Cranbury, NJ --- Defending Horse of the Year Wiggle It Jiggleit is
supplemented to the $421,000 Breeders Crown Pace, setting up another epic
showdown with arch-rival Always B Miki, winner of last year’s Crown title for
older pacers at Woodbine Racetrack.
Wiggle It
Jiggleit, owned by George Teague Jr. Inc., and Teague Racing Partnerships LLC,
is the richest harness horse this year with seasonal earnings of $1,624,337,
and will meet up once again with the fastest Standardbred of all–time, Bluewood
Stable, Roll The Dice Stable and Christina Takter’s Always B Miki, who lowered
the world pacing mark to 1:46 on Oct. 9 at Lexington’s Red Mile.
The two
have electrified the sport battling in the open ranks this year and the adage
“In harness racing, it all comes down to the Breeders Crown” may never hold
truer. The pair has met seven times in open stakes competition with each
horse winning three – Shamballa beat them both in the US Pacing Championship,
though Wiggle It Jiggleit finished second and Always B Miki fourth in that
match-up.
One of four Breeders Crown events slated for the Meadowlands on
Friday, Oct. 28, the Crown Pace will be featured in a one-hour live broadcast
on SNY (Sports Net New York) from 9-10:00 p.m. [EDT].
Though
owner George Teague and trainer Clyde Francis had not been inclined to
supplement their extraordinary 4-year-old gelded son of Mr. Wiggles, the ease
with which he racked up his 38th win out of 50 start in a $250,000 Invitational at
Yonkers last Saturday changed their minds. “Wiggle” was the lone supplement to
any Crown event by the noon deadline of Monday, Oct. 17.
“The main
reason I wanted to do it was because it’s good for the business,” said Teague
from his home base of Harrington, Delaware. “People like to see him race and
these two together, they may meet another time, but for him to be in the
Breeders Crown it’s really good for the business more than anything.”
“This
horse just gets stronger and sharper as the year goes on," marveled
Teague. “When he trained before the Yonkers race I thought he was sharper than
he was in April and May. He’s never taken a week off all year and never had a
bad race either.”
Regular
entries for eligible trotters and pacers are due by 9:00 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 18,
at the Meadowlands race office.
The
contestants for the 12 Breeders Crown Finals will be determined through elimination
races this Friday and Saturday night at the Meadowlands. Eliminations for all
open events will be raced on Friday [post time 7:15 p.m.] and eliminations for
all 2-year-old and 3-year-olds will be Saturday [post time 7:15 p.m.].
Elimination
winners draw for inside post positions 1-5 for the finals.
For more
information go to Hambletonian.com or playmeadowlands.com. Follow Breeders
Crown news and updates on Twitter @Breeders_Crown, using #BCrown16 and on
Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/BreedersCrown. Fans
can also go to http://harnessracingfanzone.com,
the Place for Harness Racing Fans to See, Share, Connect and Play.
