Wally Hennessey

Wally Hennessey  (Dr)                     

Coconut Creek FL

Birthplace:  Charlottetown PEI

Birthdate:  Age 54  (10/04/56)

Wally Hennessey grew up in a harness racing family, following his father and two older brothers in the sport.  His first pari-mutuel win came at age 18, in 1974, and he developed into a fine horseman, becoming top driver in The Maritimes (USTA District 10) from 1980-1985 and gathering praise as Exhibition Park’s leading driver in 1986 at Saint John, New Brunswick.

Warren DeSantis. Past General Manager for Saratoga, seeing Wally’s great potential, asked Wally to give Saratoga a try.  Wally made a one-month commitment in 1987 and has been a summer time regular ever since.

Wally came to Saratoga with wife Barbara in 1987 and immediately commandeered a spot among the best catch-drivers with a first season UDR. Of .342.  His 1,500th career win came in June of 1988, and in 1989 he won the Dunbar Bostwick Final with Shagnasty’s Scot.  Wally’s 2,000th career win came on June 24, 1990 at Vernon Downs behind Joel Greenfield’s Deadly Force.   He won his 3,500th career win at Saratoga May 21, 1995 with Justasteve.   His earnings has surpassed the million-dollar mark in 1990,  which was the first of many to come.

Wally was the leading driver at Saratoga from 1987-1995.

Wally held title of most wins (7) on a single program for NYSS at Buffalo.in 1992.  Wally has won many top stake races across the United States. Wally and brother Danny, who now trains the Hennessey stable, typically stay at Saratoga from May through October each year. Wally was nominated  into the Saratoga Harness Hall of Fame in 2000, and his induction took place in 2001.

Driving Record:

    Year       Starts      1st          2nd         3rd          UDRS    Purse Money

      2012       1393       254        236          195         .323        $1,767,875

      2011        1116      237        191          147         .351        $1,258,201

2010       1348       264         214         189         .331        $1,936,493

2011       1334       260         203         188         .326        $1,800,015

2012       1175       224         213         185        .344          $1,558,012

      2007       1323       274         235         156       .  345         $1,929,866

      2006       1343      303           217         203        .366         $1,592,711