Beckwith, Ranger tied for leading driver honors

Plainville, MA — After the final numbers for the 2024 Plainridge Park meet that ended last Friday (Nov. 29) were updated in the United States Trotting Association’s database on Monday (Dec. 2), the top harness racing drivers and trainer of the year were determined.

After a long driving battle between the rising star, Brett Beckwith, and the veteran, Bruce Ranger, finally wrapped up, the two rival reinsmen ended in a tie with both posting 166 wins for the meet.

On the training side, Jimmy Nickerson stood well ahead of his competition with a total of 78 conditioning victories to add yet another title to his resume.

This is the first Plainridge Park driving title for the 21-year-old Beckwith, who really came into his own at The Ridge in 2022 before taking the sport by storm at many major venues in the northeast. Beckwith finished third in the Plainridge standings last year before jumping to the top spot this season that saw him drive 888 starts with 166 wins, 162 seconds and 130 thirds, that earned his connections just over $2.5 million in purses.

Beckwith will also win the driving title at Saratoga Raceway this year where he has a commanding 51-win lead, plus he sits third overall for dash wins among all drivers in North America with currently 577, behind only Jason Bartlett in second and the leading Aaron Merriman. Those wins have helped boost his 2024 earnings to just under $6 million to date.

Ranger racked up his fourth consecutive driving title at Plainridge after jumping back into the sulky after a brief retirement in 2015. In his previous titles, Ranger posted a track record high 181 wins in 2021, 163 in 2022- and 152-wins last year. This season, Ranger drove 875 races at Plainridge with 166 wins, 137 seconds and 114 thirds with $2,224,903 in purses. This is also the third year Ranger has surpassed the $2 million mark in earnings, making him the only driver to ever accomplish that.

Ranger also drove full time in Maine all summer and all totaled, posted 218 wins, 173 seconds and 140 thirds with just under $2.5 million in purses for the year.

Nickerson notched his fourth consecutive — and fifth overall — Plainridge training title this year after sending 78 winners postward which was 27 more than his nearest competitor and earned over $1.1 million in purses.
This is the third time Nickerson has surpassed $1 million in purses at Plainridge and he remains the only trainer to ever cross that threshold in the history of the track.

For the entire year including starts at other tracks, Nickerson has won 102 races, which is his highest total since 2019, and $1,320,241 in earnings, which is his highest one-year bank deposit ever.

Live racing returns to Plainridge Park on Monday (April 14), 2025 at 4 p.m.

by Tim Bojarski, for Plainridge Park