Meanwhile, Ron Burke passes Jimmy Takter as the leading money-winning trainer in Crown history.

Story by Dave Briggs / quotes by Debbie Little

Dexter Dunn won the final three Breeders Crown races on Saturday’s (Oct. 26) card at The Meadowlands to become the first driver to be victorious in six Crowns in a single year in the 41-year history of the series.

Dunn surpassed the previous record of five Crown wins set by David Miller on a single night at Woodbine Racetrack in 2015 and Dunn also became the first driver to exceed $2 million in purse earnings in a single Breeders Crown year.

“It’s been a great weekend, but I came into the weekend with a lot of good drives and had some good draws to work with, too,” Dunn said. “The trainers had them ready to go and they performed on the night.

“It’s ‘pinch yourself’ stuff, really. The horses I’ve been driving, they are great horses and it makes my job easy. The Breeders Crown is never easy to win. They are tough races. We got lucky and got good trips with a couple. I don’t know what to say, really, the horses just did all the hard work.”

Dunn also became the fastest driver to record 20 Crown victories. He ended the night by driving his own Twin B Joe Fresh to a dominant win in the Mare Pace to record his 21^st lifetime Crown win in just over six years since coming the United States from New Zealand.

“I was hoping to win one stakes race when I came over,” Dunn said, laughing. “That was my aim, to win one stakes race. You never think this will happen, but I’ve been lucky to have great support from [Chris Ryder], Nifty Norman, Tony Alagna put me on early and gave me a shot… when they probably could have got more experienced drivers, but they believed in me and that got me rolling. I’ve been really lucky that way.”

Dunn won Crowns with Miki And Minnie (2YOFP) and Maryland (2YOCT) on Friday and My Girl EJ (3YOFP), Winner’s Bet (Open Pace), Mirage Hanover (3YOCP) and likely sealed the Horse of the Year title for his own Twin B Joe Fresh, whom he shares with her trainer Ryder, Peter Trebotica and Barry Spak.

“It’s probably the most excited I’ve ever been winning a race tonight, with her,” Dunn said. “It’s been a dream ride with her. That was just a massive thrill tonight when I won with her.

“I just have faith in the horse and you’ve just got to go in with confidence. Tonight, she felt great… Going to the gait, she was up on her tippy-toes and that was a good sign. I was pretty happy when she was ready to roll.”

Prior to this year, 31 Breeders Crown winners have been voted Horse of the Year in 40 years (an impressive 77.5 per cent).

Meanwhile, when T C I finished second in the sophomore trotting colt final, trainer Ron Burke surpassed Jimmy Takter to be the leading trainer, by earnings, in Breeders Crown history. On Friday, Burke cashed six checks for a total of $696,500. He cashed five more checks worth $639,520, total, on Saturday for a $1,336,020 weekend.

Burke now has $14,381,400in all-time Crown earnings, just ahead of Takter’s $14,245,211.

Takter still leads with 34 trophies from 28 champions, but Burke is second with 22 trophies from 17 champions.

“Backing into it [by finishing second by a nose with T C I] wasn’t really the way I wanted to do it, but obviously it’s nice,” Burke said.

Burke Racing also extended its lead as the leading owners by earnings in Crown history.

“My mom and dad are the leading owners of all time and that’s incredible when you think about all the owners. Now, to be the leading trainer… that’s a neat thing. I never even knew that I was close with that. I knew that I was second to Jimmy in wins, but I didn’t know I was anywhere near in money, so that’s nice.”

As for how many Crown winners will end up with divisional titles, that’s too difficult to assess just yet. But, prior to this year, 267 Crown winners have been voted divisional champion out of 466 horses (57 per cent), including the last three — Test Of Faith (2021), Bulldog Hanover (2022) and Confederate (2023).

WINNING BREEDERS

As the series is called the Breeders Crown, it’s important to point the spotlight on the men and women that produced the horses.

Over 12 Breeders Crown races, 10 different breeders were victorious this weekend, including four homebreds. Only Hanover Shoe Farms (Maryland and Mirage Hanover) and the team of Burke Racing Stable and Weaver Bruscemi et al (Louprint and My Girl EJ) doubled up.

Hanover Shoe Farms extended its lead in the breeder standings. The famed farm now has 29 Crown champions that have won 33 trophies. Hanover also extended its lead in the all-time Crown money list for breeders, with nearly $22 million. Brittany, which bred Twin B Joe Fresh, is second in Crown champions (23), total Crown trophies (31) and money (nearly $13 million).

The complete list of Crown-winning breeders is:

• Lady Landia — Homebred — Ake Svanstedt, Little E LLC

• Miki And Minnie — Homebred — Craig Henderson, Robert Mondilo, Lawrence Monowitz

• Maryland — Hanover Shoe Farms

• Louprint — Homebred — Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi, Philip Collura

• Call Me Goo — William B Roberts

• Allegiant — Atlantic Trot Inc. and Steve Stewart

• My Girl EJ — Homebred — Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi, E Novak

• Sig Sauer — Southwind Farms

• Coach Stefanos — Victory Hill Farm

• Winner’s Bet — S R F Stable

• Mirage Hanover — Hanover Shoe Farms

• Twin B Joe Fresh — Brittany Farms

WINNING TRAINERS

Nine different trainers won Crowns this year, including first-time winner Jake Leamon (Mirage Hanover). Burke (Louprint and My Girl EJ), Ake Svanstedt (Lady Landia and Call Me Goo) and Ryder (Miki And Mini and Twin B Joe Fresh) were the only conditioners to win two Crowns each this year.

The complete list of winning trainers is as follows:

Ake Svanstedt — lifetime 11 trophies from 9 champions

Chris Ryder — 8 trophies from 7 champions

Marcus Melander — (Maryland); 5 trophies from 3 champions

Ron Burke — 22 trophies from 17 champions

Linda Toscano — (Allegiant); 9 trophies from 8 champions

Noel Daley — (Sig Sauer); 6 trophies from 6 champions

Erv Miller — (Coach Stefano); 6 trophies from 6 champions

Nancy Takter — (Winner’s Bet); 11 trophies from 10 champions

Jake Leamon — (Mirage Hanover); first career Crown win

WINNING DRIVERS

James MacDonald broke through with his first Crown victory when he drove Lady Landia to an upset win in the 2-Year-Old Filly Trot in the first Crown race on Friday. He added a second Crown on Saturday when he came from out of the clouds with Coach Stefanos to win the Open Pace.

Also scoring his first career Breeders Crown triumph was Ronnie Wrenn, Jr. who won the 2-Year-Old Colt Pace with Louprint on Friday.

The complete list of Crown winners is as follows:

James MacDonald — two wins; lifetime 2 trophies from 2 champions

Dexter Dunn — six wins; 21 trophies from 16 champions

Ronnie Wrenn, Jr. — first career Crown win

Ake Svanstedt — one win (Call Me Goo); 7 trophies from 7 champions

Scott Zeron — one win (Allegiant); 8 trophies from 8 champions

Andrew McCarthy — one win (Sig Sauer); 6 trophies from 6 champions.