Plainville, MA — When Brett Beckwith steered Side Piece (Shadow Play) to victory in a new lifetime mark of 1:50.2 in the featured $20,000 fillies and mares Winners-Over pace at Plainridge Park on Tuesday afternoon (April 16), he registered the 1,000th win of his young harness racing career in his typical front-end style.
The Janie Kellogg owned, and Jackie Greene trained mare took the lead past the quarter and held off a fast-closing Arizona (Bruce Ranger) in the shadow of the wire. Side Piece paid $5.40 to win.
After the race, the happy Beckwith said: “I’m very grateful for all the opportunities I’ve been given and for being able to drive so many good horses. I just want to keep working hard and improving week to week to be the best driver I can be every time I go behind the gate.”
Beckwith is also the fifth leading percentage driver in North America, boasting a gaudy .349 UDR. Beckwith has banked just under $1.4 million in purses so far in 2024 and is on course to break all his personal single season numbers this year.
SIDE PIECE REPLAY
The 21-year-old Beckwith is also the leading dash driver at two current meets. First at Saratoga Raceway with 115 wins and a UDR of .420 and after two days, also at Plainridge Park with 6 wins and a UDR of .567.
Racing resumes at Plainridge Park on Thursday (April 18) with post time at 4:00 p.m.
For complete race results, click here: US Trotting Results
by Tim Bojarski, for the Standardbred Owners of Massachusetts