Wiggle It Jiggleit To Qualify
After nearly 34 months on the sidelines, 2015 U.S. Horse of the Year Wiggle It Jiggleit will make his long-awaited return to the racetrack.
Owner George Teague told Harness Racing Weekend Preview that he plans to drop the ultra-popular pacer in the box for a qualifier on Tuesday (August 20) at Harrah's Philadelphia.
“The great news is that he’s absolutely perfect so far,” said Teague. “I’m going to train him one more time on Friday (Aug. 16) and then he’ll qualify. I hope now he can go in 1:55.”
Teague stated that recent training miles for the son of Mr Wiggles have been in the 1:56 range at Harrington Raceway, so there's plenty of work to do before he's ready to return for pari-mutuel action.
“He’s not in racehorse shape yet but he’s ready to qualify. In about six weeks he should be fine," said Teague. "He’ll have at least three qualifiers, maybe four. I don’t know where we’ll go with him, but I plan on starting him a couple times this year. He’s still six weeks from that though.”
After his stellar sophomore season in 2015 that garnered Horse of the Year honours stateside, Wiggle It Jiggleit last raced in 2016. That four-year-old campaign became a now-legendary year-long war with older pacing horse Always B Miki. Wiggle It Jiggleit did win older pacing horse honours in Canada for his efforts as a four-year-old, highlighted by his victory in that year's Canadian Pacing Derby over his archrival.
In his career, Wiggle It Jiggleit (Mr Wiggles - Mozzi Hanover) boasts a sensational 38-10-2-1 summary from 51 starts with more than $4 million in earnings.
Thanks, Jeff! Do you know if
Thanks, Jeff! Do you know if a horse has ever ran in stakes races after being away from the track this long, or will this be a first if Wiggle It Jiggleit is able to return to that level of competition? WIJI wasn't staked to anything this year, so I assume George Teague thinks that overnight open and preferred level races are the highest level of competition that his horse can run against, at least in 2019. Always B Miki came back from an injury to set the all-age world record and be named Horse Of The Year, but he was only on the shelf for about a year, not 34 months. Montrell Teague should be very happy that WIJI is coming back, since Lather Up will be leaving for the breeding shed in about 3 months!
The answer is yes, Mike, and
The answer is yes, Mike, and it happened earlier this year.
https://standardbredcanada.ca/notices/1-15-19/horse-wins-after-three-ye…
has a horse ever won a race
has a horse ever won a race for a purse after being away from the track for this long?