Only twice since 2004 have fans seen successive Dan Patch Horse of the Year Award winners in action in the same season, but with Saturday’s return of female pacer Twin B Joe Fresh, that will change.
Twin B Joe Fresh, the 2024 Dan Patch Horse of the Year, will make her 2026 debut on Saturday, June 6 in the first of two $35,000 eliminations for the Roses Are Red Stakes at Woodbine Mohawk Park. The six-year-old mare, whose campaign last season was cut short because of an injury in late October, has won the past two editions of the Grade 1 event for older female pacers.
One race after Twin B Joe Fresh’s elim, 2025 Dan Patch (as well as O’Brien) Horse of the Year Beau Jangles puts his perfect 15-for-15 career record on the line in the second of two $50,000 eliminations for the Pepsi North America Cup. The most recent successive Dan Patch Horse of the Year honourees to return in the same season were McWicked and Hannelore Hanover, in 2019, and JK Shesalady and Bee A Magician, in 2015.
Twin B Joe Fresh, who in addition to being named U.S. Horse of the Year in 2024 received the Dan Patch Award for best older female pacer in 2025, has won 36 of 49 career races and earned $3.4 million. The Chris Ryder-trained daughter of Roll With Joe-Fresh Breeze has finished worse than third only twice.
“She’s as good as ever, I believe; she’s doing great,” Ryder said about Twin B Joe Fresh, who had surgery in November for a hairline cannon bone fracture. “Everything is pretty much copacetic. She just needs to go a race, but I’m quite confident with her. She’s bright. We’re always hanging on to her [in training]. She’s looking to go.”
Ryder owns Twin B Joe Fresh with driver Dexter Dunn, longtime assistant trainer Peter Trebotica and Barry Spak. Last year, the mare hit the board in all nine of her races, winning six and earning $724,546. Her triumphs included five graded stakes – the Roses Are Red, Dayton Distaff Derby (G1), Milton Pace (G2), Dorothy Haughton Memorial (G2) and Betsy Ross Invitational (G3).
In addition to winning the Roses Are Red twice in her career, she has captured the Dayton Distaff Derby and Dorothy Haughton Memorial on two occasions and was the Breeders Crown Mare Pace (G1) champion in 2024. Overall, she has won 21 graded stakes, with six being Grade 1 and seven Grade 2.
She heads to her Roses Are Red elimination off two qualifiers, the most recent a 1:51.2 (last quarter in :26.2) on May 22 at The Meadowlands. She will start from post four on Saturday, with Dunn in the sulky, and is the 4-5 morning line favourite. The top five finishers from each elimination will return for the Grade 1 final on June 13.
“I’ve had so many great races with her, it seems like you’re in the wilderness when she’s not racing,” said Ryder. “But here we are, lucky enough to have her back and ready to go again. It’s a treat to have her racing. You’ve just got to enjoy the ride.
“A lot of people follow her and it’s a real honour.”
Ryder also will send out the morning line favourite in the second Roses Are Red elimination, two-time Dan Patch Award divisional champion Miki And Minnie. The four-year-old daughter of Always B Miki-Thats The Ticket has finished in the top three in all 27 of her career races, with 19 wins, six seconds and two thirds, on her way to $2.7 million in earnings.
Last year, Miki And Minnie had 13 victories and two seconds in 15 races, good for $1.55 million in purses. Three wins came in Grade 1 stakes – the Breeders Crown, James M. Lynch Memorial and Fan Hanover – and she finished her campaign by defeating older horses in the FanDuel Mare Pace Championship (G2).
“She had just two narrow losses and I was really proud of her winning the FanDuel,” said Ryder. “I thought that was really great.”
Miki And Minnie heads to her Roses Are Red elimination with one start under her belt, a third-place finish in the Besty Ross Invitational (G3) on May 24 at five-eighths-mile Harrah’s Philadelphia. She will start from post five on Saturday, with James MacDonald taking over for Dunn in the sulky, and is the 7-5 morning line favourite.
“I suppose she might be slightly in the shadows of 'Joe Fresh,' but she has come back really well,” said Ryder, who trains Miki And Minnie for breeders/owners Craig Henderson, Robert Mondillo and Lawrence Minowitz. “The race [at Philly], I’ll admit I was slightly disappointed. Maybe I’m expecting too much, but I definitely think she’s better for the race. I’m sure she will thrive on racing. And the five-eighths is not her ideal track; she’s better on a bigger track because she’s got a good, long run to her. She is more of a grinder, but she finds a way. She just doesn’t give up.
“It’s going to be a little bit of a different feeling not having Dexter on her because Dexter has always done so well with her, but obviously he’s got to drive the other mare. I’m doing what I can to have Miki And Minnie on her toes, to get the best out of her.”
The Roses Are Red eliminations are part of a loaded 13-race card at Mohawk, which in addition to the aforementioned North America Cup elims, hosts three eliminations for the Fan Hanover Stakes for three-year-old female pacers. For complete entries, click here. Racing begins at 6:30 p.m. at Mohawk.
(USTA; photo of Twin B Joe Fresh winning the 2025 Roses Are Red Stakes)