Dover: Wiggle It Jiggleit's comeback continues Thursday
It’s tough when you’re bringing back just about any horse from a long layoff. When that horse is Wiggle It Jiggleit, a now 7-year-old with nearly $4 million in career earnings, expectations are not just high but through the roof.
“He’s coming back as Wiggle It Jiggleit,” said George Teague Jr., his part-owner and trainer. “That’s why I have qualified him so much. You can’t just put him out there and race him.”
That’s why after a near three-year layoff before his return to action in 2019, Wiggle It Jiggleit has qualified a lot more than he’s actually raced. Two starts in September revealed issues that were unfamiliar to this specific horse.
“He was tying up,” said Teague. “That’s something he never did before.” When issues with tying up were resolved, Teague found that Wiggle It Jiggleit’s blood work was not coming back properly and addressed it. “We even changed his grain,” Teague said.
So it was back to the drawing board once again to see if Teague and listed trainer Clyde Francis could resurrect the same Wiggle It Jiggleit that fans of harness racing witnessed in epic confrontations with Always B Miki and Freaky Feet Pete back in 2016.
“When I qualified him myself back in November (13) he went a mile in (1):55 and a piece but was kind of flat finishing up,” said Teague. “His second qualifier he was a little more aggressive and showed me a little more finishing up.”
That second effort on December 4 was a 1:54 4/5 mile at Dover Downs with a final quarter in 27 2/5. That last fraction is significant because Teague feels his horse has to come back to 26-second or better final quarters to be close to the kind of competitive force he was in 2016.
“Right now I think he’s a second off but he’s getting better. From a soundness perspective he’s never been better. I think it’s going to take time and racing to get him to shave another second off,” Teague said, with a hint of optimism.
Wiggle It Jiggleit makes his third start of the year on Thursday night in a $25,000 Open Pace at Dover Downs and Jim Morand will substitute for Teague’s son Montrell, who is currently sidelined, mending. “Montrell broke his wrist training one of the babies a month ago,” said Teague about the driver change. “Jim (Morand) will be all right, I’m sure. He’s won over 9,000 races.”
Wiggle It Jiggleit drew post four in the 12th race on Thursday and has been tabbed as the 5-2 morning line choice. While there are no horses in the field that can match Wiggle It Jiggleit’s résumé, it’s 2019 now and the big question for many is whether this horse will ever return to his former self on the racetrack.
“I really think it’s just that he needs more work to get back to 1:50 or better,” said Teague. “There’s only so much you can accomplish in qualifiers.”
Teague is well aware that he’s blessed and cursed at the same time for bringing a horse back with such enormous talent that expectations become unreasonable. The public is aching to see the legend that had a blend of speed and courage and showed up against all types of competition. Thursday’s encounter will perhaps be a stepping-stone on the way to a return to glory for Wiggle It Jiggleit. It’s a solid field that includes Larry Karr (post 3), a winner in three of his last five starts, as well as Q's Cruise (post 7), a winner in four of his last five races, all in Delaware.
Yet those are just names on a program to most horseplayers while Wiggle It Jiggleit is a horse most wish to see regain his former glory.
Teague is more than philosophical about what he’s working with here. “Three years off is a very long time to be away. I need to race him more to see if we can get him to start pacing those 26 or better quarters again,” said Teague.
Should all go well and Wiggle It Jiggleit starts indicating to Teague that he’s close to his former self, the opportunities exist for him to get back on that grand stage again in 2020. “If he starts to show me something, I wouldn’t have a problem staking him to some big races next year,” Teague said.
We can only hope.