, why did they leave?

[Bernie Madoff]

Dokey was based in Michigan and Joe Marsh was originally based in Illinois , but went to New York.

[John Moody]

Butch Dokey drove the great mare Huff and Puff 

[Bernie Madoff]

And Cleostar.

[GOAT]

Tom Harmer also had a powerfull stable in Illinois.  With owner Charles Day.

[carl baldwin]

And George Steinbrenner

[Grandstand Handicapper]

Tom also had Neil Silverman as an owner, who was often partners with Charlie Day and George Steinbrenner. They always bought good horses, and over the years Tom had some very nice horses in his barn. Of course Falcon Seelster may have been his best buy, but it was certainly his most famous. A lot of people knock Tom, but I always liked him. He treated us well when we came to Chicago, was a nice guy, and ran a top-notch operation.

[Still Like Harness]

I played golf with Daryl a couple of times. He was a nice guy ! One time we were playing a hole that had some corn fields on the side of the fairway. Daryl sliced his first shot into the cornfields and we didn't see him again until about three holes later. He had a huge smile on his face and showed us the 11 balls that he found in the corn fields.

[Grandstand Handicapper]

I played golf with Daryl a couple of times. He was a nice guy ! One time we were playing a hole that had some corn fields on the side of the fairway. Daryl sliced his first shot into the cornfields and we didn't see him again until about three holes later. He had a huge smile on his face and showed us the 11 balls that he found in the corn fields.

 

Good one. Thanks for posting this.

[Grandstand Handicapper]

Tom had some very nice horses over the course of his long career. He bought some very nice young horses, just starting out, already made it to the races, etc.---and he ended up with some very nice, very high quality horses. Tom always had a powerful stable, not the biggest in quantity, but always quality. When he had the horsepower, and that was not a rare occurrence, he and his horses appeared on the biggest stages. He was a big name in Chicago racing and nationally as well.