The Meadows: Be Perfect BG ready to battle in Adioo Volo
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After losses by a head and a neck to harness racing's top-ranked female pacer, Be Perfect BG will look to return to her winning ways Saturday in a $64,052 division of the Grade 3 Mickey Burke Adioo Volo, for 3-year-old filly pacers, at Hollywood Casino at The Meadows.
Be Perfect BG's appearance in the second of the afternoon's two Adioo Volo splits will occur one race prior to her archrival, Loua Dipa, heading to the track to face eight sophomore boys in the $420,500 Grade 1 Delvin Miller Adios Pace for the Orchids, presented by 1/ST BET. Both races will be shown as part of a one-hour national cable telecast on CBS Sports Network beginning at 5 p.m. (EDT).
Loua Dipa, who for two weeks this season was ranked No. 1 in the Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown poll and currently is No. 3, is the first filly to compete in the Adios since 1969. She is the only horse to ever beat Be Perfect BG, snapping her nine-race win streak with a head victory in a Canadian-record 1:48 1/5 in the Grade 1 Fan Hanover Stakes at Woodbine Mohawk Park on June 13 and then posting a neck victory in a stakes-record 1:48 in the Grade 3 Jerry Silverman Memorial at the Meadowlands on July 11.
"There is no shame in the way she lost both those trips," said Anthony Beaton, who trains Be Perfect BG for owner Ecurie CSL. "We had (Loua Dipa) sit on our helmet in the first race and then she left us on the outside in the next one. I think if we can draw inside of her one day maybe the roles will be reversed.
"But it is what it is. They all get beat."
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Be Perfect BG's appearances in the Fan Hanover and Silverman Memorial were her first Grand Circuit starts after dominating in New Jersey on her way to sire stakes championships at ages 2 and 3. For her career, the daughter of Perfect Sting-JK Mardi Says has the nine wins, two seconds, and $361,269 in earnings.
"She's a very special filly," Beaton said. "She makes nothing easy for her opponents. She battles the whole mile.
"You never know what to expect when they're going up against the Grand Circuit types, and I think she's fared very well with a win (in her Fan Hanover elimination) and two seconds. Two narrow losses, and probably to one of the better fillies that's ever put a harness on."
After going five-for-five as a freshman, Be Perfect BG was given time off to mature for her 3-year-old season.
"We shut her down (after the NJSS final on Aug. 1) because we had nothing else to race for," Beaton said. "We let her grow up, let her be a horse. She came back to me in November, and I couldn't believe the way she grew up. Just the difference in size and how long and how thick she got. She just developed into a beautiful-looking animal. And she's only 3, so she's still developing. We've been very pleased with her."
Be Perfect BG was not staked to the Adioo Volo, so her connections paid $7,500 to supplement to the event. She was one of two supplements, with Miss Jum Jabber, who competes in the first Adioo Volo division.
"We discussed it with the ownership and said it's going to fill a void in our schedule," Beaton said. "Rather than qualify, we get to race for a little bit of money. We get to have a competitive race and try to keep her sharp and on her toes."
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Be Perfect BG will start from post six in a field of eight in her Adioo Volo division. She will have Dexter Dunn in the sulky and is the 8-5 morning-line favorite.
"We're in very good shape, I think," Beaton said. "I'm not afraid to go to battle when I've got a horse like Be Perfect. And don't get me wrong, we've got a great driver, too, with Dexter. That always helps. We just hope to have her ready and have a good day and maybe we'll be in the winner's circle again."
Topville Lucky, coming off a win in the Grade 3 Nadia Lobell Stakes at Eldorado Scioto Downs on July 18, is the 5-2 morning-line choice in the first Adioo Volo division. She will leave from post two with Dunn driving for trainer Andrew Harris. Miss Jum Jabber, who has won eight of nine races, is the 3-1 second choice and will start from post six with Andrew McCarthy driving for trainer Brett Pelling.
Racing begins at 11:30 a.m. (EDT) Saturday at The Meadows.