Harness: Dunn is a man in high demand

There's no secret formula to becoming a successful catch-driver. The reality is a driver must put their talent on display with the hope it's recognized by trainers and rewarded in the form of "live" mounts.

Over the course of Dexter Dunn's full-time move to North America, more specifically the U.S., he's gained a loyal following of trainers and owners who sought out his services and were rewarded in kind. In 2022 Dunn has already eclipsed his career-best with his mounts earning in excess of $13.8 million, with the number sure to grow through the final month of the stakes season. What's more impressive about the Dunn numbers is not just the amount of money his drives have amassed, but the fact that Dunn sat behind fewer horses this year than in the past. Just comparing the numbers this year to last, Dunn has driven in 750 fewer races in 2022 as opposed to 2021, and he's driven 150 fewer winners. It's a stunning achievement and exemplifies just how high Dunn's star has risen in the sport and the overall quality of the horses he drives with regularity.

As for the significant drop in numbers that don't include dollar signs, there is at least one easy explanation. Dunn took the entire months of January and February off in 2022, a move that could have risked him losing some mounts, but in the end did not detract from those seeking his services or recognizing his commitment to excellence in major races.

"I didn't drive at Chester [Harrah's Philadelphia] very much," Dunn said when asked about the minimal number of drives this year. "I was down in Lexington with the longer meet they had."

Dunn was one of many drivers that shifted their tacks to Lexington where stakes action lasted for a few months with plenty of opportunity.

The key to any successful year for a catch-driver is commitments to drive top stakes horses. In that regard Dunn had the cream of the crop both on the pacing front and the trotting side. Perhaps most notable was his ascension with trainer Ake Svanstedt this year.

"They [Ake and Sarah] are great to drive for," Dunn said. "Their horses are well-mannered and good-gaited."

Despite driving top horses like Alrajah One and Jiggy Jog S to impressive stakes victories this year, Dunn's appearance behind Ecurie D caught him off guard.

"No I wasn't expecting it," Dunn said of the call that came from the Svanstedts to drive last year's Breeders Crown champion in this year's Open final at Woodbine Mohawk Park. Though the news caught him by surprise, Dunn didn't take much of the credit for the bounce-back victory of Ecurie D in the Crown.

"They went to the blind bridle at Yonkers, and it didn't work out," Dunn said of Ecurie D's disappointing effort in the International Trot. "He was very strong throughout the mile in the Crown."

Having driven both Alrajah One and Ecurie D put Dunn in the position to evaluate the pair of premier trotters, but he was more than diplomatic when asked to compare.

"They're both top horses that's for sure," said Dunn. "Alrajah really hadn't been tested yet, but he was sensational."

While the aged horses were great for Dunn's resume, perhaps the move by the Svanstedts to seat him behind the Walner-sired Jiggy Jog S was the best for both parties, as Dunn seemed the perfect fit for a filly that Sarah Svanstedt had noted could get "excitable."

"I think she's definitely improved a lot over the course of the year," said Dunn of Jiggy Jog S, who captured the Kentucky Futurity filly division in brilliant fashion and then scored an easy victory over her rival Joviality S in the Breeders Crown last month.

The Kentucky Futurity filly event saw Jiggy Jog S trot a 1:50 flat mile despite starting from post eight and cutting most of the fractions.

"That was a great effort by her," said Dunn. "I got a little help with Selfie Queen parked on the outside, but she was solid right to the wire."

In the Futurity, Jiggy Jog S held off her rival by a neck and just a few weeks later the filly was even better in the Breeders Crown. "I had Joviality on my back, but she was powerful finishing," said Dunn of Jiggy Jog S, who won for the eighth time in the Crown final and out-finished Joviality by a length and a half on this occasion.

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Dunn's Breeders Crown prowess extended of course to the likely Horse of the Year Bulldog Hanover, who put forth another epic performance following a rare defeat at The Red Mile in early October.

"We were down there to go for a record," said Dunn of Bulldog Hanover's second-place finish in the Allerage at The Red Mile on October 9. "He really didn't feel the same that day. He was definitely back to himself in the Crown."

Dunn was perhaps trying to pull off the impossible of going for a record on a Red Mile surface that wasn't as live as it had been in prior days.

Dunn will be making two stops on Thursday (November 10), with the Matron for 3-year-olds of both sexes and gaits slated at Dover Downs in the late afternoon and the $125,000 Potomac at Rosecroft a bit later in the evening. One of the likely bright spots on Thursday could come in the form of Niki Hill. Last year's top 2-year-old pacing filly has had an abbreviated campaign, but her driver believes she's back following a second-place finish in the Breeders Crown.

"I mean she's only had a handful of starts. That was a massive effort for her in the Crown," Dunn said. "That's as good as she's felt all year."

At Rosecroft, Dunn will partner with Tattoo Artist in the Potomac, and that son of He's Watching is fresh off a second-place finish behind Dunn's Bulldog Hanover in the Breeders Crown.

With live drives coming in from all directions Saturday in the Kindergarten finals at the Meadowlands and over the next two weekends in the Fall Final Four and the TVG Finals, Dunn appears poised to add to his already personal-best year. Still, as is the case with many catch-drivers, his phone anxiously awaits the call to duty.

Are you driving Ecurie D in the TVG Dunn was asked?

"I don't know yet," said Dunn.

Even if the call doesn't come, Dunn is looking forward to a different 2023 campaign that will not be a carbon copy of 2022, at least from a scheduling perspective.

"I'm going to take off in January," Dunn said, "But I will be back in February next year."

That news is welcome for fans of the Meadowlands this coming winter.