The United States Harness Writers Association announced on Thursday, December 17 that Wiggle It Jiggleit is the Dan Patch Awards’ Horse of the Year recipient.
Harness racing’s Horse of the Year in the United States made the most of nearly every month on the calendar.
Wiggle It Jiggleit, a three-year-old gelding, won his first race of the season in January and continued posting victories through November. In fact, the only month during that span in which he failed to win at least one race was April, when he was given a brief respite before continuing a campaign that concluded Nov. 30 with 22 wins in 26 starts.
Wiggle It Jiggleit, who led all harness racing horses in North America with $2.18 million in purses this season, also was named Pacer of the Year on Thursday and earlier this week was voted best three-year-old male pacer. Wiggle It Jiggleit received 132 of 136 votes for Pacer of the Year. Three-year-old colt Freaky Feet Pete got three votes and 11-year-old gelding Foiled Again got one.
Trotter of the Year went to Pinkman, a three-year-old gelding who counted the Hambletonian among his 11 wins this season and banked $1.89 million. He also earlier this week was voted the best trotter in his division. Pinkman received 85 votes for Trotter of the Year. Mission Brief, a three-year-old filly, finished second with 18 votes, followed by two-year-old colt Southwind Frank with 14, five-year-old mare Bee A Magician with 13, four-year-old gelding JL Cruze with five and three-year-old filly Barn Doll with one.
In balloting for Horse of the Year, Wiggle It Jiggleit received 130 of 136 votes. Pinkman got three votes while Freaky Feet Pete, Foiled Again, and Mission Brief each got one. Wiggle It Jiggleit’s 95.5 per cent total of the votes for Horse of the Year is the most for any winner since 1980 when Niatross was one vote shy of unanimous.
Wiggle It Jiggleit’s 22 wins this year led all pacers in North America. Prior to Wiggle It Jiggleit, the only pacer to be the season’s winningest pacer and receive Horse of the Year was Cam Fella in 1982.
“He’s just been an incredible horse,” Wiggle It Jiggleit’s owner George Teague Jr. said last month. “I don’t know of too many horses that can start racing in January when there’s snow on the ground and go almost to December and still be this good and competitive. He’s a rarity.
“That speaks volumes about this horse and how good he’s been. When you create a schedule, it’s only a schedule, and you’re hoping they can make 80 per cent of the engagements. I really never thought he’d make this many, and I supplemented him to two races.”
Wiggle It Jiggleit is Teague’s second Horse of the Year Award winner. Teague co-owned and trained 2004 Horse of the Year Rainbow Blue, a female pacer. Wiggle It Jiggleit is trained by Teague’s longtime assistant Clyde Francis. The Teague Stable joins Blair Burgess, Jimmy Takter, Bob McIntosh, and Bill Robinson as training stables to produce two different Horse of the Year winners in the last 30 years.
Teague also had the 2006 Pacer of the Year, Total Truth.
Wiggle It Jiggleit was driven all season by Teague’s 24-year-old son, Montrell. Wiggle It Jiggleit’s victories included the Meadowlands Pace, Little Brown Jug, Battle of the Brandywine, Max C. Hempt Memorial, Carl Milstein Memorial, Hap Hansen Progress Pace, and Matron Stakes.
He won the Little Brown Jug in a memorable stretch duel with Lost For Words, rallying in deep stretch to get to the wire first by a nose.
In addition, Wiggle It Jiggleit paced the fastest mile ever by a three-year-old on a half-mile track when he won in 1:49 at Harrington Raceway. His time of 1:48 in winning the Battle of the Brandywine set the world record for a three-year-old gelding on a five-eighths-mile oval.
Montrell Teague enjoyed being able to share the experience of racing Wiggle It Jiggleit with his father.
“It’s hard to put into words,” Montrell Teague said earlier this year. “You dream of it, but you never think it’s going to come this soon. Our past couple years haven’t been the best, and to bounce back like this and have the best horse in the country makes all the hard work worthwhile.”
