by Mike Farrell, for the Meadowlands

East Rutherford, NJ — Kissin In The Sand powered to a three- length victory over archrival Youaremycandygirl in the $191,800 Mistletoe Shalee for 3-year-old pacing fillies on Saturday night (July 14) at the Meadowlands.

Lisa photo

Kissin In The Sand cruises to victory in the Mistletoe Shalee at Meadowlands on Saturday evening.

The top two tangled last month in the James M. Lynch Memorial final at The Downs at Mohegan Sun with Kissin In The Sand relentlessly tracking down the pacesetting Youaremycandygirl to prevail by a neck in an epic effort.

The finish wasn’t nearly as dramatic in this contest. Taking advantage of the elongated start in the 1-1/8-mile contest, Scott Zeron hustled Kissin In The Sand to the front entering the first turn. Youaremycandygirl and Yannick Gingras took the available seat in second.

“I chose to put her on the front in a distance race,” Zeron said. “She just felt stronger tonight. Maybe it helped her last time. She got aggressive today, and I put her up there.”

And so they finished in that order.

Youaremycandygirl, last season’s Dan Patch Award winner and a world champion, tipped out for the stretch drive but the anticipated battle never materialized. Kissin In The Sand was full of pace right to the wire, finishing under wraps as the 3-5 favorite.

“Coming around the last turn, I knew how loaded she was,” Zeron said. “When I asked her for racetrack, she took it. She feels like she’s getting better.”

And that spells bad news for the rest of the division.

It was the third straight win for Kissin In The Sand, improving her season mark to 4-2-0 in six starts.

Overall, she is 11-for-20 for owners Marvin Katz and Hatfield Stables. She is trained by Nancy Johansson.

The time was 2:04.1 over the fast track on a pleasantly warm night. Kissin In The Sand paid $3.40 to win.

Alexa’s Power was third.