Analyse This: February trainer focus on Matthew Dunn

Cover image courtesy of Magic Millions

While the hustle and bustle of the city life is where most aspiring trainers wish to set up shop, reputable horseman Matthew Dunn may say otherwise.

With his main stable based in the Northern Rivers town of Murwillumbah, Dunn’s success led him to acquire boxes in Sydney a few years ago. Operating satellite stables in Sydney for the best part of two-and-a-half-years revealed on-course city training isn’t always the be-all and end-all.

A return to his permanent home of Murwillumbah last winter has proved worthwhile with the astute horseman striking at 21 per cent winners to runners for the current racing season.

Table: Matthew Dunn's results per season 2019 - 2023

Taking a look at his results over the past five seasons, Dunn is having the best season since the 2019/20 racing season when he managed a 19 per cent winning strike rate from 114 winners.

This season, the Northern New South Wales-based trainer is managing a winning strike rate of over 21 per cent and looks well on track to recording his most successful season to date. Just five months into the current racing season, Dunn has surpassed his earnings from last season by almost 50 per cent and is only dollars away from netting a healthy $5 million for the season.

Gallery: Some of Matthew Dunn's high-class winners this season

While he is churning out winners at a far greater frequency (21 per cent) than last season (15 per cent), Dunn’s spike in prizemoney has been largely helped by his stable star Cepheus (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), who collected both the G2 Shannon S. and $1.5 million Alan Brown S. during a successful spring campaign.

A pair of winners on Gold Coast Magic Millions Raceday handed Dunn another healthy collect with Boom Torque (Spirit Of Boom) claiming the $1 million Magic Millions QTIS Open and seasoned sprinter Derry Grove (Star Turn) victorious in the $1 million The Syndicate. Both winners combined for a total collect of over $1.16 million which no doubt provided Dunn with one of his most memorable days as a trainer.

Table: NSW Highway Race Series leading trainers 2023/24

A decision to close his satellite stables and move back to his permanent base of Murwillumbah has paid dividends with Dunn regaining eligibility for Racing NSW’s lucrative Highway racing series. With $120,000 on offer every Saturday, the Highway race series has become an incredible incentive for country-based trainers.

Dunn is the series’ most winning trainer having claimed seven of the 28 editions so far which is a healthy collect of $385,000 for his owners. For comparison's sake, that’s 94 per cent of his total prizemoney earnings collected from his Sydney metropolitan runners last season.

Represented by a runner in 21 editions of the race this season so far, Dunn is striking at an incredible 33 per cent when competing in the Highway series. The relocation back to the country environment of Murwillumbah proved a wise move for the stable yet again when Dunn’s recently acquired Front Page (Magnus) claimed Australia’s richest race for country-trained horses in the $2 million, The Kosciuszko. Highway winners and Kosciuszko’s combined has Dunn earning a tidy collect of almost $1.4 million for the season in those races alone.

Table: Matthew Dunn's strike rate by region 2022/23 versus 2023/24

Dunn’s decision to close his Sydney satellite stable in July 2023 has not only proved worthwhile for his overall strike rate, but also for his results across the stronger racing jurisdictions. In the 2022/23 season, Dunn saddled 44 runners across the Sydney racing circuit for just two winners. This season, from 30 Sydney metropolitan starters, Dunn has managed 10 winners at an incredible strike rate of 33 per cent.

While this season’s metropolitan Sydney earnings ($2,280,000) has been helped by his stable star in Cepheus and $2 million The Kosciusko winner Front Page, Dunn has already collected almost five times that of last year’s Sydney metropolitan earnings.

It’s not only his performance across the Sydney circuit that has improved since his move back to Murwillumbah, Dunn’s results across all regions have benefited. Last season, Dunn managed a strike rate of 12 per cent winners to runners when competing in Queensland metropolitan races while his 17 winners this season has him striking at 18 per cent winners to runners.

With incredible prizemoney on offer for country trained horses, Dunn’s decision to relocate his whole stable back to his Northern Rivers base has proved a genius move. In what is one of the most competitive racing nations in the world, identifying a niche market is becoming increasingly important and Matthew Dunn has certainly nailed it on the head.