Young stars shine at Big M

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – With the cold weather starting to invade the Northeast as the countdown to Christmas stands at 18 days, young harness racing drivers will be getting more opportunities at The Meadowlands.

Two such pilots are Brett Beckwith, 20, and Tyler Miller, 25, who both recorded driving doubles on the special Thursday night program at The Big M.

The duo combined to take all four legs of the Late 50-cent Pick-4, which returned a whopping $3,407.10.

The first of Beckwith’s wins came with the Patrick Hlubik-trained 4-year-old mare Bette Tina (Betting Line-Dragontina) in the seventh race as the 4-1 fourth choice in 1:54.3 in a TrackMaster Series (rating of 74 or less) dash for fillies and mares on the pace.

BETTE TINA / BRETT BECKWITH REPLAY

“She was pretty good in her last start [when third at The Big M],” said Beckwith. “I had confidence going in.”

The eighth race saw Beckwith score with Big Charlie Moran, a 5-year-old gelded son of Cantab Hall-Summers Windsong, in a Play Meadowlands series event for trotters, in 1:55.3 as the 5-2 third choice.

The Paul Fusco trainee had come from well off the pace to win his previous outing at Freehold Raceway.

“For sure, we take that into account when horses close that well at Freehold and then come to The Meadowlands,” said Beckwith, who is currently second in the driver standings at Saratoga Raceway with 212 wins this year.

So, how will you spend the winter?

“The plan is to be [at The Meadowlands] on Fridays and Saturdays,” said Beckwith, who, in addition to Saratoga, does a lot of racing at Plainridge Racecourse.

Miller, whose 11 wins have him tied for seventh in The Big M Fall Meet standings, is a regular at the mile oval and figures to get even more work during the next several months.

He had his backers smiling after sweeping the Late Daily Double, which paid $304.40.

The son of Andy and Julie Miller clicked in the ninth with Lazin On The Beach, a 3-year-old filly by Lazarus N-One For The Beach, in 1:54.2 as the 7-2 third choice for trainer Edwin Quevedo in a TM74 for filly and mare pacers, before dropping a 24-1 longest-shot-on-the-board bomb with Glide In The Wind (Yankee Glide-Lady In The Wind) in the 10^th-race finale in 1:56.2 in another Play Meadowlands split on the trot. Glide In The Wind, an 8-year-old gelding, gave trainer Jeffrey Byron his first-ever score at The Meadowlands.

A LITTLE MORE: All-source handle totaled $1,181,919 on the 10-race program. … Racing at The Big M resumes Friday at 6:20 p.m. with a 14-race program, highlighted by a $16,541 carryover in the 20-cent Pick-8, which gets underway in race four.

For complete race results, click here: US Trotting results.

by Dave Little, for The Meadowlands