Editor’s Note: For more with Brett Beckwith, click here for a video interview conducted by the USTA’s Wendy Ross.
Hightstown, NJ – Brett Beckwith might have wanted to come away from this month’s World Driving Championship with a few more victories, but the opportunity to represent the U.S. and visit host country New Zealand still proved to be a winning experience.
The 22-year-old Beckwith faced drivers from nine other countries in the biennial event, which this year in New Zealand visited four different tracks for a total of 20 races over the course of six rounds. Beckwith did not have the best of luck with the draws, but he posted one win, four seconds and two thirds. His triumph came by 10 lengths with the appropriately named Look To Da Stars at Addington Raceway on the fourth day of the competition.
Regardless of what happened on the track, Beckwith said he had “the time of his life.”
“New Zealand as a whole and Harness Racing New Zealand did a tremendous job putting it on,” Beckwith said about the WDC, which ran from Nov. 2 through Nov. 11. “We got to do a lot of great things. The coolest was getting to train horses on a beach there. That was my favorite part. But they didn’t skimp on one detail; it was absolute perfection.”
Another highlight for Beckwith was spending two days racing at the seaside oval at Kaikoura Trotting Club.
“It was one of the most beautiful tracks I’ve ever seen,” Beckwith said. “Being able to look to your right on the backside and see a beautiful blue ocean was like something out of a movie.”
Canada’s James MacDonald won the World Driving Championship – the second WDC title of his career. Joining Beckwith and MacDonald in the competition were Australia’s Gary Hall Jr., The Netherlands’ Jaap Van Rijn, New Zealand’s Blair Orange, Sweden’s Mats Djuse, France’s Pierre Vercruysse, Germany’s Michael Nimczyk, Italy’s Giampoalo Minnucci and Finland’s Santtu Raitala.
“At home, losing probably would have soured me a little bit,” said Beckwith, who finished eighth in the final standings. “But because we were with such a great group of people, the outcomes each day never changed my attitude. It was just a great time. I already knew James from before the trip, but I got to meet and become friends with a lot of new people. You make lifelong friends.”
Beckwith got to experience a different style of racing in New Zealand, with slower fractions and horses racing side by side far more often than in North America.
“In the States, being parked outside for the entire mile, you have to have an incredible athlete to do that,” Beckwith said. “Here, you can’t make the same moves (as there) because we have to carry our speed for a mile. Over there, because the tempo of the race is much slower, or going longer distances, it seems like their horses can handle it better.
“I think all those drivers there generally have a better feel for the pace of a race and when to make moves when the race is slowing down. I didn’t have a ton of power to make many moves, but after a while, I got a feel for the way you’re supposed to drive there and the moves you’re supposed to make at certain times. I think being able to watch those guys and how they handle horses changes your outlook on a little bit of stuff. And they’re very easygoing – never too high, never too low. It’s a good mindset to have.”
Beckwith, the sport’s 2024 Rising Star Award winner, arrived back in the U.S. at 10 p.m. Nov. 12 and returned to work the following afternoon at Plainridge Park.
“You can’t keep me away for too long,” he said with a laugh.
Despite his time away, Beckwith has already set a career high for purses this season, with $6.61 million, and ranks fourth among drivers in North America in wins, with 538. And the opportunities he missed here while away were worth it for the experiences he enjoyed in New Zealand.
“It’s a place everyone should be lucky enough to visit at least once in their life,” Beckwith said.