Wiggle It Jiggleit, the 2015 Horse of the Year in the United States, continued his comeback this morning (Tuesday, Sept. 3) during qualifying action at Harrah’s Philadelphia.
Wiggle It Jiggleit lined up in Post 6 for the sixth of the morning’s dashes and hosted his regular pilot, Montrell Teague, in the sulky.
The seven-year-old gelding crossed over to the lead in the first panel and was first down to the quarter pole in :28.3. He remained on the engine through the middle splits (:57.2 and 1:26) and was up to the task in the lane.
Wiggle It Jiggleit capped off his mile with a :28.1 final quarter and went on to nail the wire in 1:54.1.
Co-owner George Teague Jr. spoke with James Witherite prior to the qualifier and stated that Wiggle It Jiggleit is still in “qualifying shape, not racehorse shape” and added, “you have to start somewhere.”
Teague made it clear that the longtime goal at this point is to have Wiggle It Jiggleit ready for next year, but that the horse is going to make the decisions for the connections.
Two weeks ago at Harrah’s Philly, Wiggle It Jiggleit posted a 1:53.4 qualifying victory, in which he rushed home in :27. Last week in qualifying action at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, Wiggle It Jiggleit finished third and was individually clocked in 1:54.1 after having set the pace.
Now seven, the altered son of Mr Wiggles and Mozzi Hanover won his only start at two, then won 22 of 26 starts and $2.2 million at three en route to being named 2015 Horse of the Year south of the border. At four, he posted 15 wins, recorded seven second-place finishes from 24 starts and banked $1.8 million in purses.
Wiggle It Jiggleit’s lifetime earnings currently stand at $4.05 million. The Clyde Francis trainee took his present mark of 1:47.2 at age four when he won the Graduate final.
(With files from PHHA/Harrah's Philadelphia)
I hope that I'm wrong, but
I hope that I'm wrong, but thus far, it appears that if and when WIJI resumes racing for purses, at best, he'll be competitive in upper-level conditioned races. You still have to give him credit, though, for coming back after spending nearly 3 years on the shelf.
I'm looking forward to the
I'm looking forward to the return of the Wiggle. He's got one of the most unique gaits I've ever seen in a pacing horse. At the speeds he's able to travel it's hard to say just how he puts them down on the track - not to mention the order in which he puts them down!
Montrell does a helluva job driving this horse. I'm going to venture a guess and further suggest that this horse is not for just anyone to drive. Montrell makes it look effortless. Kudos to both.