Favoured Loua Dipa earned the coveted rail position in the final heat of the 2026 Jugette after her 1:53.3 victory in the $35,211 first heat on Wednesday, Sept. 23 at the Delaware County Fairgrounds in Delaware, Ohio.
Driver Ronnie Wrenn Jr. situated Loua Dipa in third as the eight three-year-old pacing fillies got away in post order heading to the first quarter, fronted by second choice Darlins Angel (Lauren Tritton). Wrenn moved Loua Dipa down the backside and the Sweet Lou-Looksgoodinaromper lass cleared to the top through a :27.3 opener. After a :55.4 half, Sandyboots Yankee (Yannick Gingras) started a first-over grind to pressure the pacesetter, providing cover to Im A Lou Lou (Tim Tetrick) as the third station was reached in 1:25. Loua Dipa maintained her position, and held off a pair of hard-closing finishers — Im A Lou Lou to her outside and Darlins Angel to her inside — to prevail by a diminishing length in 1:53.3 over a track listed as 'good'. Im A Lou edged Darlins Angel for the runner-up spot.
Bumping her earnings over the $1.6 million mark, Loua Dipa is trained by Ron Burke for Pennsylvania-based breeders and owners Burke Racing Stable LLC of Fredericktown and Weaver Bruscemi LLC of Canonsburg. The win was her 14th lifetime in 22 starts, and her first victory since undergoing throat surgery this summer.
"She had surgery and she just had her first start in the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes Final, and she raced good, being off about 40 days," said Wrenn about her third-place finish on Sept. 6. "But I was happy with her in the [Jugette] elimination, and now we have post one and got some options to work with one more time."
As the 4-5 favourite, Loua Dipa returned $3.60 to win.
Here is the field for the final of the 56th edition of the Jugette.
$338,028 Jugette Final
Post - Horse - Driver - Trainer
1. Loua Dipa - Ronnie Wrenn Jr. - Ron Burke
2. Im A Lou Lou - Tim Tetrick - Ron Burke
3. Darlins Angel - Lauren Tritton - Juan Cano
4. Sandyboots Yankee - Yannick Gingras - Ron Burke
5. Perfect Thought - Scott Zeron - Jason McGinnis
6. Vanna By The River - Aaron Merriman - Cory Stratton
7. Ideal Beauty Queen - Dexter Dunn - Jake Huff
8. Kilauea Hanover - Mike Wilder - Norm Parker
The 56th edition of the $373,239 Jugette for three-year-old pacing fillies headlines Wednesday's 21-race card at the Delaware County Fair with live streaming of all the action available.
A field of eight three-year-old pacing fillies will first compete in the first $35,211 heat in the 18th race, then return to contest the $338,028 Jugette final in the 21st race. All eight starters in the first heat will be eligible to race in the final, with posts to be determined by the order of finish in the first heat.
Ron Burke, the Jugette's winningest trainer with five victories, will have three fillies in this year's event including 3-1 morning line favourite Loua Dipa, who will start from post three with regular reinsman Ronnie Wrenn Jr. Owned by Burke Racing Stable and Weaver Bruscemi, the homebred daughter of Sweet Lou-Looksgoodinaromper has 13 career wins in 21 starts and has earned nearly $1.6 million. This year's Grade 1 Fan Hanover and Grade 3 Jerry Silverman Memorial winner missed a portion of the summer due to throat surgery. Most recently, she qualified on Sept. 15 at The Meadows in 1:51.2.
The complete field is listed below.
$35,211 Jugette Elimination Heat
Post - Horse - Driver - Trainer - Morning Line Odds
1. Darlins Angel - Lauren Tritton - Juan Cano - 4-1
2. Sandyboots Yankee - Yannick Gingras - Ron Burke - 5-1
3. Loua Dipa - Ronnie Wrenn Jr. - Ron Burke - 3-1
4. Kilauea Hanover - Mike Wilder - Norm Parker - 25-1
5. Im A Lou Lou - Tim Tetrick - Ron Burke - 5-1
6. Perfect Thought - Scott Zeron - Jason McGinnis - 7-1
7. Ideal Beauty Queen - Dexter Dunn - Jake Huff - 7-1
8. Vanna By The River* - Aaron Merriman - Cory Stratton - 6-1
*$15,000 USD supplemental entry.
The Ohio Harness Horsemen’s Association will present a live stream of Wednesday’s 21-race card, which will be available below. Post time for the first race is 11 a.m.
Click here for free program pages.
(Standardbred Canada)