Racing: Enthusiastic Dunn ponders future

Dexter Dunn has few problems winning his first race at The Meadowlands behind McLelland. Photo / Supplied

Wonder driver Dexter Dunn says he is not getting carried away by his dream start to his North American career.

But the 21-year-old admits the chances of him making a semi-permanent move to the United States have already increased.

Dunn drove a winner at the world's most famous harness racing track, The Meadowlands, at his first night in the sulky in the US on Saturday.

His driving and professionalism off the track have already won rave reviews in what can be the very closed shop of North American harness racing and more success in coming weeks will set him up for a push to a fulltime move.

But Dunn says he has a long way to go to prove himself.

"It was a great start and a big thrill to win a race on my first night, but a lot of the best drivers weren't actually there on Saturday night," he told the Herald.

"They were away, driving at a big meeting at Pocono, so I am not expecting to get seven drives a night again this week."

Dunn said it was actually the strange US system of driver allocation which provided him with so many chances on Saturday.

"I was engaged for a couple of horses, but over here when a trainer enters a horse they ask for a certain driver.

"If that driver is unavailable often the stewards put a driver on the horse for them and that is what happened with me a few times.

"So I ended up with seven drives without having to work for them."

Dunn says he likes the different racing style at The Meadowlands.

"It is completely different from back home because everybody goes single file early, because they go so hard.

"Then people start to pull out and move and you need to be in the right place at the right time and going forward.

"But I like it, it is very tempo-based."

Dunn's winner, McLelland, paced his mile in 1:50.2 on Saturday but the driver says it felt much slower.

"You simply don't realise how fast you are going, but it didn't feel anything like that.

"And that was only a US$25,000 [$31,000] race."

Dunn says while competition will be tough at The Meadowlands, his rivals were friendly and helpful.

"Everybody has been great," he said.

"There has been heaps of interest about my career and the other drivers have been really friendly.

"They take the time to explain things to me and are always on for a chat so that was a really pleasant surprise."

Dunn will stay in the US until at least after the World Driving Championships in the first week of August and will let his results between now and then determine his future.

"If I have a really good run and am getting drives I would love to stay," said Dunn.

"The stakes up here are good and if you were in the top 10 drivers you would be driving almost every day.

"But I also still want to drive down home so it could be that I try to spend summer back in New Zealand and winter up here.

"That is all in the future but I am committed to giving it a go."

Dunn's 220 wins in New Zealand this season are a record for either
code and he is well on his way to becoming one of the most prolific winning horsemen New Zealand has produced.

However, while the sight of him winning on harness racing's biggest stage in his national colours will evoke plenty of pride among his fan club, most will be hoping his move to the US is successful but not permanent.