Age is just a number: A concept in which the number of years lived do not define the individual, their achievements, or their abilities. In harness racing, this concept flourishes. Freshmen and sophomores hold the spotlight in their prime stake years on the same stage that veterans are applauded for their successes. Drivers rise through the ranks starting in their teens and some continue driving even at the age of 85. At the Saratoga harness track, in addition to the wide range of horses that take the track each and every day, there is an array of drivers of all ages. The youngest and the current leading driver, Brett Beckwith, is just 21 years old. On the other end, not the eldest, but certainly the richest in the achievements department, Wally Hennessey is 67 years old. Brett Beckwith is the son of trainer Melissa and trainer/driver Mark Beckwith. He is from New Jersey, but was raised and currently lives in Saratoga Springs. He started driving in amateur races at the age of 16 at Yonkers. His first drive was with Zack Gray-trained Cool Jack in a qualifier, first-ever driving win was with Paul Fusco-trained Dark Pool at Saratoga in 2019, and first pari-mutuel driving win came with Melissa Beckwith student Amarettigone in 2021 at Pompano Park. “Actually, the first horse he ever jogged was a horse that I owned,” said Wally Hennessey. Fast forward a few years and Beckwith notched his 1,000th career driving win on April 16 at Plainridge Park after winning with Side Piece in the featured $20,000 Fillies and Mares Winners Over Pace. “It honestly meant so much,” Beckwith said on achieving 1,000 wins. “I was born into the business, but I didn’t care much about it until 15 or so, so to go from knowing absolutely nothing then to hitting 1,000 wins is just surreal. Fortunately, I’ve been blessed with so many amazing opportunities throughout from countless people, but especially both my parents who have supported me from the start. Through the good and bad. “I’m not really an emotional guy but crossing that finish line I actually shed a tear just because of how far I’ve come and looking back on how many people might’ve doubted that I’d ever make it as a driver to now having 1,000 wins. It meant a lot. I just want to keep my head down and keep grinding away and being the best driver I can.” Currently, Beckwith has 1,097 wins and $10.76 million earned from over 6,600 starts. At the start of each year, he writes down his goals and he has a history of not just achieving those goals but surpassing them. Last year, he wrote that he wanted to achieve the first- or second-place in the leading dash drivers at Saratoga and he finished second. He wanted to achieve a new money milestone and not only posted a career-best $4 million earnings season, but he became one of the youngest to do so at just 20 years old. He was nominated, and finished only one vote away, for the 2023 USHWA Rising Star Award. At Saratoga, Beckwith was honored with the 2023 Horseman of the Year Award. Altogether, he made 453 trips to the winner’s circle with $4.41 million banked during that year. This year, Beckwith is on track for another career year. He currently sits as the leading driver at both Saratoga and Plainridge Park, and boasts over $3 million earned already with 295 wins. He has posted five driving wins on 14 cards and a career-best six wins on a single card on two occasions. On the road most days, Beckwith splits the majority of his time driving at Saratoga and Plainridge while also competing at The Meadowlands, Freehold, Yonkers, Batavia, and Buffalo. As he sets goals for each year, he also sets goals for his career. “I’d love to end up being on the Grand Circuit and following nice horses,” Beckwith said. “I’d like to win the Jug one day.” Beckwith has known Wally Hennessey for all of his life as the elder horseman spent many of his summers driving and training at Saratoga. “Wally and I have a great relationship. He’s been an idol of mine since I started driving and every time I get to race with him, I learn so much,” Beckwith said about Wally Hennessey. “He’s an unbelievable driver and I could only hope to have half the career Wally has been able to have.” Wally Hennessey is a staple in harness racing. A Prince Edward Island native, the son of horsepeople Joe and Shirley Hennessey has traveled to tracks across the world, though his homebase for the majority of his career was at Pompano Park. He was regarded as the “King of the Pomp” or the “Mayor of Pompano” as he was the winningest driver and leading dash-driver for decades at the Pompano Beach oval. On the final night of racing ever at The Pomp, Hennessey won the last race with the Peter Blood-trained Beach Forecast. He attributes his own greatest accomplishment as longevity – his ability to continue driving through generations. And while his achievements span through the Elitloppet, Gold Cup and Saucer, numerous titles and big races, his most memorable win was his first one in 1974. “I wasn’t really setting the world on fire; I wasn’t really doing that good,” said Hennessey. “I was 18 years old and about a month away from turning 19 and still haven’t won a race. I think this was one of my last chances, I thought if I was going win a race I would do it at 18. I just threw all logic out the window and I believe it was the five-hole on a track that was six wide with two trailers. Instead of using common sense, I kind of drove like today and drove really aggressive. I made the front and I believe I was at the half in 1:05 and won the race in 2:12. You don’t forget that. You don’t forget your first win. “People would come up to me and congratulate me on my first win. It’s a tremendous feeling.” To date, Hennessey has 11,663 wins and $78.78 million earned from over 55,000 starts. ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter He now spends his winters in South Florida at a local training center conditioning babies and his summers at the Saratoga Springs half-mile track. Last week at the Spa, Hennessey recorded seven wins on a single card, the most wins on a Saratoga program this year and one away from the track’s all-time record of eight, set by Hall of Famer Frank Coppola. If there’s an achievement in harness racing, though, Hennessey has probably checked it off his list. This is his 50th year in the bike. He is in five Hall of Fames – Canada, the United States, Florida, Saratoga, and PEI. He’s traveled the world, won the Elitloppet, and was a mogul in the New York Sires Stakes circuit. His most prominent drive was being the principal reinsman behind the award-winning Moni Maker, the richest mare in harness racing history at $5.59 million banked. “If I had to give advice it would be hard work and integrity are two of the biggest assets if you want to have longevity in the game,” Hennessey said. “If you are up front with people and treat people properly, I think the rest of it takes care of itself. You either have talent or you don’t.” In addition to driving, Hennessey has had a stable of horses for most of his career. “I think that has been part of my longevity in the business, is to be hands-on with the horses,” Hennessey said. Hennessey and Beckwith share the track, and winner’s circle appearances, every Saturday and Sunday at Saratoga. “First and foremost, I’m very proud of him,” Hennessey said of Beckwith. “I’ve known him since he was a child. Being around him last year and this year, and driving and competing, I just love the way that he handles a horse and the respect he has for people and the horses, but also just the way he interacts with people. By no mistake the guy would have talent, it’s bred right in him, his mom and his dad, but I’m just very proud of him.” Now, how does age play a factor? “The respect factor – I’m sure there is some there,” Hennessey said. “I probably do get respect from the generation I grew up in right down to the young generation, but you have to earn that respect, it’s not given to you. As far as age, I’ve been lucky my whole life to not really getting busted up too much and to stay healthy. My mind is still pretty sharp when it comes to the horses. I’d say it’s the experience, no matter how long you’ve done it, I’ve been doing it 50 years and I’m not saying you learn new things every day, but there’s numerous times I’ve been in positions where I know what’s going to happen because I’ve been there before.” Beckwith agrees with the correlation between respect, experience, and age. “You’re always racing against people that are older than you and more experienced, but I feel like I’ve slowly earned some of the respect of my peers,” Beckwith said. Though Beckwith’s career only spans a few years, Hennessey’s spans generations. He has seen the sport and breed evolve through his own career. “There have been many changes,” Hennessey said. “The biggest change is the way the racing is now, it’s more aggressive. When I first started, there was no way you could be as aggressive with horses as you are today. First and foremost, you couldn’t do it and second, if you used them that hard you wouldn’t be able to win like we do today. It’s the breed of the horse, much different today than when I first started. The greatest change was removal of the hub rail and the safer helmets that we wear today that we didn’t have when I first started. Also, the addition of the wheel discs on the wheel that made it safer. The biggest by far is the standardbred itself. Just the way the breed has evolved the last 30, 40, 50 years.” In addition to the changes in racing, he sees the changes in his own driving. “When I first started, I thought I was more prepared than I actually was. I didn’t catch it quite as quick as I thought I would. I did have a lot of good schooling under me before I actually was able to drive or qualify. I just really wasn’t that good at it. I didn’t give up because I thought I worked so hard to get to that point even though I was only 18, I worked my whole life to get to that point and I wasn’t ready to give up on my dream,” said Hennessey, who believes