Brett Beckwith off to New Zealand

Brett Beckwith’s penchant for winning races has already put him among the leading harness racing drivers in North America. Later this year, he will take aim at triumphing abroad.

Beckwith, the 2024 Dan Patch Rising Star Award winner, has been selected by the U.S. Trotting Association to wear the Stars and Stripes and represent America in November’s World Driving Championship in New Zealand.

Since the beginning of 2023, Beckwith has posted more than 1,200 victories — a total exceeded by only three drivers in North America. He finished seventh in wins in 2023, third in 2024, and is third again so far this season.

For his career, Beckwith, who turned 22 in January, has won more than 1,550 races and earned $15 million in purses.

“In only his fourth year of full-time driving, Brett Beckwith is a 22-year-old up-and-comer who recently won the U.S. Harness Writers Association’s Rising Star Award,” said Russell Williams, President of the USTA, “and he topped the standings at Saratoga Raceway and Plainridge Park. His talent and enthusiasm are going to take him a long way, and he’s excited to represent the United States in the World Driving Championship. So are we.”

Beckwith said accepting the opportunity to compete in the WDC was an easy decision.

“Obviously, it’s a huge honor to represent your country,” Beckwith said. “Aside from the fact that you get to represent your country, and you’re driving against seven, eight, nine of the best people in their respective countries, you’re also getting the chance to visit other parts of the world. I work a lot, and I race a lot, and I always tell myself it’s something I’m going to start doing — venturing off to different parts of the world when I get the time to. I’m grateful, and I’m looking forward to it.”

The last U.S. driver to win the WDC was Dave Magee in 1995.

“I’ll try to get a championship for America,” Beckwith said. “I don’t think of it as any pressure, I think of it as an added bonus. It’s cool enough just representing your country, but to get the win for it, that would be huge.”

The WDC will begin at Kaikoura Raceway, which will host the first two days of the 20-race event, Nov. 2 and Nov. 3. Cambridge Raceway, Addington Raceway and Central Southland Raceway will follow before the championship wraps up with a one-race return to Addington on New Zealand Cup Day, Nov. 11.

“I’m a pretty avid race-watcher,” Beckwith said. “I’ve watched races from down there, I’ve watched the New Zealand Cup, so I’ve got a little bit of an eye for it.”

Beckwith followed his parents, driver Mark and trainer Melissa, into harness racing, but the family’s roots run deeper. Melissa’s late father, trainer Jerry Silverman, was inducted into the Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 2019 and her brother, Richie, was the first Dan Patch Rising Star Award winner in 1986. Mark’s late father, Bert, was one of New England’s most respected horsemen of the 20th century.

Brett Beckwith got his first win in 2019 but didn’t begin driving regularly until two years later. In 2024, he set career highs with 608 victories and $6.27 million in purses while capturing the driving title at Saratoga and sharing the honor at Plainridge Park.

This year, Beckwith has 152 wins and $1.08 million in purses. He leads the way in victories at Saratoga again, and he is also atop the standings at The Meadowlands.

“Everything has gone exceptionally well, which is hard to say because of how great last year went,” Beckwith said. “I didn’t really go into this year with any goals because I thought it would be slightly unrealistic to expect to win 600 races again in a year. That’s hard to do, I don’t care who you are. I hustled all year for that, and this year has started off better win percentage wise, and The Meadowlands has been really good to me so far.

“It’s wild,” Beckwith added as he reflected on his career. “When you’re in the moment, you don’t think about it. I’ve raced almost seven days a week for the last two or three years, so you don’t really get a chance to look back and think on it. The times when it comes into your head, you’re like, wow. You’re reminded of a memory from three or four years ago, and you can’t believe you came that far.”

by Ken Weingartner, for the USTA