Despite being parked out through the first half-mile, Wiggle It Jiggleit forged on to win the eighth edition of the $260,000 Joe Gerrity Jr. Memorial Pace at Saratoga Casino Hotel on Saturday, July 23.

Firing off the gate from post five, fan favourite Wiggle It Jiggleit and driver Montrell Teague were parked out three-wide through the first quarter in :26.3 as Bit Of A Legend N (Jordan Stratton) tried to protect his inside pylon position with post three starter All Bets Off (Matt Kakaley) leaving in between. All Bets Off cleared Bit Of A Legend N while Wiggle It Jiggleit loomed outside and eventually progressed to the lead by the :54.4 half-mile mark. As he proceeded to three-quarters in 1:23.4, Artistic Major (Jim Morrill Jr.) advanced first over to his wheel with Sunfire Blue Chip (Mark MacDonald) following the cover and then fanning three-wide off the final turn. However, no one could catch Wiggle It Jiggleit once he made the front as the popular pacer drew two lengths clear down the stretch on his way to a 1:51 victory. Bit Of A Legend N edged out All Bets Off in a photo for second-place honours while Sunfire Blue Chip finished fourth and Artistic Major was fifth.

Wiggle It Jiggleit was the first U.S. Horse of The Year to compete at Saratoga since the great Bunny Lake won an Open event at the track in 2004. He paid $2.20 to win as the 1-9 bettors' choice.

The four-year-old gelded son of My Wiggles earned his 10th win from 15 starts this year and 33rd lifetime, boosting his career earnings over the $3 million mark for trainer Clyde Francis and owners George Teague Jr. Inc. and the Teague Racing Partnership.

Saratoga also hosted a $181,500 leg of the New York Sire Stakes for three-year-old pacing colts and geldings, which was split into two divisions. Driver Jim Morrill Jr. swept both events as the popular Tracy Brainard trainee Roll Away Joe rolled to a two-length victory in a career-best clocking of 1:51.4 over Artmagic, and Ideal Son put away mid-mile challenger Missile J to score in 1:54.4 by one and a half lengths over Manny for trainer Tom Fanning. Howard Taylor owns Ideal Son and shares ownership of Roll Away Joe with partners Stephen Demeter and Thomas Lazzaro.

Major Athens gave Taylor another win later taking the $25,000 Open Handicap Trot in 1:55.1 with Jason Bartlett driving for trainer Thomas Milici.

Driver Eric Goodell and trainer Chris Oakes swept the matching Opens for pacers with Luck Be Withyou winning in 1:51.1 for Ontario owner John Craig and Devil Child matching the track record for pacing mares with a 1:52 victory for Susan Oakes and Crawford Farms Racing.