The night is expected to belong to Twin B Joe Fresh.

by Bob Heyden

Dan Patch Awards’ Day (Feb. 23) is upon us (stream it live here). Some of the things we should see include:

1. Chris Ryder getting his long overdue first Horse of the Year (HOY) trophy. He’s been a runner-up three times before.

2. A female horse being honored. It was 34 years before any female pacer took home the hardware.

3. We are looking at a deja vu scenario if Twin B Joe Fresh wins and Jiggy Jog S (6-6) is second. In 2001, a female pacer, Bunny Lake, finished first over an undefeated female trotter, Syrinx Hanover (12-12).

4. If females go 1-2 in this year’s balloting, think back to 2017 when they held the top four spots! Hannelore Hanover over Ariana G (95-15), with undefeated Manchego third and Youaremycandygirl fourth. All had Yannick Gingras as their regular driver.

5. One last thing, kind of looking ahead to the racing season of Twin B Joe Fresh in 2025. There have been six prior female pacers who’ve been voted HOY. All came back the following year — Fan Hanover in 1982, Bunny Lake in 2002, Rainbow Blue in 2005, JK She’salady in 2015, Shartin N in 2020 and Test Of Faith in 2022 — without a single HOY vote among them. Can Twin B Joe Fresh buck the trend?

SPEAKING OF TWIN B JOE FRESH…

Or more specifically “Twin” as in made up of two similar, related, or connected members or parts. When “Twin” B Joe Fresh is nearly unanimously selected Horse of the Year tonight, all of this kicks in;

• Twin meaning nobody in the 21st century has repeated. Never has a female pacer won it twice. All on the table in 2025.

• Twin as in New Zealand again. Brett Pelling was here last year with Confederate and now it’s Chris Ryder for two straight.

• Twin as in HOY and Hall of Fame. Chris Ryder will do both in the same year. Something not done in 54 years, since Joe O’Brien in 1970 with Fresh Yankee.

• Twin meaning a pair of HOY trophies for Dexter Dunn who has the distinction of driving the only unanimous HOY Bulldog Hanover in 2022 with all 136 votes.

• Twin ladies of history. Only two can say they were HOY and had a sub 1:49 mark at 2, 3, and 4, Twin B Joe Fresh and Test Of Faith.

MORE TWIN B JOE FRESH

Since she is the story tonight, here’s a quite unofficial list of the top dozen female pacing efforts.

1. Tarport Hap in 1977, beating the boys in all eight victories.

2. Shartin N posting the 1:46.4 world record in the Lady Liberty that still stands.

3. Shady Daisy just missing a head in 1993 of three straight Breeders Crowns and giving Artsplace all he wanted in the 1992 U.S. Pacing Championship during that one’s undefeated HOY season.

4. Party Girl Hill matching Tall Dark Stranger with 1:47.1 Tattersalls scores in 2020.

5. Silk Stockings’ total domination of her class of 3YOs in the inaugural Monticello OTB Classic of 1975 without an anxious moment as the prohibitive favorite.

6. Eternal Camnation’s three Breeders Crowns and career bankroll of $3,748,574 that’s not been approached since.

7. See You At Peelers winning her first 22 career starts, most notably the 2011 $307,735 Art Rooney Memorial against the colts. That pot was the biggest for any female pacer versus the opposite sex this century.

8. Countess Adios winning the 1960 Cane and Messenger. No female has won either in the 64 years since.

9. Belle Acton capturing the inaugural Messenger (1956) and retiring several years later as the sports top money-winner. That race kicked off the Pacing Triple Crown.

10. Test Of Faith’s 2022 1:47 win in the Dorothy Haughton memorial giving Dave Miller his second 1:47 mile with a lady. Previously he’d done so on Oct. 5, 2013 with Shebestingin at The Red Mile at age 3 and that mark still stands.

11. My Little Dragon’s track standard of 1:48 1 at The Meadowlands on July 13, 2007 for Brian Sears and Noel Daley.

12. JEFs Eternity defeating Cam Fella in a 1983 Graduate leg at Freehold on April 9, 1983. She’s the only female to defeat the two-time HOY. She also beat Fan Hanover in 1981 to make her the rare horse to own decisions over consecutive Horses of the Year.