Wiggle It Jiggleit came from well off the pace from post seven to dead heat with Bit Of A Legend N after a terrific stretch battle in the fifth and final leg of the Levy Saturday at Yonkers.

by Dave Briggs

The match-up of the night delivered one of the best finishes of the year when Horse of the Year Wiggle It Jiggleit and red-hot Bit Of A Legend N converted a gritty stretch battle into a dead-heat finish Saturday (April 16) at Yonkers in the third and final $50,000 division in the fifth leg of the George Morton Levy Series for older pacers.

The shared victory gave each pacer 37.5 points on the night, which was not enough for Wiggle It Jiggleit to qualify for next Saturday’s $606,000 final. Wiggle It Jiggleit did not contest the first two legs of the five-leg series. He did, however, put on a hell of a show all three weeks despite drawing the outside post position twice.

In the latest tilt, Wiggle It Jiggleit (4/5, post seven, Montrell Teague) and Bit Of A Legend N (3/5, post four, Jordan Stratton) both were left behind at the gate as the rest of the seven-horse field left quickly.

As 90-1 shot Bettorever and Jason Bartlett set the pace through opening fractions of :27 and :56, Stratton settled Bit Of A Legend N in fourth, while Teague resigned himself to sixth through the 1:24 third-quarter. That’s where Teague and Wiggle It would stay until the top of the lane when they mounted a furious stretch charge reminiscent of two weeks prior when they just missed catching winner All Bets Off in their third-round Levy test.

Stratton unleashed almost as impressive a stretch drive with Bit Of A Legend N. He came from fourth at the head of the lane to storm to the photo with Wiggle It Jiggleit, the two trading haymakers to the wire reached in 1:51.2. Limelight Beach was two-and-a-half lengths back in third.

“It doesn’t get any better than that, neck and neck through the wire,” Stratton told Frank Drucker on the Yonkers simulcast show. “(Bit Of A Legend N) fought right to the wire. It looks like he came out of the race okay… He should be ready to go for next week’s final.”

It was the fifth straight victory for Bit Of A Legend N, who swept all five Levy legs. The son of Bettors Delight—Sokys Legend, bred in New Zealand, is owned by Harry Von Knoblauch of San Diego, CA and trained by Peter Tritton.

Wiggle It Jiggleit is owned by George Teague, Jr. of Harrington, DE and the Teague Racing Partnership LLC of Boynton Beach, FL. The son of Mr. Wiggles—Mozzi Hanover is trained by Clyde Francis.

In Saturday’s first Levy division, Lettucerockthem A and Brian Sears won by a half-length over P H Supercam in 1:51 for trainer Rene Allard and owners Allard Racing of Quebec and Bob Hamather and Bruce Soulsby of Ontario and Ohio, respectively.

In the second division, Mach It So qualified for the final by defeating Texican N by a neck in 1:51.3 for driver Tim Tetrick and trainer/owner Jeff Bamond. Te Kawau N was third and Foiled Again was fourth.

Yonkers announced it was double-checking the final Levy standings at press time, but the eight finalists are believed to be (in order of points):

1. Bit Of A Legend N           5. All Bets Off
2. Mach It So                        6. Lucan Hanover
3. Take It Back Terry            7. Texican N
4. P H Supercam                  8. Texas Terror N