that Beckwith is a step above where he was at that same age. “There is no comparison. He’s head and shoulders above me at that age. I don’t even think I’m at where he’s at now. It’s impressive how quickly he’s caught on to the knack of being able to get along with different horses with not a lot of experience – keeping hot horses quiet, being able to keep a tired horse alive. He seems to be able to do a lot of things that it seems to have taken me 50 years to be able to do. He’s picked up on it quickly, in 2-3 years. I’m watching him and he’s doing things on the track that he’s destined for greatness.” Six years of driving experience versus fifty years. A career just starting and a career full of achievements. Beckwith and Hennessey provide two different viewpoints for racing with one common goal – the winner’s circle. Beckwith and Hennessey Q&A Favorite thing to do outside of racing? BB: I love to go to the gym; I don’t get to as much as I would like right now going 6 days a week but I try to squeeze in some sort of physical exercise every day. WH: Golf. I love all sports, but golf is my favorite hobby. Trotters or pacers? BB: Nothing like a perfect mannered trotter. WH: When you become associated with one of the greats, whether pacer or trotter, I don’t think there is a difference, but the natural gait of the trotter makes me lean a little that way. I wouldn’t say I would prefer one over the other. Driver you look(ed) up to growing up or now? BB: Obviously Wally that’s no doubt, as well as David Miller. but I’m a huge Dexter [Dunn] fan. I think he’s one of the best to ever sit behind a horse WH: Definitely I idolize my father as a driver. My older brother Jody drove for 6-8 years before I got my license, I was very fortunate to be able to watch them two and the way they handled themselves and the kindness they showed the horses. They were able to get along with the people and any type of horse. It was kind of a great school that I went to and when you learn the right way right off the bat, through your father and your brother, you don’t have to change because you’ve learned the proper way. I was able to learn the proper way from the get-go. What is one thing you wish people would know and understand about driving? BB: It’s a lot harder than most people realize. WH: The biggest thing about driving is the adrenaline rush. I think that’s the biggest reason I’m still hanging in there is that I’m not ready to give that up yet. Let’s talk about standing on the bike like Wally did in tribute to Pompano with Hall of Fame pacer Panocchio during the final night of racing ever at the Florida racetrack. Brett – would you try it? Wally – how did you do it? BB: I don’t have the greatest coordination and I’m super accident prone, so I’d probably hurt myself, haha. WH: I hope someday Brett gets the chance to do that. I don’t want people to think I was doing that to showboat. It was actually a plan. I knew it was the final night at my favorite track in the world and Panocchio was my favorite horse. I told the race office I was driving Panocchio no matter what and if he was lucky enough to win that I would stand on the bike. Him being a record holder and me being the all-time leading dash winner. It took me a while to get up, it took me a couple attempts and when I did get up, it kind of spooked the horse. But when he got to the winner’s circle he knew to shut it off. What do you think we need in harness racing to aid in the success of the sport? BB: I think we need to advance more with the times, we need to spice up the wagering menu, promote in different aspects and make it more appealing to the younger eye. Offering certain prop bets on FanDuel would be a great option. WH: Being around as long as I have, I have seen harness racing in its glory days and not in its glory days. The hardest sell is the live audience. The promotions do catch people, but because of technology today, the people do not have to be there today to wager or gamble. Before, whichever track you lived close to was the track you went to because that was the only one you could get to and bet on. We’re a gambling sport. Special events help get the people there, but there has to be an incentive to bet. One thing you have to say about your experience in harness racing? BB: I’ve been blessed with so many great opportunities to be able to climb the ranks. I try to just take every opportunity I get and do the best I can. WH: I’d like to mention some of the trainers that help make my career what it is today and what it continues to be. I was fortunate for many, many years. First and foremost, my brother Dan. John Hallett, since he started training, I have been driving his horses. Mike Deters, Jim McDonald, Mark Beckwith. If I just took those five people and added up the wins with those people, it would be amazing how many wins it really was. All of them, except Mark, have been part of the Pompano family. Having that longevity and relationship with people is a testament to the respect and family in the sport.