Twin B Joe Fresh was made the morning-line favorite
At 0h02, on October 23, 2024 • By Breeders Crown
Twin B Joe Fresh, the No. 1-ranked horse in the Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown poll, will leave from post five in Saturday’s (Oct. 26) $400,000 Breeders Crown Mare Pace at the Meadowlands and was made the 4-5 morning-line favorite.
The post-position draws for the finals of the Breeders Crown Mare Pace, Open Trot, 3-Year-Old Colt and Gelding Trot, and 3-Year-Old Colt and Gelding Pace, were held Tuesday (Oct. 22).
Elimination winners drew for posts one through six before the remaining finalists were placed in open draws in their respective events.
Twin B Joe Fresh, who finished second to Grace Hill in the single Mare Pace elimination last week, has nine wins and two seconds in 11 starts this season for trainer Chris Ryder and driver Dexter Dunn. She has won 28 of 38 lifetime races, missing the top three only twice and earning $2.06 million. She had a nine-race win streak snapped in her Crown elimination, when she started from post 10 at the Big M.
“She’s fine,” Ryder said. “She’ll be ready. I keep saying the same thing, I have to pinch myself. She’s been winning, and winning well. It’s a big joy. It’s very exciting.”
Grace Hill will leave from post three for trainer Virgil Morgan Jr. and driver Todd McCarthy and was established as the 4-1 second choice. Grace Hill captured the Mare Pace in 2022. She has won 35 of 77 races and $1.86 million during her career. She missed the board in four straight starts during the summer but has three consecutive victories, two in conditioned classes, since a month layoff.
“She just needed some time off and we regrouped,” Morgan said after Grace Hill’s elim triumph. “Obviously, it paid off. She was real good in the last two starts, but she’s supposed to be against those horses. That worked to our benefit coming in here.”
The field also includes two-time Breeders Crown champion Sylvia Hanover, who will leave from post nine for trainer Mark Steacy and driver Bob McClure and is 6-1. Canada’s 2023 Horse of the Year has won 20 of 37 lifetime races and earned $1.75 million.
In the draw for the 3-year-old colt and gelding pacers, elimination winners Mirage Hanover and Captain Albano got posts one and five, respectively. Elim winners Daiquiri Hanover and T C I drew posts two and six, respectively, in the 3-year-old colt and gelding trot final.
There were no eliminations for the Open Trot, which features a field of 11.
The Breeders Crown finals for all 2-year-old events will be Friday (Oct. 25) at the Meadowlands. The other events will be Saturday at the Big M. First-race post time is 6:20 p.m. both nights.
