Dunn stays hot, wins 4 at Big M
January 23, 2021,East Rutherford, NJ — The wins just keep on coming for Dexter Dunn.
The 31-year-old New Zealand native, who was named the United States Harness Writers Association’s Driver of the Year for a second straight time last week, registered four winners on the Friday night (Jan. 23) card at The Meadowlands.
Before the start of the program, Dunn was awarded The Big M’s Driver of the Week after winning seven times last weekend (Jan. 15-16), and now sits atop the standings at the mile oval with 19 victories in the early stages of the Winter-Spring-Championship Meeting.
Tango Dancer N scores in the 10th race at The Meadowlands Friday night, one of four victories on the card for leading driver Dexter Dunn. Lisa Photo.
Dunn’s backers got to cash in some nice prices, as after winning with 1-5 public choice Billion Dollar Day ($2.60 to win in race one), the track’s leading driver (with 131 wins) during 2020 scored with Smooth Aceleration ($11.40 in the fifth) and Tango Dancer N ($12.40 in the featured 10th) before completing his grand slam with Alexander Hanover ($14.40 in the 13th).
Another Down Under standout, Australia native Andy McCarthy, had a big night as well, scoring three times during the night. His fans were smiling after those races as McCarthy’s winners were sent to the gate at odds of 7-2, 7-1 and 10-1.
PICK-6 CARRYOVER: With a sequence that began with a 10-1 chance and a 27-1 long shot, no one hit the 20-cent Pick-6, creating a carryover for Saturday night’s program of $7,293.
Those who had five winners cashed in for $347.34. Free past performances for the entire Saturday card are available by going to playmeadowlands.com.
HIGHS AND LOWS: With three odds-on choices scoring during the sequence, the 20-cent Pick-5 returned $75.90.
In sharp contrast, the Early 50-cent Pick-4 saw no winning favorites and a healthy payout of $8,987.35.
A LITTLE MORE: Simon Allard drove two winners on the program while Kelvin Harrison registered a training double. … Play in the two Pick-4s was predictably vigorous, as the two pools combined to see over $160,000 in action. … All-source wagering totaled $2,806,228, the third consecutive Friday where at least $2.8 million was pushed through the windows. … Racing resumes Saturday at 6 p.m.