by Harness Racing Communications, a division of the USTA

Josh Green, who grew up in Cedarville, Ohio, about an hour from the Delaware County Fairgrounds, remembers the excitement when his father, Gary, raced Wild Dancer in the 1995 Little Brown Jug. The horse was third in his first heat, but finished ninth in the second.

“That was fun,” said Green, who will start Wiggle Out Of This in Thursday’s Little Brown Jug. “If we can make the final, we’ll be very excited, to say the least.”

Wiggle Out Of This drew post No. 1 in the first of the three opening heat divisions and was made 5-1 in the morning line. Unraced as a two-year-old, he has won three times this season and finished off the board just twice in 15 starts. The gelding was bred and originally owned by Roll The Dice Stable of Wilmington, Delaware, which in July sold three-quarters of the horse to Green’s clients Robert Briley, Bob DiPinto and Frank Baldachino.

“He has high speed and is a good-gaited horse,” Green said. “He’s kind of a fireball. Once you start him up, you can’t stop him. He’s parked out a few people when we really didn’t mean to. We’ll definitely be leaving out of there. He wants to go a thousand (mph). He’s got high speed, it’s just a matter of whether we can use it. He’s a work in progress.”

Wiggle Out Of This was third in a division of the Jug Preview at Scioto Downs on September 9. His top win came in a Reynolds Memorial division in 1:51.3 at Pocono Downs in July.

“I think he’s a little better than his lines show,” Green said. “He had a foot problem that’s cleaned up and he feels good. I think he’ll be a lot better. We’re not idiots; we know he’s a ‘B’ level colt. We bought him to race in the four-year-old Open next year; anything we make this year is a bonus. You never know; he’ll be going into this race the best he’s been.”