Wiggle It Jiggleit will face the starting gate in the $58,000 final of the William ‘Buddy’ Gilmour Series this Saturday night (March 14) at the Meadowlands Racetrack as a prohibitive favourite. In fact, he has been installed as the 1-5 morning line choice.
While his connections are not looking past this next test for their talented colt, it’s hard to not to look to the future and what is looming on the horizon, considering how special his owner, George Teague Jr., believed his charge was from the onset.
“Last year I thought he was as good or better than most of the best horses I’ve had,” said Teague. “The closest resemblance was Rainbow Blue with all the qualities and the ability he showed as a two-year-old. He may be even faster than Rainbow Blue. Since the start, he has never had a bad day.”
Teague has mapped out a plan, with all roads leading to the North America Cup and the Meadowlands Pace.
“After Saturday we will keep him in training, but we will back off of him a bit. We’ll come back to the Meadowlands on May 3 for the Simpson and then we may head to Indiana for a couple of starts there. If everything stays on course, we’ll be in Canada for the North America Cup and then back to the Meadowlands for the Meadowlands Pace. That’s the plan. Hopefully, he will be racing in most of the major stakes.”
Teague’s excitement can be felt throughout the industry as Wiggle It Jiggleit continues his meteoric rise. The gelded son of Mr Wiggles has won all five of his starts, with Montrell Teague in the sulky for all five wins. The 24-year old has shown the patience and composure of a seasoned veteran while sitting behind the talented three-year-old.
Wiggle It Jiggleit will start from Post 4 in the Gilmour final.
If there is to be a challenge in the Gilmour Final, perhaps it can still come from National Seelster. The son of Bettors Delight was unbeaten in three starts heading into his Round 2 matchup with Wiggle It Jiggleit. But in the stretch, he posed no danger to that foe after chasing him throughout the mile from the pocket and would need to improve to threaten the favourite. He is coupled with another Chris Ryder trainee, Rodeo Romeo, who was second in his second round division last week. He was defeated by the Ron Burke trainee, Coaster who came up with a lifetime best performance that included a :26.2 final quarter sprint to score in Round 2.
The Buddy Gilmour has been carded as Race 11 on the Meadowlands’ Saturday program.
The Saturday program includes the 50-cent Pick Five (Race 1) and $.50 cent Early Pick Four (race 3), both with an average pool of just over $50,000 this meet. Also on the program is the $.50 cent Late Pick Four, which features an average pool of over $75,000 thus far this season.
Post time for the Meadowlands’ 13-race Saturday program is 7:15 p.m.
(Meadowlands)