Milton, ON — Driver Ronnie Wrenn Jr. confidently stuck inside the pocket with Loua Dipa into the last turn and found clearance coming for home to emerge victorious from a neck-and-neck sprint to the finish with unbeaten Be Perfect BG for a stakes-, track- and Canadian-record victory in the C$420,000 Grade 1 Fan Hanover, for 3-year-old pacing fillies, on Saturday (June 13) at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
Be Perfect BG hustled from the center of the gate, prompting Wrenn to accelerate with Loua Dipa out of post 3. Loua Dipa strung out Be Perfect BG through a :26.3 first quarter and comfortably tracked the 3-5 favorite up the backstretch to a :54.2 half. Perfect Thought, an elimination winner, pulled outside from sixth to push uncovered after the other two elimination winners moving to the last turn. As she marched forward, Wrenn opted to remain inside through the turn and raced locked at the cones behind Be Perfect BG to three-quarters in 1:21.2.
Rounding the bottom corner, Be Perfect BG lifted for home and began drifting off the pylons, giving Wrenn a seam to fire. Loua Dipa clawed forward through the final eighth and stretched her neck out late to put away Be Perfect BG in a 1:48.1 mile by a head. Perfect Thought gave chase in third and Sangria Summer took fourth.
“I wanted to sit one-two and as long as Dexter had to use his horse a little bit to clear me, I was happy to sit the two-hole,” said Ronnie Wrenn Jr., who won for the first time in the Fan Hanover along with trainer Ron Burke. “I got lucky, shook loose late; she’s a true champion. Raced great. I was very confident in the horse, she knows how to win. I know she’s as tough as nails. She knows where the wire is and dug in late.”
Loua Dipa, a homebred Sweet Lou filly out of the Pet Rock mare Looksgoodinaromper for owners Burke Racing Stables LLC and Weaver Bruscemi LLC, eclipsed the longstanding Canadian record for 3-year-old pacing fillies of 1:48.2, first set in 2012 by American Jewel in the Fan Hanover Stakes, matched twice in this race – first by Sylvia Hanover in 2023 and then by Its A Love Thing in 2024 – and most recently equaled in 2025 by Miki And Minnie. She won her second race from three starts on the season and her 11th race from 16 starts in her career, earning $1,384,788 in a campaign that already has Ron Burke saying she’s the best filly he’s ever trained.
“And that’s saying a lot,” Burke said after the race, “because I can name a ton of other ones, but she’s special. She does things other horses can’t do. I think we’ve yet to see even the best of what she can do.
“I don’t think ever in her career she’s had to go to the inside,” Burke also said, “so that’s something new for her, and she fought all the way and got her head in front. But I give that other filly credit – she didn’t quit fighting. She was going right along with her so I was happy to get up.”
Sent the second choice in the betting, Loua Dipa paid $4.40 to win.