Drivers

MAKING HIS MARK

A Mark Beckwith profile by Paul-John Ramos

It seems quite a while ago when Yonkers Raceway staged yearlong battles between America's leading drivers. Back in the 1990s, such names as Walter Case Jr., Herve Filion, Dave Palone, and Luc Ouellette would battle night after night for purse dollars and the Yonkers driving title, not to mention the national driving title. Now that such names have moved to other tracks or retired, Yonkers has gone through something of a competitive dry spell. The Westchester oval has been rich in journeymen such as Bill Parker Jr., Jay Randall, and Jim Marohn, but the latest spoils have belonged mostly to Stephane Bouchard, the 2001 Harness Tracks of America Driver of the Year. Yet as we come to the late months of 2002, serious driving competition may be returning in part to the Hilltop. Bouchard now has company in the guise of 36-year-old Mark Beckwith.

At an earlier point this year, Beckwith and Bouchard were together vying for the national lead in dash victories. They are falling farther out of contention as the weeks go by, but still neighbor one another in the top ten. The Yonkers driving scenario of Bouchard versus No-One Else no longer holds true. With his latest success, Beckwith has joined Bouchard in the forefront of harness racing's young generation and is poised for a long stay there. And it makes sense for Beckwith to have a strong career in an industry where experience counts. "I've benefited a lot from my upbringing," Beckwith himself has noted, "I've really gotten to know horses and their finer points over the years."

Beckwith, like many of his colleagues, comes from a racing family. One grandfather and three of his uncles have worked for years in the harness business. Mark was raised on a farm in Massachusetts, where he began cleaning stalls at the age of four and slowly pieced together his equine skills. With his family's support, he began driving professionally in 1982, not quite seventeen years old. The precocious Beckwith went on an odyssey, starting his career at Foxboro before heading to other tracks in New England, Delaware, and Maryland. After miles of traveling, Beckwith reached New York and decided to make Yonkers Raceway his home. "Yonkers has seemed like a good place to drive," he reflects, "There are better purses and racing is year-round. I thought it would be a good place to establish some roots. I didn't want to keep being gypsy-like. I didn't want to keep traveling and having to change tracks."

Other Yonkers horsemen have struggled to advance their career, but luck has been on Beckwith's side since first arriving. Two familiar names gave Beckwith their vote of confidence while still a newcomer in the mid ‘90s : "One person who really helped me when I came here was Ray Schnittker. I trained and drove a few horses for him. Another person who has helped me from the beginning is Brian Horlacher. I've known Brian for seven years, and he's always been loyal. Whenever he's gotten new horses, he's always given me the opportunity to drive them. And he's never taken drives away from me after bad races, which is rare. He's very understanding and rolls with the punches." Beckwith had very much a Yonkers jump-start and his numbers continue to improve with each passing month. He won 256 races in all of 2001, while he has already won over 300 in 2002. Beckwith was even holding his own against top competition at Freehold earlier this year. Those afternoon experiences in New Jersey were intense. "The styles of racing at Freehold and Yonkers are completely different," he says, "Freehold has a lot of marquee names, a lot of older drivers who are looking for the upper hand. I guess you could say it's all egos there. Yonkers is a lot more laid back. It has younger drivers who are looking to establish themselves and find their place. It's a lot more relaxed."

Beckwith has certainly earned his place in the Yonkers driving colony with more than 2,700 lifetime wins. But his additional work as a trainer is rarely noticed by the public. Beckwith has over 200 lifetime training wins to his name, mostly picked up in the early 90s. It is a total held down by his partnership with another trainer, Chad Lennon. "I still train," says Beckwith, "but Chad is listed as the trainer for our horses. We work together for a better share of the royalties ; I earn a five percent cut from driving and he earns a five percent cut from training. So we're training 12 horses together, while I'm driving about 50 different horses a week on my own." Beckwith is, as one might expect, greatly sought after by other horsemen. Lennon and Horlacher are his main teammates, but he will pick up drives from Tim Case, Carmine Fusco, Dennis Laterza, Colleen Posner, and numerous others. Beckwith will also pair up on occasion with his wife, Melissa, who is herself a trainer. As for owning, he has tried that angle in the past, but with much less success : "I've owned race horses before, but not now. I haven't had any luck with them ; they never seem to pan out. We just own a riding horse for ourselves."

Beckwith's appearance and temperament are easy to equate with success. An authoritative six feet tall, he goes about the Yonkers paddock looking alert and ready for business. He is courteous yet serious, soft-spoken yet firm in opinion. Those who have watched his ascent to the national ranks claim improved driving as the reason why. Beckwith, however, holds a surprising view of things. "I've heard people say that my driving is better," he remarks, "but I think that's bogus ; I don't think I'm driving any differently. I drove at Freehold during the winter, which helped to boost my record up. I've caught better drives and everything has just fallen into place. I've gotten too much credit as a driver."

"Besides that, I honestly think driving is an overrated line of work. If a horse is ready, it will do its job nine times out of ten, no matter who is driving. As long as the driver has done his homework, it should run well. Those deserving more credit are the trainers and caretakers, who are with the horses all day long and keep them in shape for the races. I feel that way because I train and know what the work is like. Driving is different. When I drive, I'm with a horse for only eight or nine minutes and then I'm finished with him. I move on to the next one."

By "homework," Beckwith means the mental preparation a driver must undergo, however overrated his job may be : "I think my greatest strength as a driver is my preparation. I'll study the fields and get to know the horses three or four days in advance. I'll watch replays to get a good sense of how each horse runs. On the night of a race, I'll study the program and watch the tote board to see what the public thinks, because they know what's going on ; they're not stupid. It's all a natural progression. You get to know the business well when driving at a track year-round. I've driven here for seven years, and you really get to know a track's tendencies."

