2020 Addington Harness Hall of Fame Inductee

By Peter Craig

This year’s inductee was announced at Addington Raceway on Thursday 8 October 2020 as part of the eighteenth Canterbury Owners and Breeders Night.

The youngest ever reinsman to be inducted into the Addington Harness Hall of Fame in Dexter Dunn was this year’s recipient; already an inductee of the NZ Trotting Hall of Fame.

Dexter Dunn, with a profile confirming his status as one of the hottest reinsman in North America, already has an impressive and extensive CV of achievements.

Briefly these include being the youngest driver in NZ to reach 100 winners in a season/win a NZ driver’s premiership (both aged 18) and attain 1,000 and 2,000 wins.

The winner of ten consecutive NZ drivers premierships (record) plus concurrent with them four consecutive junior drivers premierships (equal record), Dexter won 200 races on six occasions (twice 199) setting new seasonal records on three occasions (best 229). He has twenty eight NZ Group One winning drives and equalled Doug Watts and Tony Herlihy’s record of seven winners on race day at Forbury Park in May 2015 (six wins on six occasions; twenty three times five winners).

Worldwide Dexter has driven over 3,100 winners – NZ (2,226, fifth on NZ list/585 Addington), Australia (55), Ireland (4) and 842 to date in North America (4 October 2020; current season ninth on wins [280], leader on stakes won [US$7.173m). He won the 2015 World Drivers Championship in Sydney and in his first full season in North America in 2019 Dexter was awarded USA Harness Writers Association driver of year : 460 winners (double his NZ record, eighth on NA list), US$12.071m in stakes, third behind Tim Tetrick and Yannick Gingras. Earlier this year he drove seven winners on a fourteen race Meadowlands programme, one short of the record as well as being second most successful driver at Meadowlands 2019/2020 (85 wins to Yannick Gingras’s 86).

He was the driver of North America’s 2019 leading money winner Bettors Wish and multiple world record trotter Manchego – fastest trotting mare on mile (T1:49.0 Lexington, Red Mile) and 5/8ths (T1:49.3 Plainridge Park) tracks and latterly Jugette winner Party Girl Hill (world record 1:49.3 on half mile track for a female) part of six win day for Dunn on Jugette Day 2020. From early September 2020, leading USA stake earning driver – at 4 October 2020, US$7.173m (approx. NZ$11m) and second on Grand Circuit points table for drivers.

All this and much more having just turned thirty one with plenty still to come, these are just a few of many notable achievements in the career to date of this year’s latest and youngest horseperson to be inducted into the Addington Harness Hall of Fame : DEXTER DUNN.

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