Round one winners Shades Of Bay and Rafa delivered as the overwhelming favourites in Friday night's second leg of the Snowshoe Series at Woodbine Racetrack.
The second leg was split into two $17,000 divisions with Shades Of Bay stretching his win streak to four in the first event in rein to Phil Hudon.
Three Truths (Sylvain Filion), the 9-1 second wagering choice, established the early lead from post two with outsider Hickory Terrific (Mike Saftic) crossing into the two-hole through a 26-second first quarter. As the field headed into the backstretch, R J B (Jonathan Drury) broke stride in third-place and then Three Truths jumped it off on the lead.
Meanwhile, 1-9 favourite Shades Of Bay, who had lined up in fourth off the gate, quickly closed the gap left by the first breaker and then advanced to the lead past the :55.1 half-mile mark.
Shades Of Bay raced by three-quarters in 1:24 and maintained a two-length leading margin down the stretch as Sabine Pass (Jody Jamieson) started up in the outer flow on the final turn and continued to chase him home in second. Shades Of Bay scored the 1:51.3 victory by one and three-quarter lengths over Sabine Pass while Shippen Out (Trevor Henry) closed from third over and finished third, over six lengths behind.
Sean Mehlenbacher trains Shades Of Bay, a four-year-old son of Art Major, for Toronto owner Timothy Kim. Shades Of Bay now has six wins in 16 starts, including his recent victory in the final of Valedictory Series and last week's Snowshoe score, and earnings totalling $69,104.
Rafa took a new lifetime mark of 1:52.2 in the second division as he remained undefeated in four career starts for owner/breeder Robin Morley of Mildmay, Ont. Sylvain Filion drove the four-year-old Camluck gelding, who is trained by Richard Moreau.
Swapportunity (Mario Baillargeon) fired off the gate from post six with 2-5 favourite Rafa and Pistopackinpiper (Doug McNair) leaving together just to his outside. Rafa touched down on the front and then retook the lead when Pistopackinpiper persisted through a hot :25.4 first quarter.
Rafa then clocked middle splits of :55.1 and 1:24.3 with Tower Of Power (Jonathan Drury) advancing first over and Tylers Beach Boy (Jody Jamieson) tracking cover. The determined Rafa kept his rivals at bay down the stretch though to prevail by one length. Tylers Beach Boy edged out Tower Of Power and Swapportunity for the runner-up honours. Pistopackinpiper was fifth while St Lads Charger (Trevor Henry), an upset winner in round one of the series, finished second-to-last this time out in the nine-horse field.
Rafa has now banked $27,500 through his first four career wins.
The Snowshoe Series is for three and four-year-old pacers that are non-winners of two races or $30,000 lifetime as of October 31, 2015.
To view Friday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Friday Results - Woodbine Racetrack.