52-1 shock in $150,000 Gold Mid-Season Final

Kinnder Hotblood (Kadabra) blew up the toteboard as she upset heavy favourite R Liza in a photo finish in the $150,000 Ontario Sires Stakes Gold Mid-Season Final for three-year-old trotting fillies on Saturday (Jul. 6) at Woodbine Mohawk Park.

Trainer/driver Matt Bax dropped the filly into the pocket and let R Liza (Sylvain Filion) do the work through :28.1, :57.3, and 1:25.1 splits. R Liza pulled out a couple of lengths at the top of the lane, but Kinnder Hotblood shifted out and set the stage for a deep-stretch showdown. Kinnder Hotblood gained rapidly in the last 1/16th of a mile and stuck her head in front to prevail in 1:54. Valuable Miss (Brett MacDonald) circled from eighth to get up for third.

KINNDER HOTBLOOD REPLAY

Kinnder Hotblood is five-for-eight on the season but had finished fifth in both prior Ontario Sires Stakes (OSS) Gold attempts this year. The filly has compiled six victories and $148,903 in lifetime earnings from 14 starts. She won the Ontario-sired Spring Series in April.

Also on the card, Mcwicked offspring swept the two divisions of the first OSS Gold leg for two-year-old pacing fillies. Wicked N Single, coming off her debut win in the Tompkins-Geers, vaulted to a five-and-a-quarter-length victory off a pocket trip in the first elimination. Jonathan Drury piloted the filly in the 1:53.3 mile. Perfectly Chic (Bob McClure) got up in the three-across battle for place with Lady Cafe Au Lait (Filion) taking third.

WICKED N SINGLE REPLAY

Wicked N Single is perfect in two lifetime starts for trainer Tony Beaton, who also won both Meadowlands Pace eliminations at The Meadowlands on Saturday. She has earned $70,922 for owners Lisa Lefort of Watertown and David Mercer of Westmount. Beaton co-bred the filly with Mercer.

Wickedpace went the faster of the two winners, forging to the front off second-over cover and holding on by a head for the 1:52.3 score in division two. Millie May Hanover (Filion) was the late marauder, closing from fourth to a narrow second in the stretch. Wicked Cruizer (McClure) finished third.

WICKEDPACE REPLAY

The Paul Cameron-trained Wickedpace is now two-for-three, having taken an initial mark of 1:53.2 a week back. Cameron combined with Jayne Cameron and Arnolds Horse Shack to buy the filly for $12,000 from the Harrisburg sale. Wickedpace has now earned $59,500.

Whichwaytothebeach (Somebeachsomewhere) took the evening’s overnight feature, the $36,000 Preferred Pace. Filion oversaw a front-end performance completed in 1:48.4, a new lifetime best for the six-year-old. Write Me A Rose (Doug McNair) was second with the closing Poseidon Seelster (McClure) third. Garry Merner trains Whichwaytothebeach for Gino Toscani. The gelding is now 23-for-87 with $895,053 banked.

WHICHWAYTOTHEBEACH REPLAY

Woodbine Mohawk Park will host its next card on Monday, Jul. 8, beginning at 7:10 p.m. EDT.

For complete race results, click here.

by Nicholas Barnsdale, for Harnesslink