Patrick Ryder has a passion for driving

Patrick Ryder’s enthusiasm for the sport of harness racing bubbles over like a pan of simmering hot lasagna waiting to be plucked from the oven, and the added ingredient of his love for the filly Lisa Lane only helps to solidify his passion for all things Standardbred.

Patrick, son of prominent New Jersey-based trainer Chris Ryder, has been in the harness game all of his life, born nearly 29 years ago, he became deeply involved three years ago, when he began pursuing his lifelong dream of being a professional harness driver.

“I’ve always loved animals, and as a kid I was outside 24/7,” Patrick offered. “I loved fishing and hunting, and I always liked the horses, but being so close to it with my dad training, I guess I didn’t jump into it right away or was as involved as I could have been, even though I spent a lot of time at the barn during school breaks. I had good friends in the business who were other trainers or driver’s kids, such as Jesse and Keith Pierce, Ronnie’s (driver Pierce) kids, and Jack Pelling (trainer Brett’s son). Ronnie was like a second father to me, and I really looked up to him as a driver.”

After graduating from Allentown High School, Patrick attended the University of Vermont with his sights set on obtaining an undergraduate degree in biology.

“I fell in love with Snowboarding, and worked at snowboarding shops, and participated on teams, and spent a year in Vermont before transferring to Rutgers, where I got a degree in economics,” Patrick stated. “Once I came back to New Jersey, I started getting more involved with the horses, and I fell right into it; it was natural for me because I had worked for dad in the barn off and on over the years before I decided to pursue it full time. I stopped working in the snowboarding industry and groomed for a few years and I liked the track work and felt I was better on than off the track, so I segued into becoming a second trainer.”

Patrick second trained for his father for several years, traveling around the country with Bettor’s Wish p, 4, 1:47.3 ($2,601,233), among others.

“I just loved it; I loved working with such nice horses, and eventually I started qualifying some, with the goal of eventually being able to drive full time,” Patrick said. “I think initially I wasn’t vocal enough to tell my dad that I wanted to drive, that it was something I always wanted to do. I told my wife, Nadia, that I didn’t want to regret not having tried driving as a profession. I felt I was wasting the abilities I had with horses, and that I had to give it a chance.”

Patrick began driving in 2021, amassing $59,339 from 70 starts, with two wins, ten seconds, and seven third-place finishes. Last season he upped those stats to $176,855 from 77 starts, six wins, nine seconds, and six thirds. This year, he’s already notched three wins and eight seconds in 59 starts, with $97,786 in seasonal earnings.

“Me and my dad have a phenomenal relationship,” Patrick acknowledged. “He’s such a good dad and has the perfect amount of sugar. If I’m driving terribly, he’s tough but he’s perfect, he’s been around it all, so he knows the business and the ups and downs. With the driving—he’s been astute enough to know when to put me on and when not to put me on, and he’s really helped me grow into roles that suited me.”

One role that has absolutely suited Patrick is his partnership with the filly Lisa Lane (Lazarus N), who is conditioned by his father. Patrick has been the only driver to ever pilot the speedy earner of $151,443, who has a mark of p, 3, 1:52.2f. Owned by Chris & Patrick and Patrick’s wife, Nadia Tarnawa—the trio purchased Lisa Lane for $21,000 at the 2021 Lexington Select Yearling Sale.

“She’s a beauty, she’s such a nice filly,” Patrick stressed. “We had been traveling a lot and my dad had been teaching me what to look for in a horse, the pedigrees, confirmation, etc. We would go to the yearling sales with him, and my wife said, “let’s buy a yearling.”  I was a bit hesitant because I’ve seen so many yearlings get bought over the years and turn out to be nothing, but my wife was a big proponent of buying a baby—so we decided to buy a horse together with my father. We wanted to buy something well bred, and something not super expensive, and a pacing filly because we figured we’d have a better shot of getting our money back with her as a broodmare later on, and we wanted a NJ eligible filly.”

Lisa Lane was bred by Bred by Tara Hills Stud Ltd & Glenn E. Bechtel of Port Perry & Kinston, Ontario, Canada and is the first of three foals out of the American Ideal p, 3, 1:47.4 ($2,581,461) mare Special Kay Deo p, 3, 1:52f ($87,500). Lazarus N (Bettor’s Delight-Bethany-Christian Cullen) has 244 registered foals, 108 starters with 55 in 2:00 & 27 in 1:55 or better for total foal earnings of $2,739,152. His top earners are Voukefalas p,3, 1:49.4 ($455,183) and Handlelikeaporsche p, 2, 1:50.1 ($284,350), with Lisa Lane his fourth richest earner and tenth fastest foal stateside.

“She had a nice family and was a first foal, from the first crop of Lazarus, and we thought her pedigree was solid, and that her confirmation was good,” Patrick related. “She had a nice big jaw, which means she has a big airway. She was strong and not frail looking, even though she was a bit small. She was really well put together and had a bright look in her eye.”

Lisa Lane has been driven by Patrick since day one (6/11/2022) when she won a Meadowlands qualifier in 1:57.4. In her sixth lifetime start she grabbed her first career win with a front-stepping 1:53.3 effort in the $20,000 Kindergarten leg at the Big M, brushing home in :27.3 on Sept. 1, 2022. She was then third in the $150,000 NJ Classic on Sept 16, clocked in 1:51.4. Her next triumph came on Oct. 15 at Freehold in a $10,000 overnight, when she paced to a front-end 1:56.4. From 12 starts as a freshman, she earned $151,443 with two wins, two seconds, and two thirds.

“She’s been an absolute delight since day one and is one of the nicest horses I’ve ever worked with,” Patrick acknowledged. “She never really bucked or kicked or did anything even the first time we put the harness on her. She’s really a professional and never really does anything wrong. She doesn’t know she’s little, she’s got a big heart and is very determined.”

This season to date Lisa Lane has had six starts, with a lone triumph coming in a $12,600 overnight at Harrah’s Philadelphia in wire-to-wire fashion, when she was clocked in a career best 1:52.2.

“That was definitely a great effort on her part,” Patrick noted. “it’s tough to win races when you’re a new guy. But no one left much, and I pushed on out of there and she just jogged and was phenomenal.”

Lisa Lane followed that win up with close second (beaten a neck) in the Park MGM Filly Pace elim at Yonkers on June 23, to Earthwindfire (Tim Tetrick) in 1:52.2, closing in :27.3 to just miss first prize.

“We sat in the two-hole and came on strong at the winner at the wire. She wanted to get by her. I was really impressed with her that start,” Patrick confirmed. “Earthwindfire is a world class filly trained by Brett Pelling and driven by Tim Tetrick–a great trainer-driver-filly combo, so to almost catch them was a great effort on the part of my filly.”

Patrick said he feels blessed to have the support of not only his father, but his wife Nadia Tarnawa—who is the new staking manager for the Hambletonian Society—along with his 18-month-old son Harry.

“I simply love racing,” he said. “There’s nothing like winning a race, especially when the horse does it really well, and the horse is a good horse. And, to race with my father and our family’s support is such a blessing. We have family who are watching us race back in New Zealand, while my wife’s family watches us from their home in Poland.

“I realize how blessed and fortunate I am to be in this position,” Patrick concluded. “To have a father who gave me direction and to be raised around horses—it’s just a passion that is also a labor of love.”

by Kimberly Rinker, for Harnesslink