Driver Dexter Dunn steered the undefeated Be Perfect Bg to victory as he swept the $34,247 New Jersey Sire Stakes (NJSS) Platinum divisions for three-year-old pacers and rung up six total wins on the Saturday, May 9 card at The Meadowlands.

In the division for fillies, Dunn had to deal with scraping mud off of his colours at the conclusion of the race given the sloppy track condition, but he didn’t break a sweat during it.

Be Perfect Bg, a daughter of Perfect Sting-Jk Mardi Says, won as impressively as is expected of a 1-9 favourite, as after sitting a four-hole trip early on, Dunn moved the eventual winner off the rail at the five-eighths and had no trouble winning for fun despite racing first-over the slick surface. She Stings (Joe Bongiorno), the 11-1 second choice, left alertly for the pocket and sat there to the quarter in :27.4 before taking the lead at the half in :56.2. Be Perfect Bg, who ran her lifetime record to seven wins in as many starts, then moved to the rim at the five-eighths, was handled with care past three-quarters in 1:24.1, and sprinted home a much-the-best winner in 1:50.4 by two lengths over She Stings. Perfect Thought (Scott Zeron) was third.

“When I asked her in the straight, she had plenty,” said Dunn. “You can’t put them on the front every start. It was good when she did what she did when I asked her.”

Be Perfect Bg, trained by Tony Beaton for Ecurie CSL of Sorel-Tracy, Que., lifted her lifetime earnings to $200,818. She paid $2.10 to win.

Dunn showed he doesn’t necessarily need the favourite to find his way to the winner’s circle as he pulled off an upset in the NJSS Platinum split for colts and geldings with Sonofanutcracker, who sparkled in his seasonal debut, cutting the mile in a 1:50 score.

Azrael Blue Chip (Andrew McCarthy), the 2-5 public choice who was a spectacular second a week ago in his fast-closing nose loss to the unbeaten Bookie J, worked out a perfect second-over trip through :26.3, :55 and 1:23.1 fractions. But with the Tom Cancelliere-trained Sonofanutcracker sprinting home in :26.4 on the front end, that rival could not threaten the winner, falling 2-1/4 lengths short. Rocknacious (Jason Bartlett) finished third.

“I put him in the North America Cup, but not in The Meadowlands Pace,” said Cancelliere. “This horse trained down perfectly as a two-year-old, but the light didn’t come on until he got to the track. He realized then that he could do this.

“I’m hoping that he just keeps getting better. He may not be as good as the top five horses in the division, but he can cash a lot of cheques. He likes his job. It makes it so much easier when they like their job.”

A colt by Nutcracker Sweet-Rob Them Blind, Sonofanutcracker lifted his lifetime stats to four wins from eight starts, good for earnings of just over $213,219 for owner-breeder John Cancelliere of Clark, N.J. As the 9-1 fourth choice, he returned $21.40 to win.

“Tom said he was ready to go,” said Dunn. “Once he got to the front, he was strong.”

Dunn was red-hot in the slop throughout the 14-race card, racking up six wins to lead the driver colony despite leaving after the 10th race. His other wins came with Stingman ($2.80), Macs Delight ($5.40), Always B Gibby ($5.20) and Best Chip ($6.40). The only other time this year that a pilot piled up a half-dozen victories at The Meadowlands was when Brett Beckwith did it on Feb. 6.

Stingman and Whoa Black Betty won the $13,699 NJSS Silver divisions for sophomore pacers. Stingman scored in 1:52.3 in the contest for males, and Whoa Black Betty equalled that time in the filly event.

Cancelliere, Ron Burke and Joe Bongiorno topped the trainers with a pair of walks down victory lane each. 

All-source betting on the 14-race program totalled $2,780,819. Racing resumes on Friday at 6:35 p.m.

(With files from Meadowlands Racetrack)