Dexter Dunn

[Kenny]

My opinion this will lead to his downfall.  You must grind and work hard! I'm old school that way

As long as he is the best driver in the world, he will get the best drives any time he wants.

[hoosierboy]

As long as he is the best driver in the world, he will get the best drives any time he wants.

Exactly

[LUCPARK]

Most of the horses in the series are Yonkers type horses with local trainers he doesn't drive for. I think he's more concerned with keeping the stables he drives for regularly happy.

[Grandstand Handicapper]

Dexter is very good, and also gets good support, in managing his business. None of the drivers have agents of course, but many of them get support which helps them.

[Harness racer]

Dex might lose drives if he skips these series?     Clueless!

[Grandstand Handicapper]

The only way Dexter is losing business and losing drives in the future from not driving in these series is if he commits to drive and then pulls a no-show. He can tell any trainer in the country he's not driving at YR, not driving now, in these series, etc., and that trainer will accept his answer and move on. Period. If he doesn't "spin" someone, he's fine. He's the best driver in the game right now. Now, if a trainer like Tony Alagna calls and wants him to drive, Dexter may think about doing it because the guy has 40 of the best bred 2yo's and some top 3yo's coming back in the barn, and Dexter probably sat behind many of them this winter, so he's managing his business for the spring and summer, but that's a business decision. OTOH, if he tells Tony he's taking a break, giving his body a rest, etc., Tony is not throwing him off the rest of the barn either. It's not necessary, so he ain't doing it.

[Arrive7100]

In my opinion Tony Alagna's stable has been a big disappointment in recent years considering how much his owners have invested in young horses. It's been a while since he's had a top horse, and I know alot of his horses are 6 figures and above. I think he's an honest trainer and a good guy, but in my opinion the results haven't come close to meeting expectations. If it keeps up, some of his owners will decide to go elsewhere.

[Brown jug]

you are correct arrive 7100, in fact some owners have shifted and or cut back
for the last 3 years Alagna has had the best quality and quantity of any trainer
sure there have ben a few good ones but not enough given the starting point and certainly no great ones
been a cash  burning machine the last 3 years
no harm intended just facts 

[Grandstand Handicapper]

In my opinion Tony Alagna's stable has been a big disappointment in recent years considering how much his owners have invested in young horses. It's been a while since he's had a top horse, and I know alot of his horses are 6 figures and above. I think he's an honest trainer and a good guy, but in my opinion the results haven't come close to meeting expectations. If it keeps up, some of his owners will decide to go elsewhere.

Without question.

[Harness Stats]

I will agree that his numbers and top horses are way down, but which owners do you think are going anywhere?  Myron... no way.  Grant... too much money to care and he uses other trainers anyway.  Pryde stables has been a big owner the last few years, I don't know for sure who they are, but it sounds like it's his own stable if the rumors of his sexuality are true.  So who would leave?  It's not like he has a public stable and depends on training bills to survive.

[Brown jug]

It's not like he has a public stable and depends on training bills to survive.


yes it is a public stable made up of a small group of very prominent owners including caviart, crawford in addition to those mentioned, most of these folks are not getting any younger
of course he depends on training bills to survive, why do you think he has so many horses at his own training center

[Grandstand Handicapper]

Owners get tired of writing checks before trainers get tired of accepting them. LOL.

You do not see the Staley/Ackerman relationships between owner and trainer any more. Even the owners like Woolworth, or Armstrong (with Dancer and Sholty), when they were active had more of a private trainer type situation and relationship, which was a thing of the past. Since dirt, you had big owners that left trainers, then time went on and you had big owners starting to use multiple trainers, and so on. With Tony, first, nobody really knows how much of Myron's action/activity is really his money. He's been a front-runner, OTM guy, etc., since day one. Myron always went wherever he had to, could make money, have backing, etc. He's old now. His race is inside the red zone, LOL. He doesn't have the clout he did, and he never had as much clout has he thought he had, LOL. Early on he had Segal's backing, or Segal's bailout might be a better word, LOL. Segal's interests in the business are a fraction of what they used to be. Don't forget when Myron was a Vinny Aurigemma guy. Then he spread out a few of his partnership horses, and he ended up where Segal told him he had to be. Years later, he didn't even have horses, but he was a Bob McIntosh guy because he was with George. And so on. Second, several of Tony's other owners aren't necessarily Tony's owners per se as they are partners in partnerships and may not have their fingers on the buttons of control. Third, most of Tony's biggest owners, who call their own shots, have been using other trainers for years.

A few more years like the last few and Tony loses a lot of his backing. A so called or perceived top horse might delay or defer that, but at the end of the day, if owners aren't making money, breaking even, losing too much, whatever their objectives are, they will pull up roots and move.

[MCR]

Owners get tired of writing checks before trainers get tired of accepting them. LOL.

You do not see the Staley/Ackerman relationships between owner and trainer any more. Even the owners like Woolworth, or Armstrong (with Dancer and Sholty), when they were active had more of a private trainer type situation and relationship, which was a thing of the past. Since dirt, you had big owners that left trainers, then time went on and you had big owners starting to use multiple trainers, and so on. With Tony, first, nobody really knows how much of Myron's action/activity is really his money. He's been a front-runner, OTM guy, etc., since day one. Myron always went wherever he had to, could make money, have backing, etc. He's old now. His race is inside the red zone, LOL. He doesn't have the clout he did, and he never had as much clout has he thought he had, LOL. Early on he had Segal's backing, or Segal's bailout might be a better word, LOL. Segal's interests in the business are a fraction of what they used to be. Don't forget when Myron was a Vinny Aurigemma guy. Then he spread out a few of his partnership horses, and he ended up where Segal told him he had to be. Years later, he didn't even have horses, but he was a Bob McIntosh guy because he was with George. And so on. Second, several of Tony's other owners aren't necessarily Tony's owners per se as they are partners in partnerships and may not have their fingers on the buttons of control. Third, most of Tony's biggest owners, who call their own shots, have been using other trainers for years.

A few more years like the last few and Tony loses a lot of his backing. A so called or perceived top horse might delay or defer that, but at the end of the day, if owners aren't making money, breaking even, losing too much, whatever their objectives are, they will pull up roots and move.

Hmm that's funny.  I thought I started this about Dexter Dunn not Tony Alagna.

[Arrive7100]

Look at the bright side, at least it's not about politics or Brett Beckwith.