by Brett Sturman

With suddenly just three weeks until the Breeders Crown finals, Twin B Joe Fresh continues her persistent hold over Jiggy Jog S as being the sports top-rated horse for the 12th consecutive week. If the Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown weekly poll is a reflection of how Dan Patch voting will go — in this case, I believe it is — then it may only take a couple more starts and wins for Twin B Joe Fresh to nail down the rare feat of being named Horse of the Year as an older pacing mare.

I spoke with Twin B Joe Fresh trainer, Chris Ryder earlier in the week to get a sense of where he was at with his star mare. Normally I would have provided actual quotes from that talk here but due to my error and the conversation having not recorded, here is a paraphrased synopsis instead.

Following another dominant win, most recently last Saturday at Dayton in the Dayton Distaff Derby, Ryder confirmed that Twin B Joe Fresh will train up to the Breeders Crown. She’ll look to qualify next week at The Meadowlands before going to the Breeders Crown, either in an elimination or straight to the final the following week if no elimination is necessary. If all goes well, she will likely close out her season on Nov. 30 once again at The Meadowlands in the FanDuel FFA Championship mare pace.

With that plan, Ryder said that taking on male rivals — something that I suggested — wasn’t something that he was inclined to do right now. My thought in asking the question is that it’s almost never attempted for a mare pacer to race against FFA males, but if there’s ever been a situation where it could be tried and maybe even accomplished successfully, this would be the time to try it. Twin B Joe Fresh has been untouchable all year long in the open mare division and on paper isn’t much different than any of the top males. Just last Saturday at Dayton, Twin B Joe Fresh’s win time in 1:48.3 was a full second quicker than Abuckabett Hanover’s 1:49.3 which came two races later in the Dayton Pacing Derby. Between how good Twin B Joe Fresh has been and a male FFA group which isn’t exactly an all-time best, the mare would have had a real chance.

Ryder did give indications however, that even after Nov. 30 we may have not seen the last of Twin B Joe Fresh. More likely than not it seemed; the current plan is to race back Twin B Joe Fresh next year as a 5-year-old. Ryder also commented that Twin B Joe Fresh winning Horse of the Year this year is something that’s admittedly been on his mind (how could it not be with her being in the driver’s seat much of the year), and that if she did win the award this year, that Ryder could be open to taking greater risks with Twin B Joe Fresh next year, which could include racing against the boys.

As an aside, I do wonder how voters split between Twin B Joe Fresh and Jiggy Jog S, and Hambletonian champion Karl for that matter too. There’s no right or wrong answer, I’m genuinely curious. Perhaps Jiggy Jog S is second because she’s only raced six times. But on the other hand, she’s never lost and one of those wins includes a $1 million race against national and international male rivals. I know it’s different racing against males for trotters than it is for pacers, but these two-superstar mares seem impossible to separate. Maybe something in the next few weeks will cause further distinction.

Switching gears and onto closing day Sunday at the Red Mile, Karl lands what looks to be an overzealous 6-5 morning line in the Kentucky Futurity. But before getting into that race, one horse that I wish was in that race but isn’t, is Vic Zelenskyy who goes a few races earlier in a $50,000 event for Futurity eligibles.

Had Vic Zelenskyy raced in the Futurity, it would have been highly intriguing to see if he could go from breaking in a non-winner of 1 in July to now winning the Futurity; I think he could have. A $550,000 yearling two years ago as a son out of Mission Brief, he was plagued by immaturity but his last two have been spectacular; sort of reminds of Tactical Landing as a 2 and 3-year-old. The way he trotted into another world through the stretch in his Goldenrod win two back was truly something you rarely see. Amazingly, he was nearly just as good last out where I don’t think the race chart does him justice when he was actually parked three-wide for the entire second half and was still moving forward late to be second. He offers no wagering potential in a small field of six as a total all-or-nothing type, but is worth keeping tabs on for later.

To the contrary, the Kentucky Futurity is easily the best race on the card not only in terms of obvious quality but in wagering opportunity. Of course, Karl could win, but from the second tier in a field of formful competition anything can happen. Karl was touched off in his most recent by Dame Good Time who passed him up the inside, and it’s worth noting that Secret Agent Man may have been right there as well if not for his break when moving up alongside Karl in the stretch. Takter elected to skip last week’s Bluegrass to have him ready for the Futurity.

I suppose Karl will be favored but wouldn’t be shocked if that role ends up going to Highland Kismet who may be able to get a cleaner trip from post 3. After an unfortunate miscue in the Canadian Trotting Classic, he crushed last week in the Bluegrass in the off going. He went a huge mile first-over when being second best to Karl in the Hambletonian and will be out for revenge. Fresh off the upset of Karl, Dame Good Time picks up a new driver in Tetrick as Zeron now goes to Security Protected. Sig Sauer looked about to be overtaken in the NJ Classic final by eventual winner Tony Adams S when he broke, and this will be the first race in a month for both those horses. Amazing Catch used some Dunn magic to overcome post 10 where that driver continues to make the improbable look normal. Secret Agent Man just missed to Karl three back and may have won against that rival two back, as mentioned above. He was strong on the front end in the Bluegrass and is my pick to win the 132nd Kentucky Futurity.