Rich Fisher

Trenton, NJ — At this year’s U.S. Harness Writers Association’s Dan Patch Awards banquet, retired trainer Jerry Silverman was recognized for his upcoming induction into the Hall of Fame. He concluded his speech with a little old-fashioned, grandfatherly pride.

“Watch out for a new one on the market, a young fella named Brett Beckwith,” Silverman said. “Watch out. He’s here to stay.”

When Silverman’s grandson got a look at the speech, it took him aback, but in a good way.

“When I saw that I was actually pretty shocked,” Beckwith said. “It was really nice of him to say that. He definitely didn’t have to. So, I guess I’ve got to just live up to what he said now.”

Brett Beckwith celebrates in the winner’s circle after his first career driving victory. Photo courtesy of Brett Beckwith.

He started doing just that in a May 16 North American Amateur Drivers Association trotting event at Yonkers Raceway. The 16-year-old guided Dark Pool to an 8-1/2 length win in 1:56 for his first victory in just three tries. After sitting third through the first quarter, Beckwith took the lead by the halfway point and never looked back.

“I pulled right around the three-eighths and my plan was to wait a little longer,” he explained. “The longer I could sit and not have to use him the better. But he apparently wanted to go and the field was starting to slow down, so I wanted to pressure the guy on the top. I went to the front and he drove himself pretty much. He’s a good horse.

“I was pretty happy (going across the line) just because it was only my third amateur drive. Before that I only had 19 qualifiers.”

It was an impressive win considering he defeated three former National Amateur Driver of the Year winners in the race.

“I definitely knew there was some good competition in that race,” Beckwith said. “Not only the drivers but there were some other legit horses as well.”

Dark Pool is trained by family friend Paul Fusco, who put Beckwith down after he drove him to a second place finish two weeks earlier.

“He was really solid,” said Beckwith, who is engagingly well-spoken at such a young age. “I knew he was good enough to win those races because he was around 13 lengths from the field last week. I got stuck behind two breakers and he finished a charging second. We don’t have many trotters that fit that race (at Yonkers) and his horse seemed to fit the race pretty well.”

Although he’s just 16, he’s wise enough to know the key to driving a sulky.

“Good horses,” he said. “Good horses make you look good.”

Brett Beckwith turned 16 in January and quickly got his qualifying license. Photo courtesy of Brett Beckwith.

Beckwith’s simple wisdom comes from a family steeped in knowledge. Along with his granddad, there’s his dad, Mark, who has more than 5,600 driving wins; his mom, Melissa (Silverman’s daughter), who has more than 1,700 training wins and is currently Saratoga’s leading trainer in both wins and purses; and his uncle, trainer/driver Richie Silverman, who has nearly 2,000 driving wins.

Yet with all this heritage behind him, Brett spent the first 14-1/2 years of his life dismissing harness racing as a passing fancy. It wasn’t until a trip to The Meadowlands that things changed.

“I definitely grew up around it, but I really didn’t start getting into it until around June of last year,” he said. “For some reason it kind of clicked when I watched this one race. It wasn’t actually the race itself. I was with my grandfather at the Meadowlands that day for a horse that my uncle was racing and something about just watching those guys drive there, it clicked something in my brain. That’s when I realized I definitely wanted to do this.

“I’d been to the Meadowlands before, so it wasn’t that. I don’t really know. It was just watching that one race I guess. My outlook changed and I wanted to learn a lot more about it.”

Brett spent last summer learning all he could. He went from just puttering around the stable for fun during weekends, to immersing himself into jogging, training, warming up horses and eventually training in the race bike. A former basketball player, he gave up the sport in this, his sophomore year at Saratoga Springs High School, in order to work out at the gym six days a week.

“It definitely helps,” Beckwith said. “There’s really no way to work out the muscles you use when you drive. It’s a completely different muscle group and you can only get stronger by doing it more. But it definitely helps to be in athletic shape. And trainers like a guy with strength.”

