Like a fine wine, trainer Chris Ryder's career has aged to perfection. Ryder, to be enshrined in the Harness Racing Hall of Fame next year, has enjoyed incredible success over the last decade and appears to show no signs of slowing down if this year's impressive stable continues to perform as it has over the last month. This weekend Ryder's premier pacer Twin B Joe Fresh, a mare he not only trains but co-owns, will be tackling what remains of the best mares in training in the C$205,000 Milton at Woodbine Mohawk Park. On Sunday, the next generation of Ryder stars hopes to make a splash in a pair of $400,000 Kentucky Championship Series finals at The Red Mile. Twin B Joe Fresh is currently in the lead for the Horse of the Year title as the 4-year-old by Roll With Joe keeps rolling on with an unblemished record in stakes races this year. Advancing rapidly towards the $2 million mark in career earnings, Ryder has kept to a schedule that has made the payoffs big while keeping his mare well-rested in the meantime. "I'm happy with how the schedule has worked out for her," said Ryder when discussing the lack of overnights between races and the need to keep Twin B Joe Fresh fresh while awaiting the next stakes event. In the case of the six-mare Milton on Saturday (September 14) there were no elimination races, giving Ryder the option to rest Twin B Joe Fresh in New Jersey before shipping to Woodbine Mohawk Park specifically for Saturday's contest. Perhaps Twin B Joe Fresh has scared off the competition, or, on the other hand, there are a more limited number of mares in her class right now. Either way the results speak for themselves. With seven straight wins following a second-place finish in an overnight at the outset of the campaign, Twin B Joe Fresh has earned nearly $420K already this season and is looking to build on that in the Milton and beyond. "After the Milton she's got a race in Ohio (Dayton Distaff on September 28), the Breeders Crown and the TVG (now FanDuel)," said Ryder of the current road Twin B Fresh will embark upon. Ryder has been enjoying the ride with Twin B Joe Fresh and gave strong indication that we'll see the gifted mare race as a 5-year-old. "Sure, I'd like to race her next year," said Ryder. "Unless someone comes along and wants to buy her." Perhaps that comment was a bit tongue-in-cheek, but Ryder and company understand the business end of the industry quite well. ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter While Twin B Joe Fresh is clearly the leader in the stable, Ryder has been building stakes winners over the last month, including some Sire Stakes champions. Tarrific captured the NYSS final at Yonkers this past Saturday, and the half-sister to Ryder's former standout Niki Hill has a few more engagements left on her stakes calendar. "She's eligible to the Breeders Crown," said Ryder, who clearly thinks the daughter of American Ideal can compete at the highest level if given the chance. This past Sunday (September 8) another Ryder protégé captured the Pennsylvania Stallion Series championship when Twisted Destiny won the $40,000 event for 2-year-old colts and geldings in a career-best 1:51 mile. The final time was faster than Pennsylvania Sire Stakes champion Papi's Rocket needed to win the $252,000 event at The Meadows on September 5. "He's a very nice horse," said Ryder of Twisted Destiny, who happens to be a son of Ryder's former star Bettor's Wish. "He was lightly-staked and has a few more left." Much of Ryder's success in the last decade has come because he has kept a close eye out for talent from a few specific maternal families. That a pair of generational stars from the Brittany Farms catalog have frequently found its way into the bloodlines of Ryder's stars is no accident. Those Kentucky roots can pay off dramatically in the Bluegrass State this Sunday when American Son and Miki And Minnie look to capture lucrative titles in the 2-year-old colt and filly finals, respectively. American Son was purchased for $80,000 as a yearling and has almost made that back in just a handful of starts this year. Originally put in the Kentucky Commonwealth Series by Ryder, he advanced to the Championship Series with two second-place finishes, enough to put him among the point leaders for the $400,000 final. "I wanted to be careful with him initially," said Ryder of his rationale for putting American Son in the mid-range Sire Stakes events. "He was making breaks while training and I wanted to address that first." A 1:49 3/5 victory in a Commonwealth division on August 13 convinced Ryder that American Son was ready for the big-time and a pair of second-place finishes right behind Louprint in the final two legs of the Kentucky Championship Series proved that the colt was for real. American Son hails from Ryder's favorite Brttany maternal family, sprouting from the endless tree of the foundation mare Three Diamonds. Both Bettor's Wish and Twin B Joe Fresh have similar roots. On the filly front, Miki And Minnie has advanced in a similar manner, gaining confidence at first in the Commonwealth events and then capturing a Kentucky Championship Series split on September 1 at The Red Mile in a career-best 1:50 3/5 clocking. Following four second-place finishes, Miki And Minnie has found her stride for Ryder and company at the right time. "I raced her mother," said Ryder of the Roll With Joe-sired That's The Ticket, a winner in 2016 of the Three Diamonds final. Unlike her stablemate this filly does not come from the Three Diamonds tree but another popular line. "She's out of my second favorite Brittany family," said Ryder. That's The Ticket hails from the family of Artiscape and has deeper roots from the mare Delinquent Account, a foundational mare purchased by Brittany during her racing career. The family goes back to Sir Dalrae, one of the better aged performers of the mid-70's. Miki And Minnie is by Always B Miki. "It's nice to have another good one by Always B Miki," said Ryder, who had one of that stallion's best in Niki Hill not that long ago. Ryder will have some for the undercard as well at The Red Mile. He still has high hopes for the Bettor's Wish-sired freshman filly Bytheliteofthemoon, a winner in three of four legs of the Golden Rod Series this summer. Ryder claimed it was an owner's decision to race the filly at this level, though he thinks she'll be able to tackle better in the future. The owners happen to be Ryder and Dexter Dunn. Another family member, if you will, is Flossy Hill, the first foal from Ryder's champion filly Party Girl Hill. Flossy Hill, a filly from the first crop of Tall Dark Stranger, won two of four preliminaries for the Golden Rod Series. Ryder's stable appears poised for a late-season run, and the prospects for 2025 could be stronger, highlighted by a most- deserving Hall of Fame induction in July.