By Dave Little, Meadowlands Media Relations
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – For the hottest
driver in harness racing, it didn’t matter that he was unfamiliar with his
horse in the featured $36,000 high-end conditioned trot at The Meadowlands
Friday night, he just did what he usually does.
Win.
Dexter Dunn got behind Dunbar Hall
for the first time ever and the duo managed to gun down 3-5 favorite JL Cruze
in deep stretch as the 7-year-old gelded son of Deweycheatumhowe-Debbie Hall
recorded his second straight score after stopping the clock in 1:52.4.
“I knew I was going to be in the
mix,” said Dunn. “I hadn’t raced the horse before but he did explode off a
helmet last week. I got a pretty good drag into it.”
It didn’t look good for the new team
of Dunbar and Dunn as JL Cruze ranged up to grab the top just after the quarter
and settled in on the point before hitting the half in an unpressured :55.2.
Dunbar Hall was sixth in the
seven-horse field (after avoiding early breaker Gotwuteverittakes in the early
going) down the backside before picking up cover from Deltasun A just after the
half. When Deltasun A began to weaken on the far turn, Dunn moved his horse
three-wide for the drive to the wire.
“I didn’t know my horse that well. I
went three wide before the straight,” said Dunn. “I was told by Rico [Robinson,
who works for winning trainer Jeff Cullipher] before the race he’s better when
he comes off cover, so getting away sixth wasn’t too bad a spot.”
Dunbar Hall chipped away at JL
Cruze’s edge through the stretch and was clear by three-quarters-of-a-length at
the wire. Double Account rallied well to just miss getting the place spot.
“I knew the stretch was going to be a
battle, but in the back of my head, the way he ran home last week, he flew
home, so I was hoping he had enough trot left.”
As the 9-5 second choice, Dunbar Hall
returned $5.80 to his backers in upping his lifetime numbers to 28 wins from
107 starts and earnings of $479,348 for owners Pollack Racing and Cullipher.
A LITTLE MORE: After winning five times last
Saturday – which included three Kindergarten Classic Finals – Dunn won three
more on the Friday card to give him eight victories over the last two programs.
… Scott Zeron, Yannick Gingras and Corey Callahan all had driving doubles while
Edwin Quevedo trained a pair to victory lane. … All-source handle totaled
$2,397,523. … Racing resumes Saturday at 6:20 p.m. with a huge card, as eight
high-powered stakes events will be in the spotlight on Fall Final Four/TVG
Finals Night. Purses for the stakes events total $2.6 million.
