By Dave Little, Meadowlands Media Relations
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – Fall Final
Four/TVG Finals Night saw a handful of horses lock up divisional honors
Saturday night at The Meadowlands.
It also saw the two most-coveted
human awards cinched by a pair of the game’s biggest stars.
First up was Dexter Dunn, the
30-year-old native of New Zealand, who in his second year driving full time in
America, left no doubt whom the United States Harness Writers Association’s
Driver of the Year will be.
Of the eight stakes races on the
card, Dunn emerged victorious four times, guiding Manchego (TVG Open Trot),
Kissin In The Sand (TVG Mares Pace), Always A Miki (Governor’s Cup) and
Bettor’s Wish (TVG Open Pace) to victory lane.
Add in the fact that Dunn won four
Breeders Crown races and was the only driver in the sport with $10 million in
earnings this year coming into the night, he better make room for a second DOTY
trophy.
Takter scored three times on the
card, as her trainees – Manchego, Kissin In The Sand and Always A Miki – were
all handled by Dunn. She entered Saturday with earnings of $7.3 million from
just 397 starts.
During 2020, in addition to the
aforementioned power-packed threesome, Takter also had likely Horse of the Year
winner Tall Dark Stranger – the Meadowlands Pace and North America Cup champion
– in her barn.
It’s clear that Takter will raise the
USHWA Trainer of the Year hardware.
A LITTLE MORE: Trainer Ron Burke and driver Dave
Miller both reached an incredible milestone, as each pushed past the
$250-million mark in lifetime earnings. Burke reached that lofty number when
his Baklouva finished second in the Governor’s Cup Consolation while Miller
became a quarter-billionaire after scoring with Blue Diamond Eyes in the Three
Diamonds. Burke is harness racing’s leading all-time trainer in terms of
earnings while Miller is second to John Campbell, who finished his career with
$299 million in his bank account. … All-source handle on the 13-race card was
$2,744,397. … Racing resumes Friday at 7:15 p.m.
