He’s been by far the most successful harness racing driver in the United States over the last half-dozen years. During 2024, he won a record six Breeders Crown finals before going on to be named the Dan Patch Driver of the Year Award winner for a fifth time in the last six years.
But there are still two big stakes wins missing from Dexter Dunn’s resume.
This season, the 35-year-old New Zealand native has a good chance of checking the box next to both the Meadowlands Pace and Hambletonian.
“I’ve had my chances before, they are not easy races to win,” said Dunn during an interview with Meadowlands Racetrack's Dave Little during last weekend's In The Sulky segment. “You’re always trying to win those races. It’s the pinnacle of the sport, but I’ve got some nice ones coming along this year.”
One of those nice ones is Captain Optimistic, a Nancy Takter trainee who currently sits second in the Big M’s “Road to the Meadowlands Pace” Top 10 poll. Last year, the son of Captaintreacherous-Cinamony won seven of 11 starts and banked $628,529, with his biggest win coming in his final start of the year, in the $538,310 Governor’s Cup for two-year-old male pacers at The Meadowlands.
“He had a good season last year,” said Dunn. “But he could do things a little bit wrong. He’s a bit of a quirky horse but he seems to have matured since last year. [He had some steering problems] but it seems like the issues have been corrected. I think it might have been more being immature than anything else. The ability is there. Hopefully, he can put it all together this year.”
It's anybody’s guess what Captain Optimistic’s odds might be if he made it to the $700,000 USD (est.) Meadowlands Pace on July 12, but there is no question who the public choice will be in the $1-million Hambletoninan on Aug. 2 if all goes smoothly. Were there a future wager on the 100th edition of “America’s Trotting Classic,” Maryland might be 4-5 or less.
“Maryland had an amazing year during 2024,” said Dunn of the O'Brien Award-winning son of Chapter Seven-Crucial. “He was always giving me a great feel from day one and carried it on through the season.
“[This year] he’s really filled out a lot. I trained him here [Saturday] morning and went a nice trip around the track. He felt really good.”
The Marcus Melander student won six of nine starts a year ago after finishing the season with five consecutive stakes victories: the 575,000 William Wellwood Memorial, $527,027 Peter Haughton Memorial, $1 million Mohawk Million, $972,222 Breeders Crown and $240,094 Kindergarten. His seasonal earnings of $1,675,697 made him the richest freshman trotter of all time.
“I think he always was special,” said Dunn. “He made a break [at The Meadowlands] early in the year [on July 5] but then he just sort of had to put it together. He always had the speed and the ability and the strength. With two-year-old trotters, it takes time to get them good. He really did step up his game and really got better as the season went on.
“He’s obviously going to have a bit of weight on his shoulders [this year] but I’m sure he can handle it. The three-year-old trotters, it’s hard battles out there, so he’s going to have to bring his 'A' game.”
Dunn, whose money earnings were a career-best $22 million during 2024, also discussed stars Jiggy Jog S and Twin B Joe Fresh during the interview, which is available below.
(With files from Meadowlands Racetrack; photo of Maryland winning the Breeders Crown last year at Big M)