Wiggle It Jiggleit is a son of stallion Mr Wiggles out of the mare Mozzi Hanover and was bred by James Bernstein, Theresa Bantle, Eric Felter, and Vincent Tancredi. George Teague Jr. raced both Mr Wiggles and Mozzi Hanover during their careers on the track, and owns both horses now.
Trotter of the Year Pinkman won 11 of 17 races this season, including the Hambletonian, Canadian Trotting Classic, Kentucky Futurity, Earl Beal Jr. Memorial, and Dr. Harry M. Zweig Memorial.
His time of 1:51 in the Hambletonian set the world record for a three-year-old gelding trotter on a mile racetrack and his 1:51.3 win in the Beal established the world record for a three-year-old gelding trotter on a five-eighths-mile oval.
Pinkman is owned by Christina Takter, John and Jim Fielding, Joyce McClelland, and Herb Liverman. Pinkman gives trainer Jimmy Takter his seventh Trotter of the Year trophy, and second in a row. Takter previously won three awards with Moni Maker (1998-2000) as well as Malabar Man (1997), Kadabra (2002), and Shake It Cerry (2014).
A son of stallion Explosive Matter out of the mare Margie Seelster, Pinkman was bred by O Narutac Equine Nursery. His original name was Traffic Jam, but he was renamed after the character Jesse Pinkman from the television show ‘Breaking Bad.’
Complete vote totals for all Dan Patch Award categories can be found here.
HORSE OF THE YEAR
PACER OF THE YEAR
BEST THREE-YEAR-OLD MALE PACER
Wiggle It Jiggleit
Mr Wiggles---Mozzi Hanover---Jenna’s Beach Boy
Sale Price: Private
Breeders: James Bernstein, Theresa Bantle, Eric Felter, Vincent Tancredi
Owner: George Teague Jr. Inc.
Trainer: Clyde Francis Driver: Montrell Teague
Races: 26-22-3-0 Purses: $2.18 million Mark: 1:47.4 at Meadowlands
Top wins: $706,000 Meadowlands Pace; $677,000 Little Brown Jug; $500,000 Battle of the Brandywine; $500,000 Hempt Memorial
TROTTER OF THE YEAR
BEST THREE-YEAR-OLD MALE TROTTER
Pinkman
Explosive Matter---Margie Seelster---Angus Hall
Yearling Price: $77,000 under name Traffic Jam at Lexington Selected Sale
Breeder: O Narutac Equine Nursery
Owners: Christina Takter, John and Jim Fielding, Joyce McClelland, Herb Liverman
Trainer: Jimmy Takter Drivers: Yannick Gingras, Brian Sears
Races: 17-11-3-1 Purses: $1.89 million Mark: 1:51 at Meadowlands (world record)
Top wins: $1 million Hambletonian; $532,000 Canadian Trotting Classic; $527,000 Kentucky Futurity; $500,000 Earl Beal Memorial
(USHWA)
This year's Little Brown Jug
This year's Little Brown Jug was quite simply the greatest race I have ever seen and I have watched tens of thousands. So glad I got to see it live at the Delaware Fairgrounds. WiggleIt Jiggle It and his connections are very deserving winners. Congrats!
Congrats to the horse and all
Congrats to the horse and all the team.Mr Blackburn is dead on with his comments.Are these the same people voting who never had Freeky feet pete ranked all year on until late in the season.
I have watched thousands and
I have watched thousands and thousands of races over the last 45 years and can honestly say that Wiggle It Jiggleit is the most impressive for me. He has raced all year, dodged no one, went some awfully tough trips (Little Brown Jug) and was still victorious in almost all his races. The horse was trained and driven to perfection and hats of to the Teague team. Horses like him are few and far between. Fast and classy. Congratulations on the award.
No disrespect to the horse
No disrespect to the horse but how does Foiled Again get a vote for "Horse Of The Year"? If the person voting for him is a voting member of the media for this industry what does that say about his knowledge of what went on this season? No way, no how should he even get to cast a vote if that is who he felt was the best horse in harness racing. It's a slap in the face to the industry to have unqualified people voting with no knowledge.
Congrats to Wiggleit's connections on a memorable season.
Congratulations on ALL the
Congratulations on ALL the wins :)