What a half hour Dexter Dunn and trainer Nancy Takter had at the Meadowlands on Saturday night.
Manchego equalled the track record at the New Jersey track for an older female trotter in 1:49.4, and then in the very next race JK First Lady broke the world record for four-year-old pacing mares by winning in 1:47.4.
Both were driven by Dunn, the 10-time New Zealand champion, and trained by Takter.
In the Miss Versatility Series Manchego recorded the first sub 1:50 trotting mile of the season , with arch rival Atlanta charging late to finish fourth.
The time matched the record set by Darling Mearas S in 2019.
“She hasn’t been in front for a while but she had her ears perked up and got along good,” Dunn told the United States Trotting Association, “she was travelling good.”
In the next, the Dorothy Haughton Memorial, JK First Lady got the trail before outgunning the pacesetting Rocknificient to win by three quarters of a length.
Paying $6.60 for the win it was the second favourite’s first victory of the season.
Her time of 1:47.4 beat the previous world record set two weeks ago by Lyons Sentinel, who finished fourth. Before that the record was held by Major Occasion A (1:48.1), set in 2020.
Dunn also won later in the night with Sandbetweenmytoes, taking his tally to 231 wins for the year.
He has amassed $US3.744m in stakes, that’s the third highest behind Tim Tetrick ($4.66m) and Yannick Gingras ($3.88m).