While all things must come to an end, each conclusion also marks the start of a new beginning. When Twin B Joe Fresh lost her Breeders Crown elimination - and nine-race winning streak - it was certainly unexpected but hardly a detriment to her quest for Horse of the Year. Twin B Joe Fresh remains the clear leader in the battle for the sport's most coveted yearly equine honor when she takes the stage at the Meadowlands this weekend along with 120 of the best Standardbreds in North America as they compete for $7.29 million in purses in the Breeders Crown year-end championships. A 4-year-old pacing mare, Twin B Joe Fresh has reached the pinnacle of the sport by dominating her division. After a second-place finish to start the year, the daughter of Roll With Joe was unbeatable regardless of trip, not only winning nine straight races but eight of them were stakes events. Then came her Breeders Crown elimination where it seemed like business as usual for the superstar until it wasn't. Driver and co-owner Dexter Dunn sent Twin B Joe Fresh to the front from post 10 and was able to rate a reasonable middle half of 56 2/5. The pair opened up by a couple of lengths as she began to sprint home in a strong 26 seconds. The victory seemed a certainty until Grace Hill, a winner of over $1.8 million during her stellar career, ripped off a sizzling 25 3/5 final quarter to power past in the stretch. "I actually thought she was very good and I wasn't unhappy with her. All winning streaks end and she got beat by a good horse," said trainer Chris Ryder, who co-owns Twin B Joe Fresh along with Peter Trebotica and Barry Spak. "All horses are vulnerable when they cut the fractions from the 10-hole. If there is a good horse in the race they get you." Despite the defeat, Twin B Joe Fresh stills has the upper hand in the race for Horse of the Year because her closest rivals - the undefeated Jiggy Jog and Chantily - in the weekly Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown poll won't be competing for the rest of 2024. The former has retired due to injury and the latter isn't eligible to the Breeders Crown. There is a case to be made that if Twin B Joe Fresh can't win the Breeders Crown that Jiggy Jog could win the title without racing. Others that would seemingly be in contention should the mare lose in her Crown quest on Saturday include top 3-year-old pacing colts Nijinsky and Captain Albano. Both have at least as many wins as Twin B Joe Fresh in slightly more starts, and perhaps more importantly to voters, they have all earned more money than the mare since the male divisions race for higher purses. For all of Ryder's accomplishments that have gotten him elected to the Harness Racing Hall of Fame this year, the 69-year-old has never had a Horse of the Year. "We've been runner-up a few times," said Ryder on his past attempts for Horse of the Year. "There is a lot riding on this race. It's ok, I've got broad shoulders, I think. They might not look that big, but I can handle it. It's a challenge and it comes with the territory. I'm just blessed to have a horse in this position. "I have to be honest, it would mean a lot. I'd be disappointed if I didn't get it. Special things don't happen very often. It's a big achievement." The retirement of Jiggy Jog, combined with a Breeders Crown victory by Twin B Joe Fresh, could seal the deal for Ryder, but he certainly wasn't celebrating the trotter's demise. "I wish everyone luck because we all get our fair share of bad luck," said Ryder. [Jiggy Jog's] a terrific horse and it was a real shame. It just shows you have tough it is when you see these unexpected injuries. You never know what is around the corner even with a sound horse. Things happen when you race." Twin B Joe Fresh will take on most of the same faces she raced against in her elimination. Silver Label and Strong Poison took byes last week and join the group as Prohibition Legal and Zanatta are excluded after finishing at the back of the pack in the elimination. Twin B Joe Fresh gets a better post to work with this week as she'll start from the five-hole in the $400,000 Breeders Crown Open Mare Pace slated as race 11 on the Saturday card. Grace Hill goes from post three and Sylvia Hanover, who bested Twin B Joe Fresh throughout their 3-year-old campaigns, has post nine. "I believe we're in a better position from getting beat than if we had won," said Ryder. "Now we know that we have to be a little careful. You can't just think you're the best and point them. It