Loua Dipa wins thrilling stretch duel with Be Perfect BG

The $180,120 Grade 3 Jerry Silverman Memorial, for 3-year-old pacing fillies at the Meadowlands on Saturday night (July 11), presented a mighty duel down the stretch from the two favorites in blazing fractions with Loua Dipa and Ronnie Wrenn Jr. getting the nod in a 1:48 victory — setting a stakes record and tying the divisional track record in the act.

Darlin’s Angel made a sharp early move over three leavers to get the top early through a steep opening quarter of :26.1. I’m A Lou Lou soon rushed out of third to take the lead with Loua Dipa following her in the outer lane, and Loua Dipa smoothly cleared command in the shuffle to a :53.3 half.

Be Perfect BG, parked from the start after floating forward out of post 9, marched uncovered to take on Loua Dipa, and that duel burned to three-quarters in a fiery 1:20. But Loua Dipa fended off the persistent challenge of Be Perfect BG to the finish by a neck with Darlin’s Angel zipping up the inside for third and She’s A Bulldog finishing fourth.

“I knew it was going to take to the wire [for us] to get there,” Wrenn said after the race. “Dexter’s horse [Be Perfect BG] raced great. She was out the whole way and she never went away; she was there until the end. These two fillies are going to battle all year.”

Loua Dipa, a daughter of Sweet Lou-Looksgoodinaromper, is trained by Ron Burke and owned by Burke Racing Stable and Weaver Bruscemi. She paid $3.80 to win while raising her lifetime earnings to $1,118,118 and collecting the 13th victory in her career. Her 1:48 win equals the Meadowlands track record for 3-year-old pacing fillies, set in 2019 by Tall Drink Hanover, and the time eclipses the 1:48.3 stakes record, set in 2021 by Hot Mess Express and matched in 2022 by Max Contract.

Ed. Note: Trained by Anthony Beaton, Be Perfect BG is owned by Écurie CSL of Sorel-Tracy, Quebec. The daughter of Perfect Sting now sports a career record of 9-2-0 in 11 starts, with earnings of more than $362,000.