Two of North America's top trotters from 2025, Lexus Kody and Yo Tillie headlined the returning stars in qualifying action at The Meadowlands on Saturday, April 11.

A total of 11 qualifiers were carded on Saturday morning, with Lexus Kody delivering the fastest mile of the six contested on the trot.

With regular pilot Yannick Gingras at the lines, Lexus Kody trotted comfortably in the pocket behind stablemate Chapercraz (Dexter Dunn) through fractions of :29.1, :56.3 and 1:25 before angling to the outside at the head of the lane. Lexus Kody closed with confident strides as Gingras sat motionless through the wire in a 1:53.4 performance. Chapercraz finished second, 2-3/4 lengths in arrears, with Cactusotheclouds (Andy McCarthy) back in third.

The 2025 U.S. Trotter of the Year, Lexus Kody is trained by Ron Burke for Pennsylvania-based owners Burke Racing Stable LLC, Weaver Bruscemi LLC and Phil Collura. The eight-year-old son of Archangel - Lexus Helios topped all Standardbreds in North America with $1,827,523 earned last year, bringing his career bankroll to $2,545,552 with 37 wins and a mark of 1:49.1 that stands as the fastest mile trotted in Canada.

Yo Tillie was the runner-up to Lexus Kody in U.S. Trotter of the Year voting, but the mare was first at every call in her four-year-old debut on Saturday morning. Todd McCarthy guided the daughter of Tactical Landing - Consolidator to an effortless 1:54.2 score in wire-to-wire fashion, three lengths better than R Lady W (Scott Zeron) with Voguish (Dunn) next across the line.

Two votes shy of being a unanimous selection for three-year-old trotting filly honours stateside, Yo Tillie is co-owned by trainer Andrew Harris with Freehold, N..J.-based partners Bill Pollock and Bruce Areman. Victorious in 11 of her 12 sophomore appearances, Yo Tillie enters 2026 with a career summary reading 19-2-1 from 24 starts and more than $1.77 million in purses.

On the pacing side, sophomore Be Sting clocked the fastest performance of the morning with a victory in 1:52.1. After towing driver Scott Zeron through panels of :28.2, :56.2 and 1:24.2, Be Sting closed in :27.4 to fend off Kindergarten Classic winner Bookie J (Dunn) by a neck. KYSS Championship winner Ubrute (Gingras) completed to the top trio.

A gelded son of Perfect Sting - Odds On St Lucie, Be Sting is trained by Joe Holloway for Val D'Or Farms of Bluffton, S.C., Brittany Farms LLC of Versailles, Ky. and AC Crawford Racing Stable of Fort Lauderdale, Fl. He's a three-time winner with a mark of 1:50 and more than $139,000 earned.

Both Be Sting and Ubrute are Pepsi North America Cup eligible.

(Standardbred Canada; photo of Lexus Kody winning at Woodbine Mohawk Park)