Beckwith hopes to win his family’s namesake race on Spirit Sunday

Brett Beckwith has been one of the hottest young drivers in North America for the last three years and is coming off a career season in 2024 that saw him win 608 races and $6.27 million in purse money. That earned him the Dan Patch Rising Star Award from the United States Harness Writers Association.

This year, he is on pace to surpass all those numbers and currently sits fourth in wins among drivers in North America with 366. But the one win he would like to have above all the rest would be in the race named for his grandfather. That is the $75,000 Bert Beckwith Memorial Invitational Pace, which will be held at Plainridge Park on Sunday (July 20) as part of the Spirit of Massachusetts day of racing.

Beckwith drives regularly at Plainridge and gets somewhat emotional when he talks about the race that bears his family name.

“I think it’s a great thing to have this race at Plainridge named for my grandfather because he was a prominent horseman in Massachusetts and all of New England. And to get the opportunity to race in it is exciting for me. I drove in it twice before but so far haven’t won it,” said Beckwith.

“If I were able to win the race it would certainly be a huge thrill for me. My whole family comes up and I think it’s probably one of a few races I could win and get pretty emotional about.”

Beckwith sat behind Vel Mr Nice Guy in 2022 and finished seventh, and then drove Fourever Boy last year and finished fourth in a race that set a track record. Fourever Boy was race timed in 1:49.3, finishing closely behind Big Skewy N who won in 1:49.1.

Beckwith will drive Fourever Boy again this year. The horse is trained by his mother, Melissa Beckwith, and has done very well at Plainridge since coming here last year. He is the lone millionaire in the race ($1.09 million) and the only horse to win a sub-1:49 mile (1:48.2) in his career.

“Fourever Boy has been really good this year, especially after we changed up his routine a little bit. He usually jogs alone, about 25 minutes a day, but recently he’s been swimming every day. He seems to like that a lot and he’s been racing better since we’ve started that. His legs look good, and he’ll be all systems go on Sunday. He’s been super this week leading up to this race,” Beckwith explained.

“I also think he’s one of a few horses in that race that is very versatile. If I need to leave with him I can leave and if I need to race off the pace, he can do that too. And I feel this is going to be a mixed up and action-packed race. We have Lifes A Puzzle right outside of me, and he’s very speed oriented, and Heinikin Bythebay on the inside of me, and he can leave out of there too. I’m actually very happy with where I drew because it’s a good spot to either leave or sit, so all my options are open.”

Fourever Boy is having another solid year with four wins already, one of them in 1:49.3 right at Plainridge.

If Beckwith were able to get Fourever Boy home first, it would be the second time Melissa Beckwith won the race as a trainer after her 2022 victory with Patrikthepiranha A in 1:51.2.

Besides the Beckwith, Brett also has a full card of action including the top two events of the afternoon. He’s driving Jeff Cullipher’s Talk Curdy To Me in the $100,000 Clara Barton Distaff Pace and Ari Ferrari J in the main event, $250,000 Spirit of Massachusetts Trot, for Tony Alagna. Beckwith has been driving the 5-year-old regularly in the Open at The Meadowlands.

“Talk Curdy To Me is a sweetheart. I drove her once here and she won in 1:50.3. There’s not much to her, she’s pretty simple. She’s very nice to drive but she’s obviously in super tough because that group will have their hands full trying to beat Twin B Joe Fresh,” said Beckwith.

And Ari Ferrari J is a super horse, and I really think he’ll love this track because he’s a speed horse that’s built real strong. He’s got a great big stride to him, he likes to go fast, and he can take some air. So, I think he’ll be able to mix it up a little bit in there.”

The Bert Beckwith Memorial Invitational originated at Foxboro Park in in 1994 to honor the legendary New England horseman and in the second year of its running, produced the fasted pacing mile in the 50-year history of the track when Riyadh and Jim Morrill Jr. simply destroyed the field in a 1:51.3 clocking. When Foxboro closed in 1997, Plainridge Racecourse revived the race and held it for several more years. When Plainridge Park started the new era of harness racing in Massachusetts, they were proud to bring it back in 2021 and have made it a centerpiece of Spirit Sunday ever since.

The Bert Beckwith Memorial Invitational is carded as race eight with an estimated post time of 4:20 p.m. (EDT). Post time for the first race is 2 p.m.