Harrah's Hoosier: Joe Joe Joe sets double-gaited world record

Joe Joe Joe, a 7-year-old Roll With Joe gelding owned, trained, and driven by Jesse Yoder, is now the fastest double-gaited performer in harness racing history after a 1:54 4/5 win on the trot in Saturday night's (March 27) fourth race at Harrah's Hoosier Park.

Yoder put Joe Joe Joe right on the lead in his event, and he would lead through fractions of 28 1/5, 57 1/5, and 1:26 on his way to a 10 3/4 length victory. Joe Joe Joe's final time tonight, coupled with his 1:50 2/5 mark on the pace taken on June 22, 2019 at the Meadowlands, gives him a combined total of 3:45 1/5, lowering the previous double-gaited standard of 3:45 2/5 set by Argentinian-bred Chucaro Ahijuna.

"I raced him on the pace last year until I gave him some time off after a minor injury," Yoder said. "Once I started bringing him back, I noticed how much he loved to trot. He really loves to trot; he actually hates to pace. I think it's the hopples he doesn't like but he is just much happier when he's trotting. He just kept getting better and better. Once he won at Pompano (in 1:56 1/5 on March 10), I started looking into it and realized we had a shot at the world record."

This was Joe Joe Joe's 18th career win, two of which have come as a trotter in 2021, and he has earned $115,713.

"I was going to stay in Florida and just send him up here to race with my brother (James)," Yoder continued. "I wanted to keep him on a big track, but I decided at the last minute to come up, I wanted to get it. I wanted to be the one to get the world record with him if he was going to get it.

"I wasn't sure if he would get it tonight. I just wanted him to be comfortable. He did it all on his own. It is pretty cool training a world record holder."

--quotes courtesy of Harrah's Hoosier Park--