Dexter Dunn and Sabonis win $230,000 Bergstein final

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – Off a grinding return-to-form effort in defeat in the last preliminary, harness racing  driver Dexter Dunn took authority with Sabonis (Tellitlikeitis) for a slam-dunk 1:47.3 harness racing victory in the $230,000 Stan Bergstein Graduate Series Pace on Saturday night (July 5) at The Meadowlands.

Sabonis pushed from post 2 and landed third in the early firing line with Captain Luke swooping forward from post 7 and marching to grab the lead through a :26.1 first quarter. Dunn then vacated his seat at the cones and brushed towards the top – with Nijinsky and Captain Albano following suit – entering the backstretch.

While Sabonis easily crossed and cleared the lead before a :54 half, Nijinsky struggled to push past when first over into the far turn. Sabonis stayed on the muscle while pressed by Nijinsky to three-quarters in 1:21.2 and shrugged away that rival spinning for home.

Captain Luke became the main threat in the stretch with a furious rally through an inside seam off the pocket trip, but Dunn kept Sabonis to task in the final-quarter sprint to stave off that charge by three-quarter lengths.

SABONIS REPLAY

Nijinsky held third from Captain Albano, who tipped wide from his second-over trip to take fourth.

“I was happy to let Nijinsky to go,” winning driver Dexter Dunn said, “but he just couldn’t quite get around me and my fellow was travelling so strongly at the time. Once he fought off Nijinsky and I asked him to speed at the top of the straight, he knuckled down good.”  

Diamond Creek Racing acquired Sabonis from previous owner Pat Miller and trainer Aaron Stutzman – off a sophomore campaign with 16 wins from 18 starts – before the 2025 season, but the 4-year-old stallion by Tellitlikeitis-Gypsy Bellevue floundered in his first two starts. Both driver Dexter Dunn and trainer Brett Pelling said some equipment changes got the stallion back in the right direction.

“The one race he disappointed everyone there [on June 13^th], he went three high on the turn, got hung up on the head pole… I was concerned, but Dexter said he was good,” Brett Pelling said.

“We just needed to let him run in a little bit, let him do his thing and we’ll be fine. So we just put the equipment on a little differently and he’s gone forward ever since.”

Diamond Creek Racing shares ownership of Sabonis, an 18-time winner with $621,750 in earnings, with Pelling Racing LLC. He paid $11.60 to win.

For complete race results, click here: US Trotting results.

by Ray Cotolo, for The Meadowlands