If Wiggle It Jiggleit comes back to form in 2017, he will be an extremely dominant force given his main foil Always B Miki has retired. One pacer that showed he could handle Always B Miki in the past is being pointed at a return to racing next year.
McWicked, the three-year-old colt pacer of the year in 2014 in both Canada and the U.S -- over Always B Miki -- last started in June of this past year in the 2016 Roll With Joe at Tioga Downs. In that race, he finished seventh after backing through the field. Trainer Steve Elliott told Trot Insider that McWicked flipped his palate during that start.
Elliott contacted Jimmy McDonald, the trainer who sent the horse to him, and suggested tie forward surgery. McDonald gave him the green light, confirmed it with owner Ed James (of SSG Stables) and the surgery was performed by Dr. Norm Ducharme at Cornell University.
"Everything's fine with the operation, everything's fine with the horse and Steve's happy with him," said James. "He's still as fast as there is and as tough as there is because of his size. He was probably one of the few horses that could handle Always B Miki."
James' assertion is echoed by his trainer Elliott, who watched Always B Miki and Wiggle It Jiggleit dominate the older pacing ranks in 2016. Elliott was expecting to have a solid one-two punch with McWicked and Doo Wop Hanover, but both of those pacers had seasons to forget.
"I thought he could go with [Always B] Miki and [Wiggle It Jiggleit], I really did," said Elliott of McWicked. "He's a fast, fast horse and he's handy. He doesn't ever grab a line. Sitting in the two-hole, drivers want to get him off the fence....he just drives two fingers until you pull the right line. Pull the right line and he takes off. He sits in a hole, perfect mannered ...and you don't know how much horse you've got until you pull and then you have to watch you don't catch a wheel. He's just that kind of horse. He's a very good horse and circumstances didn't dictate that."
Circumstances haven't dictated many wins for McWicked since his award-winning sophomore season. His last winner's circle photo came on December 7, 2014 when he captured the Progress Pace in 1:48.4 -- his 12th win of the season, concluding his three-year-old campaign with $1.48 million in purses. He's currently wintering in Florida with McDonald, preparing for a return to the free-for-all ranks.
"We're bringing him back and I said to Jimmy, 'we're getting him ready and there's nothing to race him in. I said it doesn't make sense. I'll send him down to Florida, back off with him and get him ready for the Levy,'" said Elliott.
During his sophomore season that garnered the Dan Patch and O'Brien Awards, McWicked captured the Hempt (in world record time), the Adios, the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes Final, the Breeders Crown and the Progress Pace. Given McWicked's resume, James confirmed that there have been multiple inquiries to stand the horse at stud.
"People have called me about standing him at stud. I said 'well, let's consider this: I'm 85 years of age. If I start using him as a stallion, I'll be 90 before a horse hits the ground...and the way I live I might not make it that far," cracked James. "So that's why he's racing. Tactically, he's sound, mentally, he's sound, he shines like a new dollar and he'll get a real pleasant winter."
McWicked, racing at The Meadows as a three-year-old
According to James, McWicked has a special relationship with his caretaker in McDonald's barn and the two have developed quite the rapport since James purchased the son of McArdle from the Harrisburg Mixed Sale as a two-year-old.
"He'll lay down in the stall and she'll go in behind him and lay with her head on his back and he won't even move. When he feels like getting up, she says OK and she harnesses him."
James won't have to wait quite that long to see a foal of McWicked's hit the ground as he test-bred the stallion earlier this year.
"We took some sperm off him and he was just like a pet," said James, noting that retired pacing mare Upfront Elizabeth is confirmed in foal.