Woodbine Mohawk Park: Legal Bettor, Springbridgevision take winter late closers

Legal Bettor and Springbridgevision brought the heat Friday night to Woodbine Mohawk Park to win the finals of the Snowshoe and Blizzard Series.

The $40,800 Snowshoe for 3 and 4-year-old pacers and the C$36,400 Blizzard for 3 and 4-year-old pacing fillies and mares featured full fields of 10.

Legal Bettor rallied from tenth and last at three-quarters to win the Snowshoe final in thrilling fashion for driver Travis Cullen and trainer Jodie Cullen.

Fiesty Fireball led the field to the opening-quarter in 28 3/5 before Barbados circled from second to the top in the second-quarter and posted fractions of 57 4/5 and 1:26 2/5.

Legal Bettor got away ninth and angled off the pylons nearing the half, but didn’t gain much ground initially and ended up three-wide and last at the third marker.

In the stretch, Barbados attempted to get away from rivals and held a lead of just over two lengths with an eighth of a mile remaining. Legal Bettor and Cullen unleashed a furious rally, tracking down and nailing Barbados at the wire to win by a neck in 1:55 4/5.

R Bazingga finished third, while Between The Sheets was fourth.

A 4-year-old gelding, Legal Bettor came into Friday’s final off a second-place finish in round two after an opening leg victory. The Cullen trainee has now won two of five starts this season to bring his career numbers to five wins and $55,955 earned.

Owned by Gestion J Y Blais Inc, Legal Bettor paid $7.60 to win.

Sophomore pacing filly Springbridgevision completed her dominance of the Blizzard Series with a sweeping victory for driver James MacDonald and trainer Andrew Moore.

Springbridgevision got away eighth and would sit close to last nearing the half while waiting for outer-flow to develop. Bidforahug made a second-quarter move to the top and led through middle-half panels of 57 4/5 and 1:27 4/5. Sand Artist pressured the leader first-up, while Springbridgevision was third-over and just three lengths from the top turning for home.

In the stretch, Springbridgevision shot to the top spot and had the jump on rival Lyonshedgeabet, who followed the winner around the final turn. Springbridgevision stopped the clock in 1:56 2/5 to win by half a length over Lyons Hedgeabet. Sand Artist was third, while Charms Little Sis was fourth.

A daughter of Shadow Play, Springbridgevision is now undefeated in four starts this season and has won five of 11 career starts. The Blizzard final victory brings her career earnings to $51,933 for owners Andrew Moore, Allan Moore, Tommy Godfrey and Charles Farrell.

A $2 win ticket on Springbridgevision returned $4.90.

The Snowshoe and Blizzard Series were open to pacers who were non-winners of $30,000 lifetime as of October 31, 2018.

-edited release (Mark McKelvie for Woodbine)