Brett turned 16 in January and quickly got his qualifying license. His first qualifying race was in February and he immediately knew he made the right choice.

“There’s really nothing to compare to the adrenaline rush you get driving,” he said. “Once I realized that when I was out there for the first time, it definitely clicked.”

Asked what Mark and Melissa thought, Brett said, “They’d probably rather see me do something else, but they still respect my decisions. They’re not going to discourage me from doing it.”

Now that he’s on a mission, Brett taps Mark and Richie for all the info he can get.

“My dad gives me a lot of tips and tricks for what to do and what not to do when you’re out there,” he said. “I talk to my Uncle Richie a lot. He’s definitely been a huge help as well. He comes to support me, calls me after races. He always gives me the positive side of things.

“My dad helps my mom with the horses too, training-wise. Between her and him, I have a lot of opportunities because of the amount of horses we have. It helps a lot. It’s not like I have one qualifier every month, I’m able to almost qualify a horse a week and drive a lot of different horses to learn off of. Every horse is different.”

And while Melissa’s driving input is limited since she strictly trains, she does help with another form of driving. A harness racing soccer mom, so to speak.

“If we go to Yonkers, she’s the one getting us there,” Brett said. “She’s the one who’s taking me places. That’s a pretty important role.”

And then, of course, there is the Hall of Famer. He also doesn’t drive, but still has an impact.

“My grandfather is definitely an important role model,” Beckwith said. “Even if I forget to tell him that I’m qualifying or that I’m driving in a race, he always knows how I did and he’s always asking me what I did right and what I did wrong; and what he thought. He’s always giving me the positive side of things as well.”

With so much experience to draw from, it’s no surprise that Brett has received an accelerated education in the business.

“I definitely feel like I’ve learned a lot,” he said. “All the little things that there are. So many little things that helped. I definitely learned a lot in that respect. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

He also realizes that no matter what he learns from his family, his greatest lessons will come from his own experiences.

“I’ve made some errors but you’ve got to fail to succeed anyway,” he said. “You’re going to make mistakes, it’s more about owning up and knowing what you did wrong, versus trying to just push it past. You’ve got to know what you did wrong and then move forward. But it helps having my dad, that’s for sure. Anything he tells me I always definitely listen up.”

Brett also credits his high school buddies for firmly supporting him and showing interest in his career. He lauded four drivers who he looks up to — Hall of Famer Wally Hennessey, Jordan Stratton, Billy Dobson, and Mark MacDonald.

The Beckwiths live in Wilton and are stabled at Saratoga. And while Brett already has a career goal, he is thinking about attending Hudson Valley Community College after high school.

“I would be able to pick my hours,” he said, “so I could manage to drive full time at Saratoga and still go to college those two years just to have something to fall back on.”

Brett’s long-range plans are to strictly catch drive. As for the immediate future, he wants to continue qualifying in order to keep learning. He hopes to drive in a June 8 amateur race at Saratoga and is scheduled for a June 13 race at Yonkers.

And then there is July 7, when he plans on driving at Historic Track in Goshen, N.Y., also the home of the Harness Racing Museum and Hall of Fame. It’s a day three generations will all come together, as Jerry Silverman’s Hall of Fame induction is that night.

“I’m going to the dinner and earlier that day I’m going to drive in the fair races so he can see me drive,” Brett said. “He’s never seen me drive in person before so this will be the first time. He’s a big supporter. It means a lot.”

It also raises the question — does Beckwith feel pressure to succeed coming from such a distinguished harness racing family?

“I just think of it as a challenge to achieve,” he said. “I mean, I try not to stress myself out or put pressure on myself, just because you’re going to make more mistakes if you do that. The biggest thing I try to do is keep a level head and be humble.”

Listening to his next statement, he certainly is achieving that goal.

“It’s kind of just, you put a plan in place, and try to achieve it,” he said. “But I know I wouldn’t be anywhere right now if it wasn’t for the people behind me.”

Hopefully they will be behind him for a long time. According to one knowledgeable source, he’s here to stay.