The five-time U.S. Driver or the Year will compete in the Ladbrokes Ultimate Driver Challenge before immediately jetting to Florida for the Dan Patch Awards.

by Adam Hamilton

Champion driver Dexter Dunn is recharged and raring to get back into driving in the U.S.

But the five-time Dan Patch Driver of the Year just has a couple of things to attend to first.

Dunn, who is nearing the end of an extended break back home in New Zealand for the past two months, is in Brisbane preparing for the inaugural and innovative Ladbrokes Ultimate Driver Challenge at Albion Park next Friday (Feb. 21) and Saturday (Feb. 22).

Dunn will compete against Yannick Gingras, Bjorn Goop, his great Kiwi mate Carter Dalgety and six of Australia’s top drivers in the 20-race series across two race meetings.

Should he win, celebrations will be short and sweet with Dunn booked on an early flight Sunday (Feb. 23) to Florida so he can attend the Dan Patch Awards in Orlando, FL.

“I fly from Brisbane to San Francisco, then straight to Orlando,” Dunn said. “All going well, I think I will get to Orlando about an hour before the awards start.

“I want to be there; I think I drove eight of the 12 divisional winners and having Twin B Joe Fresh, favorite to win Horse of the Year, is pretty amazing.”

As he nears the end of the longest trip he’s had back home since moving to the U.S. in 2018, Dunn reflects on his time Down Under, his epic 2024 and his goals for 2025.

How’s the trip been back home and did you plan to stay so long?

“I’ve had such a great time. The past couple of years I’ve come back for about five weeks, but this is by far the longest. It’ll be two months when I head back. Before I came back, I did toy with the idea of going back in early January for a few weeks then just doing hit-and-run for this Ladbrokes Ultimate Driver series, but the closer it got, the less it made sense.”

What have you been up to here?

“So much. Most of my time has been spent in Christchurch with family and friends, but I have travelled around a bit. I got to Central Otago for some racing and that was a great chance to catch-up with the trainers and drivers I know down there. Then I got to Nelson at the top of the South Island for one of my favorite circuits. I didn’t want to miss that. It’s always one of my favorite trips. I also got up to Auckland and did a quick trip over to Sydney.”

Why Auckland?

“It tied in really well to spend a week up there going to the big thoroughbred meeting they have, the Karaka Millions, and spend much of the week with my dad, ‘R.J.’ [Robert]. That was some special time.”

And Sydney?

“Well, that came out of nowhere. Trackside [New Zealand’s racing broadcaster] asked if I’d go over and do a sit down with James McDonald [the world champion jockey]. I jumped down the phone and said, ‘Will I ever.’ I sort of idolize ‘J-Mac’ and what he’s done. He’s one of New Zealand’s great success stories. I can’t believe I was lucky enough to be asked to have that time with him, it was really cool. J-Mac and I filmed this piece together about 13 years ago when we were both pretty young and just starting to have success. We watched it back together and cringed. It’s amazing to think how far we’ve both come, especially James. The great thing is he still just seems a Kiwi-kid at heart.”

You’re heading across to Brisbane now for Ladbrokes Ultimate Driver Challenge. Excited?

“I really am. There’s so much talk about it, especially now it’s getting closer. It’s a great concept. People were talking about it back in the U.S. before I left. I’m thrilled to be part of it. It’ll be a bit sentimental for me, too, with Carter [Dalgety] and Kate and Andy [Gath] a part of it, too. They’ve been such big chapters of my life and to be part of this series with them is fantastic. They’ve done well, the Albion Park people, to get Yannick [Gingras] and Bjorn [Goop] to be part of it as well.”

Then it’s a mad rush back to the U.S. for the Dan Patch Awards?

“It sure is. I leave early Sunday morning. But I really want to be there, I need to be there, after the year I had. I’d love Twin B Joe Fresh to win the Horse of the Year and obviously she’s one of the main hopes.”

For all the great horses you’ve driven, she seems extra special?

“Obviously, I own a share in her as well as drive her, but it’s more about sharing the whole thing with Chris Ryder, who is like my ‘American dad.’ He and his wife, Nicola, have just been incredible to me since I first came over. And now we’re all together with Twin B Joe Fresh giving us the ride of a lifetime. Chris has always been close to our family. Dad [Robert] worked for Chris’s dad, along with Chris, when they were starting out. It’s really a fairytale story, this mare.”

What are the plans for Twin B Joe Fresh this year?

“She’s already back in work and will hopefully have another year or two at the top level. It’s still early, but Chris has mentioned there’s a chance she might take on the boys later this season. That’ll depend on how well she’s going at the time and we’d also have to weigh-up how strong the boys are.”

2024 will be hard to top, so how do you set goals for 2025?

“By trying to do even better again. I know it’ll be hard, but I’m a person who likes to set and chase goals. Over the past two years I’ve really managed my workload down from probably about 4,000 drives to maybe 1,300 or 1,400. I’ll be doing that again and focusing on the big races and best horses. My season gets jam-packed from the middle of the year through until November. It’s the travel that wears you down, so having two months off the grid like I’ve had is fantastic and important.”