One to Watch

After two impressive wins at Parx, Kentucky Outlaw is one to keep an eye on. Trained by Felissa Dunn, Kentucky Outlaw won his debut in February by 7 ¾ lengths. Dunn is off to a good start in 2025 with seven wins, two seconds, and two thirds out of 18 starts. Her 61% win,place,show average puts her among the leading trainers at Parx this year.

“My son, Benjamin Dunn started with us a few years ago, and he picks out all the horses. We are a family operation, and my husband, John, and my son and I train seven horses,” said Felissa.  “My son claimed some horses in Kentucky, and he’s good with numbers and statistics and breeding. My husband John retired from training several years ago, but he picked Kentucky Outlaw from an OBS. sale in Florida. We weren’t even there. We were interested in about three horses, and we had them checked by a vet, but they didn’t work out. My husband had been watching them work on the computer, and he liked Kentucky Outlaw. He didn’t breeze very fast, but he liked the way he went, so he bought him for $12,000,”  Felissa said. “After I saw Kentucky Outlaw in person, I asked my husband if I could be partners with him, so I gave him $6,000 for my half. I get on him and gallop about a mile and a half every day, and he’s easy to gallop and nice on the track, but he’s a handful in the stall. I’m out of breath trying to saddle him,” she explained.

“When we started breezing Kentucky Outlaw here at Parx, people took notice. He’s a big, tall, long-legged horse with a long stride. He was having a little trouble breaking from the gate. He was slow getting out, so we sent him to Clovis Crane for a month. Clovis is great. At first, Clovis schooled Kentucky Outlaw at his farm, and later, he took him to Penn National and schooled him in the gate at the track. He did a wonderful job, and the horse is great in the gate now,” Felissa said.

On February 27^th, Kentucky Outlaw’s three year old birthday, he won his first race, a six ½ furlong maiden special weight with Silvestri Gonzalez in the irons. By the Grade 1 winner, Outwork, out of Fend, by Street Sense, Kentucky Outlaw took the lead after a quarter mile and pulled away to win by over seven lengths. “Silvestri has been really great with the horse. He gets on him to breeze him in the morning, and he’s very patient with him,” Felissa said. Outwork, Kentucky Outlaw’s sire by Uncle Mo was recently sold to continue his stud career in Saudi Arabia.

In his next start, a one mile and seventy yard allowance optional claiming race at Parx, Kentucky Outlaw broke fourth, then took the lead, and won easily by 5 ¾ lengths. “He’s a nice horse, and we nominated him to the Federico Tesio Stakes at Laurel on April 19^th. My husband, John, picks the races for the horses. He and my son watch races every day, and they study all the horses. I take care of the horses, and they decide where to run them. We’re a family operation, and each of us do our part,” Felissa explained.

“I took some horses from Philadelphia Park to Monmouth one summer, and that’s where I met my husband, John. He had come to Monmouth from New England, and we met there and ended up coming here to train,” Felissa said. “I’m sixty-six now, and a grandmother, and my part in our operation is to take care of the horses. I gallop some, and Kentucky Outlaw loves to go out and eat grass, so when the weather’s better, I’ll take him out to graze. We all do it together. When we have a horse running at Aqueduct, my son will go up there. He’s young, and he likes going places. We’ll see how Kentucky Outlaw runs at Laurel. This will be a test for him against tougher horses. My husband has a few races picked out for him in the future. He’s a Kentucky bred, so unfortunately, he’s not eligible for these Pennsylvania bred stakes. I have a PA-Bred named In Spades that’s doing well too,” Felissa said. “We’re all excited and looking forward to Kentucky Outlaw’s next race.”

Cover Photo Credit to Kim Pratt