Fans of Brett Beckwith will be able to wager on their favorite driver Thursday (June 11) night at The Meadowlands, when the 23-year-old pilot makes his return to the races earlier than originally anticipated after suffering a brain injury, broken jaw and broken wrist in a spill at Saratoga on April 12. The Big M is racing this week on Thursday and Friday (June 12). There is no live racing on Saturday (June 13) due to a World Cup soccer match at New Jersey New York Stadium (aka MetLife Stadium). “I trained a couple and biked up a couple last week,” said Beckwith, who led The Big M with 146 wins during 2025. “But Thursday will be my first time driving in parimutuel races. To be honest, I’m excited. It's been a while.” That’s because Thursday will mark almost two months to the day since Beckwith had to go to the sidelines. His Thursday return is approximately one month earlier than he expected. “I'm happy with the way everything is going (with my recovery),” said Beckwith. “Just the way everything's healed. Every time I went in for an x-ray, everything was good. And I was super diligent in taking care of myself during the time away.” Beckwith said he attended “eight or nine” therapy sessions and did plenty on his own at home to earn the blessing of his doctor to return to work. Beckwith’s 73 wins still have him in the top spot in The Big M driver colony, but the red-hot Joe Bongiorno is nipping at his heels, with 71. “It'll be fun and interesting (to compete with Joe for the top spot),” said Beckwith. “I mean, I'm just happy to be back and whatever happens, happens.” Not surprisingly, Beckwith will come back and go right to warp speed, the only speed he knows. “On Thursday, I think I have 13 drives at The Meadowlands,” said Beckwith. “Then, Meadowlands on Friday, Saturday in the Poconos, Sunday Saratoga, and then Monday and Tuesday at Plainridge. I’m getting right back to it.” BIG CARRYOVERS: A pair of monster carryovers are also on the menu Thursday as the Pick 5 offers $24,117 in the pool for the opening race on the card and the Pick 6, which begins in race three, has $11,807 in money carried over from last Saturday. Handicappers should expect more than $100,000 to be wagered on the Pick 5 and north of $50,000 in the Pick 6. Both wagers include a low 15% takeout. CHALK TALK: The Meadowlands has long been known as a place where players can bet against favorites with confidence, and when one takes a look at other North American harness tracks, that is once again the case thus far in 2026. Currently, chalk at The Big M reports home first at a rate of 40.8 percent. Every other harness track of note has a percentage of winning favorites higher than that of The Meadowlands: Hoosier Park (45.9), Philadelphia (46), Meadows (48.9), Monticello (48), Mohawk (46.8), Northfield (46.2), Oak Grove (48.7), Plainridge (48.6), Pocono (44.7), Saratoga (47.9), Scioto (44) and Yonkers (46.2). 27TH HEAVEN? The remarkable On To Norway will be at The Big M Friday night in one of two $50,000 divisions of the second leg of the Graduate Series for 4-year-olds on the trot. The gelded son of Muscle Massive-One Class Act, who has not lost since his 3-year-old debut on April 3, 2025, will be in search of his 27th consecutive victory. The Hoosier Park regular will depart from post eight for driver Yannick Gingras and trainer Ron Burke and will start out at 2-1 on the morning line. -edited release (by Dave Little for The Meadowlands)