Beckwith Gets First Freehold Win
Posted 1146 days
18-year-old Brett Beckwith achieved a milestone in his young driving career on Friday (February 26), winning his first race at Freehold Raceway, and his second pari-mutuel race in his career.
Driving Beaver Creek Misty in the third race, for owner/trainer John Urbanski, Beckwith sent his drive right to the front and set very slow fractions. After an opening half-mile in 1:02 2/5, Beckwith sped things up a bit in the third quarter, rattling off that split in 1:32 2/5. Thanks to those slow early fractions, Beaver Creek Misty had enough to scamper away from the field in the stretch and win by 2 1/4 lengths, at odds of 3.60-1. The final time was 2:01 3/5.
Beckwith is the son of driver Mark Beckwith, who has won more than 5,800 races. His grandfather, Jerry Silverman, was inducted into the Harness Hall of Fame as a trainer in 2019. Beckwith began driving in amateur races in 2019, at the age of 16.
In January, Beckwith began driving in pari-mutuel races at Pompano Park. He won his first pari-mutuel race there on January 26, guiding Amarettigone to victory. His mom, Melissa Beckwith, was the winning trainer.
Live racing continues at Freehold on Saturday (February 27), with a first post time of 12:30 PM. Beckwith is named on four horses on the Saturday card.
