All hail the current ‘Queen of Pacing’

Twin B Joe Fresh continued her winning ways on Hambletonian Day.

by Debbie Little

The current “Queen of Pacing,” Twin B Joe Fresh cut through another stake like a hot knife in butter, easily winning the Lady Liberty at The Meadowlands in 1:48, which elicited a “Wow!” from Meadowlands’ track announcer Ken Warkentin.

Off that impressive Hambletonian Day performance on Saturday (Aug. 3) over a top-notch field of mare pacers that included Sylvia Hanover, Silver Label and Grace Hill among others, Twin B Joe Fresh remains atop the Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown Standardbred Poll for the fourth-straight week.

“It’s a major compliment, really,” said trainer Chris Ryder, who co-owns the mare with her driver Dexter Dunn, Peter Trebotica and Barry Spak.

Until recently, Dunn had no idea that the daughter of Roll With Joe—Fresh Breeze was so highly ranked.

“Somebody mentioned it just the other day, last week,” Dunn said. “I said, ‘She’s number one?’ They said, ‘Yeah, she’s been number one for like two weeks.’ I didn’t even realize.

“Well, she put on a good performance the other day, that’s for sure.”

Also putting on a good performance on Hambletonian Day was Karl, who won America’s Trotting Classic in a driving downpour.

Ryder said he wondered how many times a horse has won the Hambletonian and didn’t move to the top of the poll, but in the last 10 years, it’s actually more the norm than the rarity.

In fact, the only two to do it were Atlanta (2018), who vaulted from fourth to first in the poll, as did Pinkman in 2015.

So far this year, Twin B Joe Fresh has never been lower than third in the rankings and has always garnered first-place votes.

Ryder said he liked Twin B Joe Fresh from the moment he saw her at the sale in Harrisburg.

“She was knock-dead gorgeous at the sale,” Ryder said. “She looked like a 3-year-old at the sale. But being a Roll With Joe I don’t think she got much attention; filly, pacer, Roll With Joe. But I’d had the family before on the mother’s side, which I think is top of the line. She goes back to Three Diamonds.

“And she was a fantastic individual, and I kind of had my heart set on her and when I bought her, I thought, ‘Oh, gee, $65,000 for a Roll With Joe? I don’t know what Dexter is going to think about this.’ And here we are.”

Dunn pointed out that Twin B Joe Fresh’s half-brother, Twin B Fresh Bet, a son of Bettors Delight, sold at Harrisburg last year for $500,000.

Dunn also gives Ryder all the accolades for picking out the now 4-year-old mare with a lifetime record of 34 25-6-1 and $1.810,165 in the bank.

Just as Ryder was the first time he saw Twin B Joe Fresh, Dunn was also impressed.

“I don’t know if you’ve seen her up close but she was an absolute tank and she was like that as a baby,” Dunn said. “She was a big, strong girl with a big ass on her.

“It was like she was a 3-year-old when she was a baby. She was intelligent, and great to work with.”

The four-time Dan Patch Driver of the Year also said that it’s an advantage to drive a bright horse.

“I think you find that the good horses are usually pretty intelligent, and it’s 100 per cent easier for us to drive them because they almost know what you’re going to do before you do it,” Dunn said. “It’s a massive difference when you drive them, for sure.”

Whereas the transition from 3 to 4 is not always an easy one for some, Ryder said he felt that Twin B Joe Fresh would not have any problem with it. Although, he does see a difference in her this year.

“I just think she’s racing better,” Ryder said. “She’s always had a lot of speed and all that, but she’s just finishing off her miles better. At 2 and 3, things went wrong and she didn’t always win. Now, things might go wrong, but I think she’s still going to be tough.”

Ryder pointed out that Twin B Joe Fresh was the first 3-year-old pacer, regardless of sex, to win the FanDuel, but she was also the first sophomore filly regardless of gait to do it as well.

“I’ve said all along, I don’t know if I’ve said it to you, but she didn’t really go from 3 to 4, because the point I made is that she was an aged horse as a 3-year-old because she won the FanDuel against the aged mares,” he said. “That told me that her going from 3 to 4 was easier than the others because she was already at that level as a 3-year-old.”

For Dunn, winning with Twin B Joe Fresh capped off a Hambletonian Day that saw him register an impressive six winners, the most by any driver on a single card at The Meadowlands in 2024.

As for picking which win of the day was his favorite, Dunn was a little hesitant at first to say it was the one with Twin B Joe Fresh.

“I mean, it would probably be a bit of a tie with [Twin B Joe Fresh] and Jiggy Jog [S who won the Cashman],” Dunn said. “But I think when you own them, it’s even more of a special feeling when they’re winning races, big races, especially on Hambo Day. So, yeah, it probably was the best one of the day, for sure.”

The only blemish on a stellar stakes-laden resume this season for Twin B Joe Fresh, was her first start of the year when she faced older males in a winners of 5 but not more than 9 at Harrah’s Philadelphia, because they needed to get her raced.

At this moment, Ryder said he has no plans to face the boys again.

“People are suggesting it, but I’m not, no,” Ryder said. “If there’s a time and a place where we have nothing else to do and it looks like an okay shot, I don’t know, we’ll see. It’s not really in the wheelhouse at the moment.

“My objective after a few starts with her was to do everything I can to have a Horse of the Year. That’s why I skipped [the Clara Barton at] Plainridge. I just don’t want to ever have her where she might be a little tired or dull. I’ve just got to make sure she’s 100 [per cent] for every race. If it works, it works. We’ll see.”