DEXTER DUNN DOUBLES IN NJSS DASHES AT BIG M

Sunday, May 10, 2026

He only had a total of 54 drives this year heading into Saturday night’s races at The Meadowlands, but Dexter Dunn showed why he is a five-time Dan Patch Driver of the Year award recipient, showing no rust after guiding the winners of both $25,000 Leg 2 Platinum divisions of the New Jersey Sire Stakes for 3-year-old pacers.

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

Be Perfect BG, a daughter of Perfect Sting-JK Mardi Says, won as impressively as a 1-20 favorite should, as after sitting a four-hole trip early on, Dunn moved the eventual winner off the rail at the five-eighths and had zero trouble winning for fun despite racing first-over the slick surface.

She Stings, the 11-1 second choice, left alertly for the pocket, allowing Interstellar to race on the point at the quarter in :27.4 before taking the lead at the half in :56.2 as they lined up She Stings-Interstellar-Sunny Station-Be Perfect BG.

“Perfect”, 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 on the far turn before sprinting home a much-the-best winner in 1:50.4 by 2 lengths over She Stings. Perfect Thought 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, an Anthony Beaton trainee, returned $2.10 while lifting her lifetime earnings to $146,950.

Dunn showed he doesn’t necessarily need to guide the favorite to find his way to the winner’s circle after pulling off an upset in the split for colts and geldings with the Tom Cancelliere-trained Sonofanutcracker, who sparkled in his seasonal debut, going wire-to-wire in 1:50.

Azrael Blue Chip, the 2-5 public choice who was a spectacular second a week ago in his fast-closing nose loss at the hands of the unbeaten Bookie J, worked out a perfect second-over trip, but with Sonofanutcracker sprinting home in :26.4 on the front end, could not threaten the winner, falling 2¼ lengths short. Rocknacious 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 2-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 checks. He likes his job. It makes it so much easier when they like their job.”

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

A colt by Nutcracker Suite-Rob Them Blind, Sonofanutcracker lifted his lifetime stats to four wins from just eight starts, good for earnings of just over $150,000. As the 9-1 fourth choice, he returned $21.40 to win.

THAT’S A HALF-DOZEN, COUSIN: Dunn was red-hot in the slop, racking up six wins on the program to lead the driver colony, despite leaving after the 10^th race. The only other time this year that a pilot piled up a half-dozen victories was when Brett Beckwith did it on Feb. 6.

A LITTLE MORE: Cancelliere and Joe Bongiorno topped the trainers with a pair of walks down victory lane each. … All-source betting on the 14-race program totaled $2,780,819. … Racing resumes Friday at 6:35 p.m.

PHOTO: Be Perfect BG and driver Dexter Dunn won the New Jersey Sire Stakes division for 3-year-old fillies on the pace Saturday night at The Meadowlands. (Credit: Lisa Photo)