by Kimberly Rinker, USTA Web Newsroom Correspondent

Lexington, KY — A $253,700 trio of American Ideal International Stallion Stakes went postward Friday afternoon over Lexington’s Red Mile, setting hoof on a racing surface listed as “good,” after a healthy dose of rain had settled on the historic Standardbred arena.

Nigel Soult photo

JK She’salady was a 1:50.2 winner for Yannick Gingras.

JK She’salady kept her unbeaten streak alive as she captured the second $84,900 division of the American Ideal International Stallion Stakes for freshman pacing fillies in 1:50.2 with Yannick Gingras in the sulky.

The track condition had been changed from good to ‘fast,’ after the second race, but a light mist began to fall just before the start of this event, the third race on the day’s card.

After sitting fourth behind the leading Heavenly Bride (Brian Sears) and Bettor Be Steppin (Corey Callahan) to the :27.1 first quarter and :55.1 half, Yannick tipped his charge to the outside and in the blink of an eye the speedy distaff was on top. From there she simply cruised through the 1:23.1 three-quarter, before striding home easily to notch her eighth win in eight starts. Heavenly Bride finished second, while Bettor Be Sweet garnered third-place honors.

“She likes to race that way and we’ve never tried her on the front, so there seems no reason to change it,” Gingras said. “The track is pretty fair right now and the horses are handling it well.”

Owned by the Three Brothers Stables and trained by Nancy Johansson, JK She’salady pushed her career earnings to $421,025. The daughter of Art Major-Presidential Lady-Presidential Ball is a full sister to JK Endofanear p, 3, 1:48.2 ($1,079,425) and JK Fine Art p,4,1:50.2f ($374,102).

Sassa Hanover paced to a world record-equaling time of 1:50.1 for driver Yannick Gingras, giving him his third Grand Circuit victory of the day in the third and final division of the American Ideal International Stallion Stakes for 2-year-old pacing fillies. Trained by Ronnie Burke, the daughter of Rock N Roll Heaven upped her career earnings to $245,541 en route to capturing her eighth win in ten tries.

“Yannick said she was strong and dug in and he was happy with her effort,” Burke said. “She won’t race again until the Matron, which is about a month off and that will help her, and then she’ll have the Breeders Crown. We had her mare, Sayo Hanover, who had a ton of speed, and I’m sure a big believer in Rock N Roll Heaven now.”

Hall of Famer John Campbell hustled Deli Beach quickly off the gate to take the lead around the first turn, but was then headed by the hard-pacing Crescent City (Mark MacDonald) to a :27 first quarter. David Miller then moved Ideal Nuggets boldly to the outside, while Divine Caroline (Corey Callahan) was three-wide to the :54.3 half. Sassa Hanover then pulled and took command to the 1:22 three-quarters, with Divine Caroline in hot pursuit. However that effort was to no avail, as the hard-trying Sassa Hanover dug in and would not relinquish her lead to her rival at the wire. Ideal Nuggets prevailed to be third behind runner-up Divine Caroline.

Sassa Hanover is owned by Burke Racing, Weaver Bruscemi, The Panhellenic Stable and Lawrence Karr. She is the first foal out of her dam and was a $50,000 yearling at the 2013 Lexington Selected Sale.

In the first division Bettor N Better with Yannick Gingras made an aggressive, first-over move just past the half to win her fifth lifetime start in a career best 1:51.Ronnie Burke trains the daughter of Bettor’s Delight, who upped her earnings to $173,190 with the win.

At the start My Little Delight (Mark MacDonald) grabbed the early lead, but relinquished quickly to the hard-pacing Zip Code Envy (Scott Zeron) to the :27.1 first quarter.Tim Tetrick then hustled Shakai Hanover up to the :55.1 half, before giving up the lead to Bettor N Better.The latter was 3-1/2 lengths in front around the final turn and appeared to be getting tired in the stretch.However, when Wicked Little Minx (Ake Svanstedt) came at her hard in the stretch, Bettor N Better dug in and held off the former in impressive fashion.

“She was good last week but grabby and I had to fight her most of the way, and she raced even, but today she was much more relaxed and definitely had a lot more finishing,” Gingras said. “This filly was just acting green on the front, but we were able to fight off that other (Wicked Little Minx) filly at the wire.”

Wicked Little Minx finished second for the third time in her career, while Zip Code Envy was third, with My Little Delight fourth.

Bettor N Better is owned by Our Horse Cents Stable and Blue Chip Bloodstock and was bred by 4 Rose Stable.She is the first and most prolific of three foals out of the Chief Marty mare Vanite Semilu p, 3, 1:54.2s ($222,135).