"He was our first employee," said Terry Finley, president of West Point Thoroughbreds. "He made our company. He really was the driving force behind our website and getting people involved. You don't meet many people like him. I never have. Here's a guy who had over 120 broken bones. I was with him over 12 years. On my kids' lives, not one time did he ever complain to me. I knew for a good period of time, he was in pain every day."
DeVito had other interests.
"He loved the opera, loved going to New York to plays," Finley said Saturday. "He loved Temple football and basketball."
He'd also been to Garden State to see races. A small piece of a horse was given to him as a graduation gift from Temple, Finley said. After hearing a radio ad for West Point, he called Finley for "literally three weeks straight" asking about a job. By chance, one had opened up, as a communications and marketing specialist. DeVito did that job and eventually became kind of the racing manager for West Point's horses at Philadelphia Park. He also made regular summer trips to Saratoga.
Congie knew the horse business had its up and downs, which made King Congie the right horse for him.
"He didn't like the horse at first," Finley said. "He called him a clown. We could barely syndicate him."
The slow starter had proved himself by the time Congie died in February. The colt broke his maiden as a 43-1 shot at Aqueduct. Just 10 days before Congie's death, King Congie ran in the Hallandale Beach Stakes at Gulfstream.
DeVito was barely conscious when Finley told him King Congie had won . . . but was taken down for interference, officially placed third in the race.
"He raised his eyebrows," Finley said.
