Saturday, March 7, 2015 the Undefeated Wiggle It Jiggleit Is A
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Saturday, March 7, 2015 Who’s The King of the Winter? the year with a win at Dover, beat older horses in a leg of Meadowlands Race Will Decide Title the Sonsam series and then won an initial round of the By Bill Finley Gilmour series by two lengths. He won the Sonsam in It’s not too often that a race in early March generates any 1:49.4, easily the fastest time so far this year by a 3-year- excitement. Good horses are supposed to be in hibernation old pacer. this time of year, not battling the frigid weather for paltry But, as is the case with any horse competing at this time purses. But tonight’s $20,000 second leg of the William of year, the question is, “but who has he beaten?” Should Buddy Gilmour series at the Meadowlands has actually he add National Seelster to his list of victims tonight his resumé will look that much stronger. created some buzz. “If you want to It features a make the major showdown between races and make all two undefeated the staking horses, either one payments it’s good of whom could be to have a little standing in the competition this winner’s circle time of year,” come Teague said. “A Meadowlands Pace lot of top 3 year The undefeated Wiggle It Jiggleit is a So is National Seelster...and the two or North America olds are not out top prospect meet tonight at the Meadowlands Cup night. there so it’s nice to The main two go up against a top 3 year old and see how he matches up combatants in the field are Wiggle It Jiggleit, a home-bred by Mr. Wiggles, who is undefeated in four career starts, (continued on next page) and National Seelster, who is 3 for 3. The latter is by Bettor’s Delight. So far, Wiggle It Jiggleit has received the most attention among the two and figures to go off as the favorite tonight. One of the reasons for that is the tremendous amount of confidence owner George Teague Jr. has shown in the gelding, saying he is as good as any horse he has ever trained. Teague has trained two Pacers of the Year in Rainbow Blue and Total Truth. Teague is listed as the owner only as his assistant Clyde Francis is down as the trainer. Teague has said he has done so because Francis deserves to get some attention after so many years playing a vital role in the stable’s success. “It’s hard to put a label when it comes to how good they are,” Teague said. “This horse shows so many qualities. Speed is just one factor of a good horses and he has that. The other part that is important to me is that he has a great set of lungs. He just doesn’t get tired. He’s also a very intelligent horse, so he can rate, go first over or go on the front end. He’s got all the tools to get to the next stage where we’re racing in important races in May, June, July, August. I think he will be a factor in those races.” Wiggle It Jiggleit raced just once as a 2-year-old, winning a non-winners of two pari-mutuel race at Pocono Downs. Teague said because he did not have him staked to any Grand Circuit races he figured the best plan of attack was to take a step back and point for the 3-year-old year. With Teague’ son, Montrell driving, Wiggle It started off EARLY CLOSING EVENTS FOR 2015 Raced at Tioga Downs Raced at Vernon Downs Raced at Vernon Downs $12,500E Eliminations: Sunday, Aug 16 $12,500E Eliminations: Sunday, Aug 16 Sponsored by: Crawford Farms Sponsored by: The Muscle Hill Syndicate $250,000E Final: Sunday, Aug 23 $250,000E Final: Sunday, Aug 23 Friday, August 21 Purse $175,000E Friday, August 21 $175,000E (2014 Purse $255,525) (2014 Purse $244,875) (2014 Purse $236,000) (2014 Purse $178,000) Raced at Vernon Downs Raced at Vernon Downs Raced at Tioga Downs $12,500E Eliminations: Sunday, June 14 $12,500E Eliminations: Sunday, June 14 $250,000E Final: Sunday, June 21 $250,000E Final: Sunday, June 21 Sponsored by: The Artiscape Syndicate Sponsored by: Blue Chip Farms (2014 Purse $215,125) (2014 Purse $217,725) Friday, August 21 $175,000E Sunday, August 23 $175,000E PAYMENT SCHEDULE (2014 Purse $178,000 ) (2014 Purse $160,000) MARCH 15 $1,000 PAYMENT SCHEDULE SUPPLEMENTAL $6,000 March 15 $2,000 ENTRY FEE $2,500 April 15 $2,000 TWO YEAR OLD PAYMENTS FOR FOALS OF 2013 Entry Fee $3,000 (This payment must be made for nominees to be eligible as three year olds in 2016) MARCH 15, 2015 $350 IN-LIEU-OF-FEE $1,000 Sponsored by: Allerage Farms & The LBJ Society A list of eligible 2YO’s and Sires for 2016 is available at Tioga Downs’ website Monday, May 18 Mohawk Racetrack $40,000E Friday, July 3 Mohawk Racetrack $40,000E Saturday, July 18 The Meadowlands $40,000E Monday, September 7 Tioga Downs $40,000E OPEN EVENT FOR TWO YEAR OLD TROTTERS Thurs, September 24 Little Brown Jug Final $120,000E (2014 Purse $121,500) *Connections of those mares participating in the Miss Versatility Final Five $10,000G Legs and a $175,000E Final with $75,000E Consolations will receive a hospitality package from the Little Brown Jug (Horses must start in a minimum of two legs of the series to be eligible for the finals) PAYMENT SCHEDULE SCHEDULE OF EVENTS March 15 $1,500 Friday, July 24 The Meadowlands April 15 $1,500 Sunday, August 30 Tioga Downs Entry Fee (Payable only once) $2,000 Thursday, September 10 The Red Mile Thursday, September 17 The Red Mile Friday, October 23 Vernon Downs FINALS & CONSOLATIONS Conditions, nomination forms, racing applications, Saturday, October 31 Vernon Downs track rules & policies, and lists of eligible horses are Actual Purse for 2014 Finals: Colts $240,000 Fillies $251,000 available at, The Tioga & Vernon Downs websites. PAYMENT SCHEDULE A nomination to these events is an agreement to all conditions. March 15 $600 April 15 $600 ENTRY FEE OF $250 FOR EACH LEG IN WHICH THE NOMINEE RACES/NO FEE FOR FINAL Race Office (607) 699-7688 * Fax (607) 699-3901 HarnessRacingUpdate.com • 3/7/15 PAGE 2 of 9 early. We wanted to get a couple of starts into him this show. Whether we’re deserving of being considered a top year just to reassure ourselves before we started putting up horse will be shown by Seelster’s performances going a lot of money to stake to the races. It’s a very expensive forward. It certainly would be nice to race at the top level.” process staking a 3-year old.” In the other Gilmour division a pair of horses beaten last Trained by Chris Ryder, National Seelster did not make time by Wiggle It Jiggleit will likely vie for favoritism. his career debut until Jan. 31. Confidently driven by Andy Midnight Lighting is coming off a third-place finish and Miller he won his first two starts before scoring in a Gilmour Rodeo Romeo was second in last week’s Gilmour. Rodeo leg by 1 ½ lengths in 1:52. Romeo is also trained by Ryder and his owners include Co-owner Bob Mondillo readily admits that beating Mondillo. Wiggle It Jiggleit won’t be easy. “I think it’s going to be a tall order,” Mondillo said. “Wiggle It Jiggleit, based on what he has done, deserves to be the favorite in the race and I have no problem being second Tune in to the Bob Heyden Report for the best in favorite, even though to this point National Seelster is harness racing talk, every Saturday at 10:15 a.m. undefeated. You have to look at the overall body of work Eastern on the Eclipse Award-winning and the times that Wiggle It Jiggleit has posted and that horse racing radio program he’s never really been challenged. I have no problem with DOWN THE STRETCH where we’re listed on the morning line, but we all know they every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Eastern have to decide things on the track.” Mondillo said National Seelster had some minor problems SIRIUS Channel 92, XM Channel 92 as a 2 year old and Ryder decided to stop on him. He, like Teague, knows that tonight’s race will tell him something Hosted by Dave Johnson and Bill Finley about his horse. Call in with your questions to 866-900-6451 “If he can beat (Wiggle It) it will definitely be a step in the direction of being considered a real top horse,” Mondillo said. “There’s no question about that. I think after not For SIRIUS/XM radio go to www.siriusxm.com racing as 2 year old we still have a lot to prove, a lot to HarnessRacingUpdate.com • 3/7/15 PAGE 3 of 9 company to the next level. You don't have to be Matlock to deduce that harness racing - and horse racing in general - is harvesting its revenue. It's been that way for a long time. However, the harvesting strategy for harness racing has not been a success story, because a key to the strategy is reinvesting what you harvest into new products. Harness racing only has one product. Ohio Can Lead By Switching from Harvesting to In states like Pennsylvania, New York and in the past, Long Term Growth Ontario, we see just how dangerous the strategy is for both the demand and the supply side.