Twin B Joe Fresh cruised to command with a mid-race move and easily maintained her throne atop the aged pacing mare division to score her second straight victory in the $287,000 Roses Are Red, a Grade 1 stake, on Saturday, June 14 at Woodbine Mohawk Park.

Driver Dexter Dunn eased Twin B Joe Fresh from the gate while Sylvia Hanover (bob Mcclure) hustled for the lead to a :26.2 first quarter. Sylvia Hanover pocketed pylon-starter My Girl EJ (Todd McCarthy) to take control moving for the backstretch but soon faced pressure with Aardie B Miki N (Jason Bartlett) angling first up out of third to brush for the front. Dunn followed that brush and soon assumed the lead with Twin B Joe Fresh past a :55.1 half before coasting around the final turn.

My Girl EJ moved to push first over in a sprint to three-quarters, timed in 1:22.1, while Twin B Joe Fresh spun for home and motored away from her peers by the eighth pole. Twin B Joe Fresh crossed the beam geared down in a 1:48.4 mile to win by 3 1/2 lengths. Sylvia Hanover found a seam at the inside to finish second with Aardie B Miki N holding third and Soft Spot (David Miller) rallying from near last for fourth.

“She felt fantastic,” Dexter Dunn said after the race. “It was a good mile by her – she didn’t feel like she was going that fast; she was doing it so easy. She’s just special. She had the plugs in still and was floating along there. Aardie B Miki was breathing down my neck pretty good turning for home and I thought we might have a battle, but this girl can quicken as good as any of them and when she let down she put separation on them. My daughter Mila’s at home on the couch sick, so I hope this makes her feel better."

Now five years old and on the heels of a campaign which earned her divisional honours on both sides of the border and Horse of the Year honours in the U.S., Twin B Joe Fresh (Roll With Joe - Fresh Breeze) stayed undefeated from two starts this season – her last win coming in the $136,986 Betsy Ross Invitational three weeks ago, and with a single 1:50.2 qualifier at The Meadowlands coming into the Roses Are Red final on Saturday night.

“She is what she is… she’s not hard to get ready,” trainer Chris Ryder said after the race. “She’s such a beautiful mare – you push a button, she’s away. We’re very blessed.”

“She’s gotten bigger every year and better every year,” Dunn said. “She’s done it again this year. So [it’s] a special ride.”

Ryder and Dunn share ownership of Twin B Joe Fresh with Peter Trebotica and Barry Spak. The mare has now won 32 races from 42 starts and earned $2,898,709 in her career.

With her dominance against her cohort, Ryder humoured pinning Twin B Joe Fresh against the boys but said after her win in the Roses Are Red that he wasn’t “adamant” about pursuing the challenge.

“Everybody keeps asking me, so obviously we have it in the back of our minds,” Ryder said. “It’s a possibility, but it has to suit her. We’ll just see if it works out, but I’m not adamant about doing it at all, no.”

Sent off as the 1-9 favourite, Twin B Joe Fresh paid $2.30 to win.

For full results from Saturday's stakes-packed card of harness racing at Woodbine Mohawk park, click the following link: Saturday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park.

(Woodbine)