Games

She’s Mad powers clear in Pepsi Stakes at Fonner Park

She’s Mad turned the Pepsi Stakes into a runaway, drawing clear by 3 3/4 lengths in 1:12.80 and adding black-type that could lift her next level.

David Kumar2 min read
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She’s Mad powers clear in Pepsi Stakes at Fonner Park
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She’s Mad did more than win the Pepsi Stakes at Fonner Park. She separated herself from a useful stakes field and did it with authority, rolling home 3 3/4 lengths clear in the 47th running of the six-furlong test for 3-year-old fillies.

The daughter of Leofric out of Koritsi handled the fast dirt in 1:12.80, a sharp enough clocking for a $20,400 added stake that went off at 5:24 p.m. and drew eight starters. Alberto Pusac rode the filly for trainer Kelli Martinez and owner Alexis L. Burghardt, and the victory returned $6.80 to win. The exacta came back $31.80 with She’s Mad over Beach of Dreams.

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The margin matters as much as the time. Beach of Dreams chased her home in second, but She’s Mad had already done the hard part by the stretch, and Forever N Love was another 3 1/4 lengths back in third with a neck separating the next runner. Carrying 120 pounds, She’s Mad gave away only two pounds to Beach of Dreams, but she still made the race look controlled rather than competitive once the real running started. Forever N Love carried 124, the top impost in the field, which only sharpened the value of She’s Mad’s finish.

That is the part that makes this result matter beyond one spring afternoon at a smaller circuit. Fonner Park can produce honest stakes races, but the jump from regional company to deeper black-type company is where reputations are tested. She’s Mad now owns a victory that carries breeding weight as well as racing value, and at this stage of a filly’s career that combination can shape future decisions in the entry box and eventually at the sales ring.

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The win also moved She’s Mad to 2-for-6 in 2026 and lifted her lifetime earnings to $32,255. Fonner Park’s spring stakes calendar still has more on tap, including the Fonner Park Special, Bosselman Pump & Pantry/Gus Fonner, and other named stakes, but She’s Mad left the clearest statement of the series so far: if she can hold this form when the competition stiffens, she may have more than a local stakes win on her résumé.

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