Meadowlands: Jiggy Jog S shines in Six Pack for older trotting mares
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M-M's Dream set an easy tempo on the front-end, but Jiggy Jog S surged by her in the stretch from first-over and reported home with a 1:52 1/5 win in Saturday night's $112,500 Six Pack for older trotting mares at the Meadowlands.
Driver David Miller sent M-M's Dream to the point from the outside post five, and she was able to put up a dawdling clip of just 29, 58 2/5 and 1:26 4/5. Meanwhile, Dexter Dunn waited patiently in third with Jiggy Jog S but did have her out and moving from third before three-quarters went on the board.
In the stretch Jiggy Jog S went by M-M's Dream with little dispute and pulled clear to prevail by a length and three-quarters. M-M's Dream was second from pocket-sitter Tactical Mounds (Scott Zeron) and Armbro Flight champion Call Me Goo (Tim Tetrick) was fourth. Warrawee Xenia (James MacDonald) broke past the start and rounded out the order.
"She makes me look good anyway, that's for sure. She's definitely gotten stronger since last year, and she's feeling fantastic out on the track," Dunn said. "When you sit behind a horse like that, you're always full of confidence as soon as you jump behind them. Great horses give you all the confidence in the world when you're out there."
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Jiggy Jog S had been off since her win over male rivals in the Cutler Memorial on May 18 and had a talented mare racing on the lead through soft fractions, but neither were a problem in the end.
"Obviously M-M's Dream's a great mare. We had some good dueling battles last year with her. It's always a worry when a good mare like that is on the front and getting cheap fractions, but Jiggy Jog, she's got a wicked turn of foot and high speed," remarked Dunn. "She hadn't raced in over 40 days but Ake and Sarah (Svanstedt) weren't worried about it at all. They knew she was ready. I just had to believe in her and what she could do in the last quarter. They were confident and they were happy. They knew there was going to be a big gap once everybody went to Canada until this race, but they weren't worried at all. They said her training was great and that she was ready to roll."
Svanstedt trains and co-owns Jiggy Jog S, a 5-year-old Walner mare, with partners Steve Stewart, John Lengacher and Hickory Hollow Stables. Jiggy Jog S, bred by Vestmarka AB, posted her 20th win from 37 starts, has earned $2,287,851 and paid $2.20 to win as the 1-9 favorite.