Wild Dragon circled a field of seven to win the featured $15,000 Preferred 2 Pace on Wednesday evening at Georgian Downs.
After favourites Flying Instructor (Sylvain Filion) and Machal Jackson (Simon Allard) waged war on the front-end through fractions of :26.4, :55.4, and 1:24, the Scott Coulter-driven Wild Dragon unleashed a :27.4 final kicker to come from out of the clouds to win in 1:52.4. He prevailed by half a length over Spartacus Jim (Billy Davis Jr.), who rallied three-wide around the dueling foes into the stretch. Dreamfair Kovu (Tony Kerwood) came on for third.
Wild Dragon paid $23.30 for the upset.
Richard Moreau trains Wild Dragon (along with Flying Instructor). The four-year-old Dragon Again son is owned by Gestion Jean Yves Blais of Montreal, Que. He notched his ninth win of the season while pushing his 2012 bankroll over the $100,000 mark.
The win was part of a training triple on the 11-race card for Canada's leading conditioner. With a multiple-win night of his own, Carmen Auciello also scored three times.
In other action, the Rene Allard-conditioned Veal Marsala notched his fifth consecutive victory with a four length romp in his claiming-conditioning assignment over a pair of Moreau students. The eight-year-old pacer lowered his seasonal mark by one full second to 1:52.1 with Simon Allard in the sulky.
To view Wednesday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Wednesday Results - Georgian Downs.