CAMPBELLVILLE, September 3… Wiggle It Jiggleit, driven by Montrell Teague, front-stepped his way to a harness racing victory in the $616,000 Canadian Pacing Derby on Saturday night at Mohawk.
The four-year-old gelding, who was the 2015 U.S. Horse of the Year, stopped the clock in 1:49 en route to his 35th victory in 46 lifetime starts.
As Wiggle It Jiggleit surged to the lead, Always B Miki was hot on his heels. The 7-5 bettor's choice held position into the first turn posting a flashy :25.3 opening panel, which forced Always B Miki to drop into third behind a second-sitting Nickle Bag.
Wiggle It Jiggleit, a triple millionaire, then continued to march past the half in :54.1, which is when Always B Miki and driver Dave Miller made another bid for the lead. The son of Mr Wiggles began to open up on the field after they paced by the three-quarters in 1:21.4.
No one could catch Wiggle It Jiggleit in the stretch, which secured his wire-to-wire victory by one and three-quarter lengths. Always B Miki stayed for second, while Dealt A Winner, at odds of 112-1, rallied for third.
"You got to take advantage of it when you have it," Montrell Teague noted about leaving from the rail and having the opportunity to cut the fractions. "I showed it tonight-:25.3. I think everybody got what I was doing."
"Just warming him up, you can tell that he is on his game," added the reinsman. "He got a little bit grabby coming home so I knew he knew what to do and the track was good."
The Clyde Francis trainee is now 12-5-2 in 19 starts this season and with the win, Wiggle It Jiggleit boasts $3,626,907 in career earnings for owners George Teague Jr Inc., and Teague Racing Partnership.
"Clyde does a great job," said co-owner George Teague. "I haven't even seen him for the last two weeks so it isn't nothing to do with me. Clyde Francis does a great job and Montrell managed him his whole career and saved when he could and when he raced him hard, he raced him hard. But that's a big credit to the two of them."
Wiggle It Jiggleit paid $4.90 to win.