Prepping for upcoming stakes engagements at The Meadowlands, three-year-old pacers Be Perfect BG and Sweet Lovin Lou headlined Woodbine Mohawk Park's mixed Monday morning qualifying session on June 29 that included older horses and two-year-olds.
The nearly perfect Be Perfect BG kicked off Monday's qualifiers with a sharp 1:50.4 mile, pacing :25.4 on the end while extending her lead to 14 lengths for driver Louis-Philippe Roy and trainer Anthony Beaton. Be Perfect BG crossed to command from the outermost post seven in the opening qualifier and clocked fractions of :28.3, :57.3 and 1:25 before blitzing home free. Sweet Mary Lou (Mark MacDonald) and Count On Gord (Chris Matthews) were second and third, respectively.
The Perfect Sting-JK Mardi Says filly, just a head shy of a perfect 10-race record after her being collared by reigning U.S. divisional champion Loua Dipa at the end of a 1:48.1 Canadian record mile in the Grade 1 Fan Hanover Stakes last time out, is eligible to the upcoming Jerry Silverman Memorial on Meadowlands Pace Night, July 11. A career winner of $437,818, the New Jersey Sires Stakes champion is owned by Quebec's Gaston Bibeau and Ecurie Csl of Sorel-Tracy as well as Gestion Eric Bibeau Inc. of Ste-Victoire-De-Sorel.
Meadowlands Pace eligible Sweet Lovin Lou tuned up for his trip stateside scheduled for Tuesday ahead of this weekend's eliminations with a winning qualifier. With James MacDonald in the bike for trainer Dan Lagace, the Sweet Lou-Lovers Dream colt carved out panels of :28.4, :57.2 and 1:26.1 en route to a 1:53.2 win by 2-1/4 lengths over the unraced Vela Luka (Mark MacDonald), with Panic Ray (Louis-Philippe Roy) back in third.
The Sweet Lou-Lovers Dream colt has been a major player in the majority of his Grand Circuit stakes assignments and won his North America Cup elimination in a career-best 1:48.2 before finishing sixth in the final last time out. He's won four of his 13 career starts while earning $322,317 for owners Lagace Stables of Cambridge, Ont., Edwin Buhler of Wantagh, New York, Big Als Stables of Woodbridge, Ont., and Brittany Farms Micki Rae of Versailles, Kentucky.
A pair of baby races went postward during Monday's seven-race qualifying session, with fillies Lyons Bulldog and Panache Princess topping their respective fields.
On the pace, the debuting Dr. Ian Moore-trained Lyons Bulldog ramped up her speed for driver Mark MacDonald through fractions of :29.3, :58.3 and 1:26.4 on the way to a 1:54 score. With her final frame clocked in :27.1, she won by two lengths over colt Untold Story (Jody Jamieson) with filly Tox (Trevor Henry) back in third.
Bred by Vieux Carre Farms, the Bulldog Hanover-Ava Hanover filly was a $43,056 purchase from the 2025 Lexington Select Yearling Sale by Threelyonsracing, Brantford, Ont.
On the trot, the Roger Mayotte-trained and reined filly Panache Princess cruised clear on top in her second qualifier through an evenly rated half-mile in 1:02.2 before picking up the pace to three-quarters in 1:32.2 and closing it out with a :28.2 final frame. She won in 2:00.4 by two lengths over filly Karma Queen (Trevor Henry), with colt Coach Chippy (Todd Ratchford) third.
A $120,000 yearling purchase from the 2025 London Classic Sale, the daughter of King Of The North is the first foal out of Princesspartypants, a former Ontario Sires Stakes Gold-winning Mayotte trainee. The Seelster Farms-bred filly is owned by Just In Time Stable of Mississauga, Ont., R A W Equine Inc. of Burlington, Ont., and Ben Mudry of Toronto, Ont.
To view Monday's complete qualifying results, click the following links: Monday Results (Qualifiers) - Woodbine Mohawk Park.
A replay of the Woodbine video stream from Monday's qualifiers is available below.
(Standardbred Canada; photo of Be Perfect BG winning her Fan Hanover Stakes elimination on June 6 at Mohawk)