is ok for a while but sooner or later it catches up to you. Maybe you can win three or four like that and then you don't. "I'm always concerned going into a race but I'm very optimistic." Dunn, who has driven some of the best horses in the sport over the last half-dozen years, including the trotting mare Jiggy Jog, marvels at Twin B Joe Fresh's ability. "She's right up there [as one of the best he's driven], especially what she's done this year. It's the ride of a lifetime owning her," said Dunn. ► Visit our Breeders Crown event page for a 5% REBATE on Exotic wagers Friday and $10 WIN Insurance on Crown races Saturday with DRF Bets, plus get full-card analysis and insider Crown picks/analysis Dunn a force to be reckoned with this weekend Dexter Dunn has won Driver of the Year honors in four of the last five years and is poised to notch a record-setting fifth title this year with a big Breeders Crown weekend. The New Zealand native is driving three morning-line favorites over the 12 Breeders Crown races, including Maryland in the 2YO C&G Trot on Friday, My Girl EJ in the 3-year-old filly pace final and Twin B Joe Fresh in the older mare pace on Saturday. For Dunn, the rise to stardom since arriving in the United States in 2018 has been unexpected. "I wanted to do as good as I could but I think my main goal was to win one stakes race," said Dunn. "I didn't know how I was going to do, to be honest." Dunn, who described his best year in Australia and New Zealand as driving horses to earnings between $3.5 and $4 million, has posted six straight seasons of over $10.8 million since arriving in North America. In 2024 he holds a slim $400K lead over Yannick Gingras atop the earnings leaderboard at just under $13 million. Gingras is expected to handle two post-time favorites. "If you look at the horses I've driven [over the last six years] it has really been amazing. I owe it all to the owners, trainers and horses for giving me the shot," said Dunn. "Chris Ryder and Nifty Norman gave me a shot early, and then Tony Alagna. They put me up in stakes races and got me going." ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter Daley with plenty of bullets in Crown finals Noel Daley doesn't have the most starters on Breeders Crown weekend but what he lacks in quantity he's making up for in quality. The trainer will start live longshot Miss Belmar (10-1) in Friday's 2-year-old filly trot (race six), and on Saturday, 8-5 morning-line favorite Captain Albano in the 3-year-old colt and gelding pace (race 10) and 3-1 second choice Sig Sauer for the same age/sex group for trotters (race seven). Along with one other horse in the $700,000 filly trot final, Miss Belmar has the lightest résumé at just four starts. After a couple of poor performances to start her career in late August and early September, she closed very well in the International Stallion Stakes at The Red Mile and in her Breeders Crown elimination last weekend, finishing third on both occasions. "If she was second-over last time instead of third-over, she would've won that," said Daley, who added that the filly will race without shoes in the final. "She's headed in the right direction. I had to start late with her because she wasn't that sound and she's very green. Her last start at Lexington she pulled up at the quarter pole and the three-quarter pole. We gave up nine lengths and got beat by a half to a couple of good ones. She is pretty good and she behaved herself and did everything right [in her elimination]. "Because she hasn't had many starts you would think she is still on the up and the others have had enough." Miss Belmar starts from post seven with Andrew McCarthy in the bike. Champagne Problems (post three, 5-2) was installed as the morning-line favorite with Scott Zeron driving and Luna Lovegood (3-1) is the second choice with Dexter Dunn steering from post six. As one of the leading sophomore pacers, Captain Albano provides Daley with his best chance on paper to win a Breeders Crown. The son of Captaintreacherous has posted nine wins in 14 starts for over $800K in earnings in 2024 and could vault well over the million dollar mark with a victory in the $600,000 final. In last week's elimination with regular driver Todd McCarthy at the controls, the pair brushed to the front passing the half and fended off a very game Captain Luke to win in a career-best 1:48 1/5. Other than a qualifier on October 10 over the Meadowlands surface, that was his first pari-mutuel start since winning the Little