Driver Brett Beckwith capped his marvelous year at The Meadowlands by becoming the youngest driver in harness racing history to reach the career 2,000-win plateau on Saturday, Dec. 27. 

The 22-year-old pilot won the fifth race with Belmont Major N ($10.60) to hit that lofty number, brushing the gelding to the front en route to a 1:51.4 victory for trainer Cory Stratton. 

He broke the record of Tyler Smith, who had been the youngest to 2,000 when he did it at age 23 in 2016. Beckwith reached the milestone in 11,337 starts. The 2024 Rising Star Award winner has amassed earnings of $26.3 million since his pari-mutuel debut in 2019. 

Beckwith, perhaps unsurprisingly, led the driver colony with four victories on the night. The reinsman, who also became the youngest to win the Winter-Spring Championship meet at the Big M earlier this season, finished the year far in front in the dash-win standings with 146. Mark Herschberger was second with 99. Jason Bartlett and Dave Miller tied for third with 81.

Dan Patch Trainer of the Year Ron Burke finished 2025 atop the Big M conditioners' standings with 57 wins. Jeff Cullipher was next with 54, followed by Noel Daley with 50.

On a night where the front end – or very close to it – was the place to be, Lou Hill found himself in the flow third-over at three-quarters before tipping in the stretch and sprinting home to gun down 4-5 favourite Pinny Tiger A in the $41,096 Open Handicap Pace.

The race was billed as a matchup between Pinny Tiger A, last week’s winner of this event who was in search of a sixth straight win, and 9-5 second choice Christopher Dance N, a winner of eight of 12 outings this year, including a lifetime-best effort of 1:49.3 earlier this season at The Big M.

Predictably, the two favourites were on the go from the word go, with Christopher Dance N (Jonathan Ahle) leading while parked at the quarter in :26 before Pinny Tiger A (Beckwith) took over at the three-eighths and hit the half in :54. A live flow developed down the backstretch as Ammo (Mark Herschberger), Captain Moore A (Colin Kelly) and Lou Hill made a deliberate-yet-effective march toward the leader, who reached three-quarters in 1:21.4.

Pinny Tiger A looked primed to extend his streak in mid-stretch, but after racing with cover three-wide around the far turn, driver Austin Siegelman swung Lou Hill into the four-path when straightened up to go after the leader. The four-year-old gelded son of Sweet Lou-Pretty Katherine responded with explosive pace, just getting up on the wire to record a head win in a three-way photo where Pinny Tiger A was second and Captain Moore A finished third. The Per Engblom trainee completed the mile in a lifetime-best 1:49.

“I got a perfect trip third-up and he was the best,” said Siegelman. “I thought he could do it from off the pace.”

Owned by Tom Hill, Lou Hill now has 13 victories in 39 career tries, good for earnings of $458,193. As the 9-1 third choice in the wagering, Lou Hill returned $21.60 to his backers.

Joe Bongiorno’s double led the trainer colony. 

All-source handle on the 14-race program totalled $2,683,068. Racing resumes at The Meadowlands on Friday, Jan. 2 at 6:20 p.m.

(With files from The Meadowlands)