The only time owner George Teague had ever been up behind the great Wiggle It Jiggleit in a charted race was on January 14, 2015. The duo produced a qualifying win that day. Now, years later, the pair has hooked up for its second go-round, and the result was the same: victory.
On Wednesday (Nov. 13), Teague and Wiggle It Jiggleit took to the track at Dover Downs for the morning’s third and final qualifying race. They lined up in the outside Post 8 and wanted the front early – it was the front that they got.
Firing out over a ‘fast’ track that was given a two-second allowance in speed, Teague and the Mr Wiggles gelding crossed over in the first panel, opened up a pair of lengths, and passed by the quarter pole in :28.1.
Teague and his seven-year-old remained in control down to the half, which they clicked off in :57.2. Teague asked for just a tad more in the third frame, and Wiggle It Jiggleit responded as such, as he went on to click off three quarters in 1:25.3.
Wiggle It Jiggleit cruised home in the final panel to notch the win. The Clyde Francis trainee was clocked with a :29.3 final quarter and posted a one-length victory in 1:55.1. Judges allowed two seconds for the qualifiers.
"He felt fine," Teague told Trot Insider. "Wasn't what I was looking for, but the track was a little deceiving to me, so it makes a very hard gauge. I cannot [race him] off of that qualifier, so I will try another one."
Teague was replacing regular pilot and son Montrell Teague in the racebike as the younger Teague sustained a broken wrist while loading horses last week.
After having been on the sidelines since the fall of 2016, Wiggle It Jiggleit began prepping for a return to the races in 2019. The winner of $4-million in career purses qualified four times from August 20 to September 10.
He made his pari-mutuel return on Little Brown Jug Day (Sept. 19) at the Delaware County Fair in Ohio, where he finished second in a conditioned race and was individually clocked in 1:52.
Wiggle It Jiggleit then raced in an open handicap on September 30 at Harrington Raceway in which he finished third and was individually timed in 1:53.1.
In September, prior to ‘WIJI’s return to pari-mutuel racing, Teague told James Witherite in an exclusive interview that the long term goal was to have Wiggle It Jiggleit ready for the 2020 season of racing. Although, Teague was also clear that Wiggle It Jiggleit would be the one making the decision for the connections.