It would be hard to find another 22-year-old in harness racing who had a bigger weekend than Brett Beckwith, who was the leading driver at The Meadowlands on both Friday, Feb. 21 and Saturday, Feb. 22 before jumping on a plane to Orlando, Florida to scoop up the 2024 Dan Patch Rising Star Award at the yearly United States Harness Writers Association banquet on Sunday, Feb. 23.
“It was a great time and definitely special to spend with my family,” said Beckwith. “But I’m not big on taking days off. I really enjoy my job and to take Sunday [the night of the banquet] and Monday off was tough enough.”
Based on how things are going, taking a couple of days off are unlikely to stop Beckwith from getting wherever his sulky skills are going to take him.
Beckwith, after winning four races on both Feb. 21 and Feb. 22 at The Big M, now has 25 wins there on the year, and finds himself in second place in the standings at the New Jersey mile oval, sandwiched in between a pair of veteran superstars, with Jason Bartlett ahead of him (with 28 wins) and Dave Miller right behind (24).
“I thought I had a few that had shots,” said Beckwith, whose 608 wins during 2024 was good for third in North America. “But didn’t think I’d win four both nights. I had some power the first few months I was there and was getting my head kicked in.”
It was the son of longtime horsepeople Mark and Melissa Beckwith who doled out the headaches to his foes on Friday, registering his four scores while driving in just 10 of the 14 races on the card. Brett’s winners paid $9.80, $2.60, $6 and $15.60, good for a profit of $140 if one plunked down $20 on each of his starters.
Saturday brought another four walks down victory lane, but did much more for Beckwith backers' bank balances.
His winners that night – from a total of 12 drives – returned $28.80, $4.20, $4.60 and $102.20. The $20 bettor who wagered a total of $240 on Beckwith's horses cashed in for $1,398, a profit of $1,158.
Beckwith was extremely appreciative of Mad Max Hanover, who won the ninth race as the 6-5 favourite while recording the fastest mile of the year in the sport after stopping the clock in 1:48.2.
“I told [trainer] Jake Leamon that’s the most fun I’ve ever had driving a horse,” said Beckwith. “You could feel him right through the lines. I watched that horse race a ton when Timmy [Tetrick] drove him. Timmy always kept him rolling, so I tried to do the same.”
Mad Max Hanover at 6-5 is one thing, but Fulsome (in the 12th race) at 50-1?
“He surprised me,” said Beckwith, who’s currently fourth in the 2025 North American driver standings with 96 victories. “I thought I choked him. 20-1 would have been more fair for that horse.
“It’s a huge honour [being second in the standings at The Meadowlands]. If you would have asked me two years ago if I would have been getting drives at The Meadowlands, I wouldn’t have said yes. Things have progressed at an unbelievable pace.”
During the months of February and March, live racing at The Big M will be conducted every Friday and Saturday with a first-race post-time of 6:20 p.m The live “Racing from The Meadowlands” pre-game show starts at 5:45 p.m. every Friday and Saturday when track announcer Ken Warkentin opens up the mic with a scene set and program changes. Feee program pages for every race card is available on The Meadowlands' website at playmeadowlands.com.
(With files from Meadowlands Racetrack)