Meadowlands: Beckwith becomes youngest driver with 2,000 career wins

Driver Brett Beckwith capped his marvelous year at the Meadowlands by becoming the youngest driver in harness racing history to reach the career 2,000 win plateau. The 22-year-old pilot won Saturday night's fifth race with Belmont Major N to reach that lofty number. Tyler Smith had been the youngest to 2,000.

Beckwith, not surprisingly, led the driver colony with four victories on the night, and finished the year far in front in the Meadowlands driver dash-win standings with 146. Mark Herschberger was second with 99.

Dan Patch Trainer of the Year Ron Burke finished 2025 atop the Big M conditioner standings with 57 winners. Jeff Cullipher was next with 54.

LOU HILL UPSETS IN SATURDAY'S FEATURE: On a night where the front-end - or very close to it - was the place to be, Lou Hill found himself in a third-over flow at three-quarters before tipping in the stretch and sprinting home to gun down 4-5 favorite Pinny Tiger A in the Saturday night feature, the $30,000 Open Handicap for pacers.

The race looked like a matchup between Pinny Tiger A, last week's winner of this event who was in search of a sixth straight win, and 9-5 second choice Christopher Dance N, a winner of eight of 12 outings this year, including a lifetime-best effort of 1:49 3/5 earlier this season at The Big M.

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Predictably, the two favorites were on the go from the word go, with Christopher Dance N leading while parked at the quarter in 26 seconds before 'Pinny' took over at the three-eighths and hit the half in 54 seconds.

A live flow developed down the backstretch as Ammo, Captain Moore A and Lou Hill made a deliberate yet effective march toward the leader, who reached three-quarters in 1:21 4/5.

It looked in mid-stretch that Pinny Tiger A would do it again, but after racing with cover three-wide around the far turn, driver Austin Siegelman swung Lou Hill into the four path when straightened up, and the 4-year-old gelded son of Sweet Lou-Pretty Katherine responded with explosive pace, just getting up on the wire to record a head win in a three-way photo where Pinny Tiger A was second and Captain Moore A third. The Per Engblom trainee completed the mile in a lifetime-best 1:49.

"I got a perfect trip third-up and he was the best," said Siegelman. "I thought he could do it from off the pace."

Owned by Tom Hill, Lou Hill now has 13 victories in 39 career tries, good for earnings of $332,302. As the 9-1 third choice in the wagering, Lou Hill returned $21.60 to his backers.

A LITTLE MORE: Joe Bongiorno's double led the trainer colony. All-source handle on the 14-race program totaled $2,683,068. Racing resumes Friday, Jan. 2, at 6:20 p.m.

--edited press release (Meadowlands)--