Emerald Rihanna and driver Nick Steward opened Wednesday evening's harness racing card at The Raceway at the Western Fair District with a 19-1 upset, scoring from the trailing tier in the $7,500 Fillies & Mares Preferred 3 Pace.
Inside starter Katherine B retook the lead early on and led the field past quarter panels clocked in :28.1, :58.4 and 1:28.4. Meanwhile, Emerald Rihanna ($40.70) settled away fifth from post eight and then caught the cover of the parked Zip Car before the midway mark. The seven-year-old Lis Mara mare rallied three-wide down the backstretch and overtook the leader coming off the final turn before opening up two lengths to score the 1:59 triumph over the "good" track. Absolootly Hot closed from the backfield to finish second at odds of 34-1 while Cant Stop, the 4-5 favourite, came in third. Katherine B finished fourth.
Emerald Rihanna is owned and trained by Colonel Schneider Jr. of Arthur, Ont. She was making her first start of 2016 in Wednesday's feature event and now has back-to-back victories at Western Fair. A career winner of 12 races, Emerald Rihanna has banked nearly $90,000 from 89 starts.
To view Wednesday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Wednesday Results - Western Fair.