The Meadowlands’ leading driver Brett Beckwith recorded the biggest night of the season for a pilot on a single Big M program, as the 22-year-old guided seven horses to victory lane on a 14-race card on Saturday, Dec. 13.
Three of the reinsman's victories came in combination with trainer Per Engblom. Both Overthinking ($5.20) in the second race and Momas Son Byrne ($2.80) in the sixth made winning Big M debuts for the duo as they shipped south from Ontario for owner Daniel Sarafian. Fasting ($2.20) was the other winner for the Beckwith-Engblom team in the fourth. The conditioner is having a career-best season in North America with 416 victories, putting him second among all trainers in the United States.
Beckwith’s other winners were Captain Crusader A ($2.60) in the third, Stellar Yankee ($6.40) in the seventh, Lite N Sweet ($5.60) in the 11th, and Ourmatemenko N ($4) in the 12th. He was one win short of the Big M all-time record of eight, a mark held by both Brett Miller and Mike Lachance. He did not have a drive in the 14th and final race of the night, but had a shot at tying the all-time mark in the 13th, leading into the stretch with 9-1 outsider Belmont Major N, only to get gunned down by Diamondbeach. The last time a driver won seven on a card was on July 23, 2021, when Dexter Dunn turned the trick.
The reinsman has racked up 577 wins this season, 31 shy of his personal best from last year, and more than $9.7 million in earnings, a new career mark.
The Saturday feature was billed as a heavyweight donnybrook between Mad Max Hanover and Go Go Grasshopper, with Mad Max Hanover, the grizzled veteran with more than $950,000 in the bank, taking on Go Go Grasshopper, who was in search of his third straight win. Too bad for that dynamic duo that Odds On Wildfire didn’t get caught up in the pre-race hype.
The Geovany Hernandez-owned, -trained and -driven Odds On Wildfire, a three-year-old gelded son of Bettors Wish-Odds On Naples, burned up the track from start to finish in the $34,722 TrackMaster 90 on the pace, completing a front-end blowout in a lifetime-best 1:49.3.
“He felt good last week,” said Hernandez. “I had a bad post and he had to take back [when he finished seventh at Yonkers]. Tonight, with a good post [four], I knew he could get the job done.”
At the outset, Silk Cloud A (Jim Marohn Jr.) was away with a burst of speed from the rail, as Odds On Wildfire, Go Go Grasshopper (Joe Bongiorno) and Soho Spectre A (Mark Herschberger) joined the first-turn scrum. Silk Cloud A reached the quarter first in a snappy :26.2, leaving Odds On Wildfire parked, but only briefly, as the eventual winner motored up to the top at the three-eighths before hitting the half in :54.1.
Odds On Wildfire continued his torrid clip to three-quarters in 1:21.4, and by now, 9-5 second-choice Mad Max Hanover (Beckwith) was clawing his way into contention first-over while 3-2 favourite Go Go Grasshopper followed that one’s live cover. The leader’s edge grew to 3-1/2 lengths at the head of the stretch, and that turned out to be the difference, as Odds on Wildfire held off the late rallies of the top two public choices. He won it by a safe neck over Go Go Grasshopper with Mad Max Hanover third.
“This horse is so amazing because he can get to the front so easy,” said a proud Hernandez. “He's just a nice horse. He showed he could do the job tonight.”
Odds On Wildfire was unraced at two, but he has been a terror during his first season on the track, winning 13 times from 28 attempts, good for earnings of $202,445. He won at The Big M on Nov. 22 in wire-to-wire style in 1:51.1, and after the aforementioned outing at Yonkers, came back Saturday with a monster effort.
As the 17-1 sixth choice in the field of 10, Odds On Wildfire paid $37.60.
Sean Loebs finished with a bankroll of $430 to take down the $6,944 USD first prize in the final of the 2025 Meadowlands Monthly Handicapping Contest, which had a total prize pool of $13,889.
“My big hits came on the early races,” said Loebs. “I had a $20 double, a $5 Pick-5 and a $15 Pick-3, so I built up a bankroll early and held on.”
In the contest that was limited to 20 entries (the top two finishers from the contest's 10 monthly preliminaries), Loebs had two, and felt that was key in his victory.
“I think it gave me more confidence,” said Loebs.
Finishing second and third were Joe Barre (bankroll $414; $2,778 in winnings) and Karen Fossli ($293.63, $2,083), respectively. Nick Montemurro, who had four entries in the contest, had the fourth- and fifth-place winning totals with $75 and $43.20, respectively, good for prize money of $1,389 and $694.
Meadowlands back-paddock interviewer Joe Romanelli continued his hot handicapping by setting a personal best with nine winners on top.
In fact, "Joe Ro" was gunning for the all-time record of 10, which is held by Ken Warkentin and Dave Little, after he correctly selected the winners of the first eight races, but he settled for a nine-spot after going one for the last six.
It’s not known if Romanelli had the best weekend of anyone ever, but there's a good chance he did. He selected six winners on Thursday and four more on Friday, giving him 19 – out of a total of 40 races – over the three-day race week for a cool win percentage of 47.5.
All-source handle on the 14-race card totalled $2,739,228. Racing resumes Thursday at 6:20 p.m.
(With files from The Meadowlands; photo of Brett Beckwith after a win on Dec. 21, 2023)