Twin B Joe Fresh dominates the Horse of the Year balloting with Jiggy Jog S taking the Trotter of the Year title.

story by Ken Weingartner / USTA media relations manager
quotes by Dave Briggs

Twin B Joe Fresh breezed through her season last year, going 10-for-10 in stakes or invitational finals, and added another triumph Sunday (Feb. 23) when she was named the 2024 Horse of the Year to conclude the U.S. Harness Writers Association’s Dan Patch Awards banquet, presented by Caesars Entertainment, before a crowd of 300 at Rosen Centre.

The Chris Ryder-trained mare, who also received Pacer of the Year for her 4-year-old campaign at Sunday’s banquet, was named Horse of the Year on 126 of the 142 returned ballots. Five-year-old mare Jiggy Jog S, who was announced as Trotter of the Year on Sunday, was second with seven votes.

It is the first time in history that mares have been named Pacer of the Year and Trotter of the Year in the same year. The awards date back to 1970.

“It’s great,” said Ryder. “There have been a lot of people telling me that she’s going to get this, but I never count my chickens before they hatch. So, obviously, it’s not the biggest surprise, but it’s exciting and really cool.”

Also receiving votes for Horse of the Year were 3-year-old trotting colt Karl with four, 3-year-old pacing colt Captain Albano with three, and 3-year-old pacing colt Nijinsky with one.

Twin B Joe Fresh became the second pacing mare in the 78-year history of the Horse of the Year Award to receive the honor, joining Shartin N in 2019.

In balloting for Pacer of the Year, Twin B Joe Fresh was the only horse to get more than five votes, leading the way with 131. In balloting for Trotter of the Year, Jiggy Jog S received 84 votes to top a trio of horses in double digits. She was followed by Maryland with 34 and Karl with 13. Sig Sauer, who topped Karl in divisional Dan Patch Award voting for best 3-year-old male trotter, was the only other horse with more than one vote. He received eight.

Twin B Joe Fresh finished no worse than second in all 13 of her races last year, winning 11 and earning $895,562 to lead all older pacers in money. She captured eight of the nine most lucrative races for pacing mares, including the Breeders Crown Mare Pace, Dayton Distaff Derby, Roses Are Red, Milton, FanDuel Mare Championship, Lady Liberty, and Dorothy Haughton Memorial.

She was voted No. 1 in the Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown poll for the final 21 weeks of the rankings.

Twin B Joe Fresh, a daughter of Roll With Joe—Fresh Breeze, was owned by trainer Ryder, driver Dexter Dunn, Peter Trebotica, and Barry Spak. She was bred by Brittany Farms.

The mare is the first Horse of the Year winner for Ryder, who in the previous five years had finished second on three occasions, with three different horses. Ryder will be inducted into the harness racing Hall of Fame in July of this year.

Twin B Joe Fresh is the second Horse of the Year winner for Dunn, who drove 2022 honoree Bulldog Hanover. Dunn flew to the Dan Patch Awards from Australia where he competed in the Ladbrokes Ultimate Driver Championship on Saturday night (Feb. 22). He arrived in Orlando at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, just as the banquet was starting.

“I came straight from the airport to here, got my suit on and came down,” Dunn said. “We didn’t make it on time, but we were here.”

Dunn, who also collected his fifth Driver of the Year Award in the last six years and drove a record eight Dan Patch winners, said he’s used to rushing from one track to the next to just make it in time for a big race, so coming from Australia to Orlando via San Francisco wasn’t a lot different. Though, he said he expects, “the next couple of days will be pretty tough, but it’s exciting to be here and get the Horse of the Year. Being tired is nothing to worry about.”

Dunn said Twin B Joe Fresh has, “had it all since she’s been a 2-year-old — speed, you could use her any way you want to, but I think this year she really went to another level. I could use her a lot tougher in races and she’d finish them all off much better and she was just so strong.

“She was very dominant this year. She really grew up. I own a piece of her, too, which is a big bonus.”

Ryder and Dunn said Twin B Joe Fresh will return to the races this year at age 5.

“It’s fantastic,” Dunn said. “The sport needs champions and I have never seen it so much as I did with the 4-year-old year of Bulldog Hanover. I saw so much outside interest come because of him. It was one year of it and then it was done, but it really brought racing alive, especially with what he did. So, hopefully, [Twin B Joe Fresh] builds a big following for this year. Hopefully, she comes back and it’s even better again.”

Jiggy Jog S was a perfect six-for-six last year, earning $929,188, before being retired because of a ligament issue. She defeated an international group of male rivals in the MGM Yonkers International Trot in addition to beating the boys in the John Cashman Memorial (in a career-best 1:49.2), Arthur J. Cutler Memorial, and Sebastian K Invitational.

A daughter of Walner—Hot Mess Hanover, Jiggy Jog S was trained by Ake Svanstedt and owned by Ake Svanstedt Inc., Steve Stewart, John Lengacher, and Hickory Hollow Stables. The mare, who was a divisional Dan Patch Award winner in 2023 at age 4, was bred by Vestmarka AB.

Previously announced Dan Patch Award divisional champions also were honored Sunday at the banquet.

Division-winning pacers in addition to Twin B Joe Fresh were 2-year-old colt Louprint, 2-year-old filly Miki And Minnie, 3-year-old colt Captain Albano, 3-year-old filly My Girl EJ, and 6-year-old stallion Abuckabett Hanover.

Division-winning trotters in addition to Jiggy Jog S were 2-year-old colt Maryland, 2-year-old filly Champagne Problems, 3-year-old colt Sig Sauer, 3-year-old filly Allegiant, and 4-year-old stallion Winner’s Bet.

Other honorees included Stan Bergstein-Proximity Achievement Award winner Wanda Polisseni, Trainer of the Year Noel Daley, Owner of the Year Burke Racing/Weaver Bruscemi, and Rising Star Brett Beckwith.

Also recognized at the banquet were the members of the 2025 Hall of Fame class, which will be inducted on July 6 at the Harness Racing Museum and Hall of Fame in Goshen, NY: Ryder, Tom Aldrich and Bob Boni, as well as communicators Debbie Little and Judy Davis-Wilson.

A complete list of winners can be found here on the U.S. Harness Writers Association’s website. For complete Horse of the Year, Pacer of the Year, and Trotter of the Year vote totals, click here. A replay of the Dan Patch Awards banquet will be available on the U.S. Trotting Association’s website www.ustrotting.com this afternoon (Feb. 24).