When trainer Chris Ryder was recognizing the partners involved with female pacer Twin B Joe Fresh at Sunday’s Dan Patch Awards banquet, he introduced Barry Spak by noting his fellow co-owner “likes to remain a little anonymous.”

Well, those days are over. Spak, who has never attended one of Twin B Joe Fresh’s races during her career to date, is ready to end his self-imposed exile following the now five-year-old mare’s coronation as 2024 U.S. Horse of the Year.

“They say it’s hard to find a horseman that isn’t superstitious about something,” said Spak, who attended Twin B Joe Fresh’s first qualifier as a two-year-old in 2022 but never ventured to the track to watch her in action when money was on the line. “The more she won, the more I was hesitant to see her race live as a jinx. But the jinx thing is over. I plan on seeing as many races live as I can.

“When you have Horse of the Year, everything is done. You don’t have to worry about jinxing anything.”

He added with a laugh, though, “I guess my not showing up worked.”

While Spak was not showing up, Twin B Joe Fresh always did. She finished no worse than second in all 13 of her races last year, winning 11 and earning $1,231,252 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. Twin Be Joe Fresh was also named the 2024 Older Pacing Mare of the Year at the O'Brien Awards.

Dating back to November 2023, she has won 12 consecutive stakes or invitational finals. Only two of those victories were by less than a length.

“She didn’t just win them, she won them,” said Peter Trebotica, Ryder’s longtime assistant who, with Ryder, Spak and driver Dexter Dunn, owns Twin B Joe Fresh. “She’s an amazing horse. I’ve known for three years, but I didn’t know it would reach this pinnacle. Anyone that asked me about her, I kept telling them she’s unbelievable.

“So, I’ve known. Now, everybody does.”

Dunn agreed.

“She’s been great from day one,” he said. “Before she even started qualifying as a two-year-old, you knew she was something special. She was great at two and three, and she got so much stronger for last year. She’s a big girl. And she’s super intelligent, unbelievably easy to drive; fast and strong.”

Although Spak has stayed away from the races, he has visited Twin B Joe Fresh at Ryder’s stable on a regular basis.

“I go to the barn quite often,” said Spak. “I remember seeing her last year and she had almost doubled in size. She’s like a tank. She’s an intimidating sight to see. She’s built tremendously.”

A daughter of Roll With Joe-Fresh Breeze, Twin B Joe Fresh has finished outside the top three only twice in 40 lifetime races, winning 30 and finishing second on seven occasions. The mare, bred by Brittany Farms and raised and sold by Twinbrook Farms, has earned $2.68 million. She was purchased for $65,000 at the 2021 Standardbred Horse Sale.

Ryder went to the sale looking to buy a yearling for the ownership group to replace a three-year-old it sold a month prior to the auction. As hip No. 630, Twin B Joe Fresh was late in the sale.

“I missed on some horses, but I knew she was coming up, so I didn’t push myself on the others because she was about the last one that I liked,” Ryder said in a 2023 interview. He added with a laugh, “So, when she came in, I kind of had to buy her. You’ve got to believe in fate a little bit.”

If Twin B Joe Fresh’s 2024 success removed the weight carried by Spak over fearing a jinx, she also removed the wait for Ryder to have a Horse of the Year. Ryder had his trainees finish second in the voting by United States Harness Writers Association members three times in the previous five years: Bettors Wish in 2019, Party Girl Hill in 2020 and Niki Hill in 2021.

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

“It’s quite an honour,” said Ryder. “All the credit goes back to the horse. She’s a fantastic horse; she just goes and goes. She knows how to win, and she’s got that speed. She’s just given us a great ride.”

The ride is not over. Twin B Joe Fresh is preparing for another season of racing and is expected to follow a schedule similar to last year.

“She’s been back three or four weeks,” said Trebotica. “We trained her before we left [for the Dan Patch Awards] and she’s super. I see her every day and the difference in her is unbelievable. She’s a woman now. Hopefully, everything works out. I don’t see why not. She’s got nothing to prove. We’ll see what happens.”

All of Twin B Joe Fresh’s connections are looking forward to another season with the star.

“It’s been a whirlwind,” said Spak, who owned horses in the late 1970s but got away from the sport while raising a family only to return in 2019 with Ryder. “Now, we set sails for this year and just hope she stays healthy. [Last year], she raced in May and went all the way to Nov. 30, and how Chris managed that so well is a tribute to him. Horse of the Year meant a lot to me, but it meant a lot more for Chris, and I was happy for that.”

“There’s a little bit of pressure, but that’s our job," said Ryder. "Touch wood, she’s been sound enough to keep repeating, to come back and do it again and again. She’s just fast, Dexter has driven her right, she’s just a good horse.”

Dunn added, “Hopefully, she comes back great and races great again. I’m looking forward to it. In my mind, everything she does now is a bonus, she’s done everything that’s been asked of her. For me, it’s not pressure, it’s more like just enjoy it. This is probably the ride of a lifetime.”

For more on Twin B Joe Fresh, watch Standardbred Canada's interview with trainer Chris Ryder at the 2024 O'Brien Awards by clicking here.

(With files from USTA)