Brown Jug on September 19. "That was his first start in a month so he should be sharper for the final," said Daley, who was also quick to point out how well Captain Luke and others raced in the eliminations. Captain Albano's main competition is likely to come from Mirage Hanover (post one) with Dexter Dunn in the bike and Nijinsky (post two, Louis Roy), who were separated by just a head in last week's elimination round. Daley will send out Sig Sauer in the $600,000 final for 3-year-old male trotters as the likely second choice behind elimination winner T C I, who went down the road in 1:51 1/5. Sig Sauer finished fourth in the mile and had a bit of trouble handling the surface. "I had aluminum shoes on him for the first time and he didn't handle them. He won't have shoes next week," said Daley, who raced the horse without shoes in the Kentucky Futurity in his previous start, a 1:49 3/5 victory. "I didn't want to go another week with no shoes, so we put the aluminums on, but he wasn't that safe in them. At least [Andrew McCarthy] got him there." Sig Sauer won the Kentucky Futurity from post eight and he's saddled with that post again in the Crown final as he battles with not only T C I (post six, David Miller) but also fellow elimination winner Daiquiri Hanover (post two, Ake Svanstedt), Highland Kismet (post four, Tim Tetrick) and Tony Adams S (post 10, James MacDonald). One Daley starter that didn't make the Breders Crown final is 3-year-old stakes-winning trotting filly Buy A Round. "She was wild [Saturday] and out of control. It was probably her last start [before being sold at Harrisburg]; terrible way to go out," said Daley. Melander loaded with trotting talent Unlike Daley, trainer Marcus Melander has the best of both worlds in the Breeders Crown with strength in numbers as well as plenty of horsepower. The 32-year-old sends out 10 horses throughout the weekend and an amazing quartet in the $700,000 colt and gelding trot for 2-year-olds carded as race eight on Friday. Melander's lead horse in the male freshman Crown trot is multiple stakes winner and divisional leader Maryland, but he is closely followed by Kentucky Championship Series champion Super Chapter. "They are two different horses," said Melander. "I think Super Chapter is quicker off a helmet and Maryland, when he gets up to speed, he can carry it a little longer. They are two very good horses. It's going to be a good race." The two horses have taken different paths to the final. Maryland (post two, 5-2) last started on September 21 when winning the Mohawk Million and since only qualified on October 10 at the Meadowlands. Super Chapter (post six, 9-2) won at The Red Mile on October 4 and finished second by a head in his Breeders Crown elimination. "Obviously we had the qualifier with Maryland and we wanted to take it a little easy because he was fired up in the Mohawk Million. He closed good; never asked him really. He trained great this morning [Oct. 19], so I'm confident. It's not like he had eight weeks off. It is five weeks and he raced really tough going from Canada to Hoosier to New Jersey. He needed that break. He's just a 2-year-old," said Melander, who didn't discount his other two starters as well. "Both of those colts can win and Blank [post eight, 20-1] raced huge in his elimination. Meshuggah [post one, 8-1] raced great on the lead." Dexter Dunn had a choice between Maryland and Super Chapter and chose the former. David Miller gets the assignment on Super Chapter while James MacDonald drives Meshuggah and Andrew McCarthy is on Blank. As for the rest of his six-pack of starters, Melander felt Kadena would be an exotics factor in the $700,000 Crown for 2-year-old trotting fillies (race six) and Luna Lovegood was a force to be reckoned with in the same event. He has high hopes for Date Night Hanover (post seven) on Saturday in the $600,000 sophomore Crown for trotting fillies (race five) and lamented her bad luck this year. "Date Night raced great again; tough trip for her [in the elimination. She's had bad luck with post positions in the big races," said Melander, who also has a big shot with Periculum (post seven) and Oh Well (post 11) in the $600,000 Open Trot, race nine on Saturday. All of the Breeders Crown festivities get underway at 6:20 PM each night and the track will offer multiple guaranteed wagers, including $100K Pick 4s in race six and $50K Pick 4s in race 10 on both cards. Friday's program also features a $10,791 Pick 6 carryover commencing in race eight.