chris ryder
Born in 1955 into a New Zealand horse racing family, Christopher J. Ryder grew up on a farm in the small town of Greymouth. When he was a teenager he spent some time as a jockey, riding his father’s Thoroughbreds in races. For the first ten years of his working life, Ryder was mainly a beautician who worked with horses on the side. Ryder first came to North America when his wife Nicola, a certified public accountant, was transferred to her firm’s Manhattan office.
Ryder landed a job working for Mario Gallo with trotters in New Jersey. When Gallo died a few years later, Ryder decided to train a few horses on his own. Early successes in North American harness racing came with 1996 Messenger winner Go For Grins and 1997 Governor’s Cup winner Sealed N Delivered.
In 2000 Ryder picked out both McArdle and Art Major at the Tattersalls Sale in Lexington, Kentucky. He trained McArdle for the entirety of that pacer’s $2.4 million career, and $2.7-million winner Art Major through the pacer’s two-year-old season and the first six starts at three.
Ryder has trained ten Dan Patch divisional award winners and enjoyed eight Breeders Crown victories. His charges include Cathedra Dot Com, winner of the 2001 Fan Hanover; 2007 Dan Patch Award winner and world champion trotting mare Mystical Sunshine; 2010 Breeders Crown and Dan Patch Award winner, world champion and Hall of Famer Put On A Show; 2013 Breeders Crown and Dan Patch Award winner, world champion I Luv The Nitelife; Bettor’s Wish, winner of the 2019 Milstein and 2020 TVG Open and Dan Patch Awards both of those years; 2020 Fan Hanover and Dan Patch Award winner, world champion Party Girl Hill; 2021 Breeders Crown and Dan Patch Award winner Niki Hill; 2023 Breeders Crown winner Gem Quality; 2024 Breeders Crown winner and Horse of the Year Twin B Joe Fresh; and 2024 Breeders Crown and Dan Patch Award winner Miki And Minnie.
At the time of his Hall of Fame induction, Ryder had trained the winners of over $57 million, including three consecutive seasons with earnings of $3.4 million (2022, 2023 and 2024).