He’s been by far the most successful driver in harness racing 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, whose money earnings were a career-best $16 million during 2024. “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 $454,830, with his biggest win coming in his final start of the year, in the $382,200 Governor’s Cup for 2-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 (est.) Pace on July 12, but there is no question who the public choice will be in the $1-million Hambo 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 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 $425,500 William Wellwood Memorial, $390,000 Peter Haughton Memorial, $740,000 Mohawk Million, $700,000 Breeders Crown and $173,300 Kindergarten. His seasonal earnings of $1,227,695 were tops in the sport, and made Maryland the first 2-year-old trotting colt to lead the game in earnings in more than seven decades.
“I think he was always 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 2-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 3-year-old trotters, it’s hard battles out there, so he’s going to have to bring his “A” game.”
HUGE HI-5 POOL LOOMS: There were no winning tickets sold on the 14th race Hi-5 (or Pentafecta, if you prefer) last Saturday (May 10) night, creating a carryover of $11,399 for Friday’s (May 16) 14th dash.
Hi-5 carryovers are uncommon and a total pool of $40,000 or more is expected. In the event $30,000 of “new money” were wagered, that would create a surplus of over $6,000 for players to shoot for, creating a “negative takeout”, where winning tickets are exchanged for more money than what was bet.
GIWNER AND RALLIS RETURN: Check out the live “Racing from The Meadowlands” pregame show every Friday and Saturday when track announcer Ken Warkentin opens up the mic with a scene set and program changes.
On Friday, Warkentin will then throw to the Sam McKee Memorial Broadcast Set, where The Big M’s Dave Little and Jessica Otten will provide news, notes, selections and a look at the night’s featured races. In addition, the Big M’s “A”-team will take a look at Little’s “Road to the Meadowlands Pace” Top 10.
Derick Giwner, the Editor at DRF Harness, will sit alongside Little on Saturday night providing his insights as Otten will provide commentary to a national television audience on Fox Sports 2 (FS2).
After spending last weekend at Scioto Downs, frequent flyer John Rallis will be back at The Meadowlands this weekend handling interviews from the back paddock as well as providing commentary and selections on the FanDuel Television (FDTV) feed.
CHECK OUT FOX: For a fifth consecutive year, the TV teams at the New York Racing Association (NYRA) and The Meadowlands will combine forces to bring high-caliber harness racing stakes events to a national television audience over the networks of FOX Sports as part of NYRA’s “America’s Day at the Races” telecasts.
The first of eight scheduled shows will be broadcast on Saturday (May 17), when The Big M showcases the best older trotters in North America in the $158,000 Arthur J. Cutler Memorial. In addition to coverage from the East Rutherford oval, races from Indiana’s Hoosier Park will also be featured.
The Meadowlands’ Otten and Hoosier Park’s Gabe Prewitt will provide analysis from their respective venues.
Here is the schedule for the FOX Sports shows, with the event(s) that will be featured and the time the show will be broadcast. Which FOX network the show can be found on – Fox 5 New York (locally), FS1 or FS2 – will be determined:
· May 17 – Cutler Memorial, 8-11 p.m., FS2
· June 28 – Perfect Sting, Brower Memorial, Crawford Farms, Six Pack, 8-11 p.m., TBA
· July 5 – Stan Bergstein Graduate finals; Meadowlands Pace eliminations, 8-11 p.m., TBA
· July 12 – Meadowlands Pace Night (multiple stakes), 8-11 p.m., TBA
· August 2 – Hambletonian Day (multiple stakes), 1-7 p.m., TBA
· September 5 – New Jersey Classic Series finals, 8-11 p.m., TBA
· November 1 – Kindergarten finals, 8-11 p.m., TBA
· November 15 – Fall Final Four, 8-11 p.m., TBA
GET YOUR PENCILS READY: The fifth edition of the 2025 Meadowlands Monthly Handicapping Contest takes place on Friday (May 16), and for visitors to The Big M, playing the contest is something they should consider even if they have not participated in competitions like this before.
The monthly challenge offers $1,000 in cash prizes.
If a track visitor is someone that doesn’t mind risking $100 during the course of a race card, then the contest is for them, as that $100 that gets them into the contest is not an entry free, but money that buys one a ‘betting card’. If they hit big that night, they keep every penny of that green. In addition, if they finish in the top four, they walk away with that additional prize money, and, if in the top two, collect not only prize money but also earn a spot in the end-of-the-year competition that offers cash prizes totaling $10,000.
Contest format:
· Contestants must be on-site to participate
· Contestants must buy a $100 betting card to participate
· Contestants must bet a minimum of five Meadowlands races
· There is no minimum or maximum bet per race
· Contestants can play any wager(s) on The Meadowlands live wagering menu
· Contestants keep all pari-mutuel winnings
· Contestants can enter as many times as they wish
· The top two finishers earn spots in the $10,000 end-of-the-year contest
Remaining contest schedule:
· Friday, May 16
· Friday, June 20
· Friday, July 18
· Saturday, August 30
· Saturday, October 25
· Friday, November 21
· The $10,000 invitation-only final is on Saturday, December 13
Players that have qualified for the December contest are Nick Montemurro and Gary Scogna (the top two finishers from January); Michael Grasso and Montemurro (February); Sean Loebs and Joe Barre (March); and Robert Glaser and Jim Bohnarczyk (April).
Complete contest rules and regulations can be found here.
To participate, players must be 18 years of age or older to wager on racing. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, please get help at 1-800-GAMBLER.
-release (Meadowlands)