It was a “career year” for 20-year-old driver

At the beginning of the 2023 harness racing season, Brett Beckwith stated in an interview that one of his main goals was to finish in the top two at Saratoga Casino Hotel. As the curtain closed on racing at the Spa on Sunday, Dec. 17, Beckwith not only found himself in second in the driver rankings, the 20-year-old reinsman wrote his name in the history books for his career year.

Beckwith finished second to veteran driver Jim Devaux in the driver standings at Saratoga as he made 227 trips to the winner’s circle over the 2023 season.

“It feels very good,” Beckwith said. “I’m extremely grateful for all the opportunities I had this year, but I want to try and get that title next year.”

When Beckwith finished second with Whimsical Journey on Dec. 2 in a leg of the Charlie Hoffman Memorial Pacing Series at the Spa, he just tipped the scale towards a turning point in history. The $2,500 purse that Beckwith pocketed pushed him over the $4 million mark for season’s earnings. The only question was if he was the youngest to achieve such a feat.

At the time of the event, Beckwith was 51 days from his 21st birthday on January 22nd. Doug McNair was also the age of 20 when he achieved his first $4 million season on Dec. 9 of 2010. With a birthday on Dec. 29, McNair was 20 days shy of his 21st birthday. By a matter of 31 days, Beckwith earned the title as the youngest to achieve $4 million in a career season, a historic milestone.

“To have the opportunity I have had this year means a ton. It’s truly something I’m grateful for. If you would have asked me three or four years ago if I was going to be driving horses for a living, I would have called you crazy. The four million means a lot, but without the opportunities I have gotten along the way at such a young age, even though I feel older, means so much to me.”

Though majority of his starts have taken place at his home base at the Saratoga Springs oval, Beckwith has traveled many miles throughout the year with trips to Yonkers Raceway, Plainridge Park, Buffalo Raceway, Batavia Downs, Freehold Raceway, and The Meadowlands.

He frequented the winner’s circle after winning top classes at each track with his most notable victories in the $35,325 Tompkins-Geers at the Big M and the $31,500 Step Up To The Plate Trotter Claiming Series at Saratoga. Of his over 2,500 starts, Beckwith agreed that having a chance at the $250,000 Gerrity Memorial Pace in July was a career highlight moment.

“It was just an unreal experience,” he said. “It was a huge honor. A race at my home track, going for that much money, it meant a lot to me to be in it. I’m hoping I can get another crack at it this year.”

In addition to winning across the board all year, Beckwith was selected to drive in the inaugural charity match race in which thoroughbred jockey Flavien Prat took the lines of Foxe Ella to compete against Beckwith and Cross Creek Samara. Beckwith won the race that drew in a crowd of fans and raised over $10,000 towards the Belmont Child Care Association (BCCA) Faith’s House and The Franklin Community Center (FCC) charities.

“I loved the match race experience. I thought it was great for the sport and there were so many new people that came out to watch. I definitely think it was something we need to do again!”

Now, Saratoga has six weeks of downtime before the start of the 2024 season. Despite the allotted vacation time, Beckwith will continue to work towards his goals through the gym, barn, and traveling to drive at other tracks.

“I’m pretty much just a gym rat outside of racing. I’ll go to Meadowlands and Freehold on the weekend and I may have a small three- or four-day vacation.”

Having achieved his original goal by open lengths, Beckwith sets his sights on new goals for the upcoming year and years to come.

“I want to stay healthy, and I’d like to give it a run for leading driver next year,” he said. “I truly love racing at the Meadowlands, and I wish I could all year long. As for a dream race, it would be the Little Brown Jug or the Breeders Crown.”

No matter how high he sets the bar or where Beckwith plans to go, it’s clear he will stop at nothing to achieve his goals.

“He’s lightyears ahead of where I was at his age and probably light years ahead of most people,” Brett’s father, harness driver and owner Mark Beckwith said. “But the thing that his mother [trainer Melissa Beckwith] and I are probably most proud of is we get more compliments on the person he is rather than the driver that he is, and that means so much more to us than anything.”

by Jessica Hallett, for Saratoga Raceway