Sevens wild for Dunn

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – Dexter Dunn is now turning the amazing into the mundane.

The 31-year-old New Zealand native was at the top of his game Friday night at The Meadowlands, winning seven races on the 13-race harness racing program. Dunn won all but four of the eleven $20,000 divisions of the Kindergarten Series for 2-year-olds of both gaits and sex.

It marked the second time in the last six weeks that Dunn won seven on a card, achieving the feat for the first time in 2021 on June 18. He also won seven races on Jan. 11 of 2020, so the last three times the feat has been accomplished, each time it was the driver known as “Double D” turning the trick. The Big M record of eight winners on a card is shared by Mike Lachance (1995) and Brett Miller (2016).

“I knew I had some chances [heading into the night],” said Dunn. “Some nice babies that have been racing well. They just worked out and got nice trips. I just think I had the right stock on the right night.”

Dunn’s magnificent seven, with the driver’s commentary, were:

• Gotthegreenlight (American Ideal-Bet On Luck), a filly pacer, trained by Nifty Norman, who stopped the clock in 1:52.2, paying $2.20 to win.  “She’s three-for-three so she’s doing everything we’ve asked so far. She relaxed well after she made the lead.”
• Lilbitalexis (Walner-Jolie De Vie), filly trotter, Norman, 1:53.3, $2.80. “Her run tonight was good. She has a future for sure.”
• American Beauty (Walner-All The Time), filly trotter, Nancy Takter, 1:55.4, $4.60. “She was really hot two starts back. Tonight, we came out of the gate and just kept going forward.”
• Don’t Fence Me In (Captaintreacherous-Mystery Game), filly pacer, Tony Alagna, 1:52.3, $4.40. “It was a generous pace.” Don’t Fence Me In went wire to wire after a rated opening half of :58.1
• Selfie Queen (Muscle Hill-Lady Lakewood), filly trotter, Takter, 1:54.2, $4.00. “She’d gone off stride in her previous two outings. They changed some gear on her. Finishing, I still had a good grip on her.”
• Niki Hill (Always B Miki-Road Bet), filly pacer, Chris Ryder, 1:53.1, $4.00. “I like her. She felt great. I was pretty confident tonight.”
• Fast As The Wind (Cantab Hall-Wind Stroll), colt trotter, Alagna, 1:55, $3.00. “He’s good, but I think he’ll be better as a 3-year-old. He has a lot of filling out to do.”

Does it ever get old having this high level of success? Dunn was his usual humble self.

“It’s awesome for sure,” he said. “I’m driving for the top trainers, driving good horses. It makes my job easy.”

A LITTLE MORE: Dunn drove eight favorites on the card, his only loss coming with 9-5 shot JK Standingovation in the eighth. He now has 113 wins on the year at The Big M, 31 more than his closest pursuer, Yannick Gingras … Alagna and Takter both had training triples. … All-source wagering totaled $2,399,223. … Racing resumes Saturday at 6:20 p.m.

For full race results, click here.

by Dave Little, for The Meadowlands