Days removed from seeing his stable star, Wiggle It Jiggleit, be handed the first off-the-board finish of his career, the gelding’s owner, George Teague Jr., has commented on the trip and how the strapping bay has rebounded this week.
In last Saturday’s (August 8) Cane Pace at the Meadowlands Racetrack, Wiggle It Jiggleit led the rest of the field through hot fractions (:25.4, :52.1, 1:20.4) before succumbing to his foes in the final quarter of the dash.
Wiggle It Jiggleit finished fourth, more than five lengths behind the race winner, Dealt A Winner, but he still offered a solid showing of himself in defeat. He capped off his performance with a :27.4 final quarter and was individually clocked in 1:48.3, which was the fifth time he has paced a mile in sub-1:49 fashion this year.
Teague has entered Wiggle It Jiggleit to contest this Friday’s $405,000 Carl Milstein Memorial at Northfield Park. He has been installed as the 3-5 morning line favourite in the field of 8. Teague’s son, Montrell, is the gelding’s regular driver, and he will be back in the sulky when the field faces the starting gate. Wiggle It Jiggleit is trained by George’s close friend, Clyde Francis.
George has spoken with D’Arcy Egan of The Plain Dealer about how Wiggle It Jiggleit has responded since the Cane mile. Teague stated that he steered the gelding Wednesday morning and was pleased with what he saw.
"He was as good as always,” Teague said, “bouncing back like he'd never been in such a tough race."
Commenting on the Cane mile in particular, Teague acknowledged that the trip on the lead was tough.
"That was a rough trip on Saturday,” Teague said. “The loss wasn't his fault, though. The race didn't line up anything like we thought it would, but our horse didn't embarrass himself."
The Plain Dealer has run another of Egan’s articles on Wiggle It Jiggleit, one in which Teague explains that the gelding was raced over the half-mile track at Harrington Raceway in May in order to get an indication as to whether he could handle the half-mile course at Northfield in the Milstein. Wiggle It Jiggleit thrived in the Harrington prep, as he romped by more than 14 lengths and froze the timer in 1:49. More notably, the time of the mile was a world record for a gelded pacer over a half-mile course.
Speaking of the May race at Harrington, Teague told Egan that he "didn't foresee the half-mile track being an issue," and that he “wanted the hometown fans to have a chance to see him race.” To put it simply, Teague stated that “Wiggle It Jiggleit gave them a show."
The Milstein has been carded as Race 11 on Northfield’s Friday program. It carries an estimated post time of 9:20 p.m.
(With files from The Plain Dealer)
Your horse went a real
Your horse went a real competitor mile Montrell although he had not raced in almost a month. Don't let that bother you, i am sure he will be ready for Friday. He is a fantastic horse, a champion. Drive him like your the best, which you are. Good luck and I will be watching on HPI. Ron
Montrell will need to make
Montrell will need to make split second decisions on how the horse is driven because unfortunately someone most likely will run him in every race he has left. Most times the horse that runs him has zero chance of a top three finish and should be driven to get a cheque. I would bet he romps at Northfield.