When asked about favorite horses, Beckwith answers without hesitation : "My best horse right now is Goin To The Beach. Uncensored is a nice horse, but he's a claimer ; he's never run at a high level. Goin To The Beach is special. He's at a level that's much higher and has run for a lot more money." Anyone who follows speed horses follows Goin To The Beach. He is a 6-year-old son of Beach Towel who has posted winning times of 1:53 1/5, 1:53 2/5, and 1:54 3/5 this summer, well below the Yonkers track average of 2:00. Goin To The Beach has won nine races and $66,000 in 2002 for owner Robert Pilatsky and the Lennon-Beckwith team. Uncensored, as Beckwith admits, is not the classiest horse around, but he's pretty darn steady. Owned and trained by Brian Horlacher, the 7-year-old son of Falcon Seelster has clawed his way up from the basement claiming ranks to purses of $7,000 ; he has 11 victories in 2002. Beckwith also singles out County Line Road, a pacer he once owned but lost to a claim. This 6-year-old son of Armbro Cadet has found Tim Case's barn, which acknowledges the past ownership and often gives Beckwith the drive.

At age 36, notable as a driver and unheralded as a trainer, Beckwith already has an impressive résumé and many valuable connections. Time seems on Beckwith's side in the same way that luck has been ; he began his career as a teenager and is now a popular harness name well before age 40. Regardless of his views on driving, his talents as both a driver and an overall horseman are undeniable. New York horses should benefit from his work a great deal, as YR appears to be Beckwith's spot for now. Freehold, he says, is no longer a worthy option : "I don't spend afternoons at Freehold anymore ; it got to be too much for me. I would train horses in the morning, drive at Freehold, drive at Yonkers, and not get home until 1:30 the next morning. I would only get three or four hours sleep. It was too much ; I'm only working at Yonkers right now." Beckwith will not have the prestige of a Freehold driver, but this lighter workload may add up to even more Yonkers wins.

It once appeared that Stephane Bouchard would dominate the Yonkers racing scene for years to come. Now that Mark Beckwith has made good use of his opportunities, the Canadian driving powerhouse is no longer alone. Yet as Beckwith approaches 3,000 career driving wins and is compared to the nation’s best, his numbers will remain the public's concern and not Beckwith's himself : "When I was second nationally in the winter, I was getting too much attention and pressing too hard when driving. So I'm actually glad that I've dropped off."

'"It was a similar thing with my 1,000th and 2,000th wins. They were something I tried to block out of my mind. I try not to think of statistics or records too much. I like to think of myself as a blue-collar guy - just a regular guy trying to earn a steady living and his five percent."

Drivers

Wally Hennessey

Birthplace: Charlestown Prince Edward Island

Birth date: 10-4-56

Starts: 23,746

Wins: 4,866

Money won: $30,428,915

UDR: .344

When Wally isn't winning driver titles in Pompano Park, you'll find him in New York in sire stakes action. The "King of the New York Sire Stakes" earned that tittle on June 15, 1992 when at Buffalo Raceway he won 7 NYSS events, of which there was 6 in a row.

He is best known as the pilot of harness racing's most prolific winner Moni Maker. When asked about his success, Wally says "I have been very fortunate to have the opportunity to drive so many great horses. So many of them I don't have to do anything more than just stay in the bike and hold on for two minutes."

As for Moni Maker, Hennessey says, "There will never be another one like her. She is so easy to handle and always delivers when asked. She'll be racing for just one more year and that will be it for her. She has had a marvelous career and I am just lucky enough to have been connected with her."

Last year, Hennessey won 4 NYSS tittle races. He drove It's Made To Order, Gallo Blue Chip, Hatsoff Hanover, and Dominatricks to victory at Yonkers Raceway.

Brian Allen

Birthplace: Oneida, NY

Birth date: 8-18-64

Starts: 11,673

Wins: 1,779

Money won: $7,907,017

UDR: .271

Brian's harness influences came from some of the greatest names ever in the sport. Billy Haughton, Herve Filion, and Ed Lohmeyer are just a few of the names that have helped shape the career of Allen.

Rather than pursue a careen in hockey, Allen decided to start training horses, and in 3 years had become the star trainer of Lofty Bruice. He also won a Breeders Crown tittle with a 2 year old colt named Robust Hanover.

In 1987 Brian decided to drive full time at Vernon Downs. He earned the Dick Mumpton Memorial Award for most promising driver at the track. The next year he earned the Rising Star Award from the United States Harness Writers Association. In 1990 he won his first dash tittle at Vernon Downs and later captured 6 more in the '90s.

Last year Brian Allen was among the leaders in UDR, wins, and earnings at Vernon Downs, Colonial Downs, and Rosecroft Raceway.

John Stark Jr.

Birthplace: Buffalo NY

Birth date: 1-25-59

Starts: 14,602

Wins: 2,830

Money won: $8,724,329

UDR: .324

John Stark Jr. began working with horses since age 4 when his father purchased the pacer Mr. Jerry for $1,500. His father let him do everything around the stable that was needed. In 1977, John began his driving career.

In the mid-eighties, Stark was one of the top drivers and trainers at Vernon Downs. He lead all in training percentage, driver wins, UDR, and two-minute drives in 1987 and 1988. John has since gone on to collect various titles at Muskegon, Faimount Park, and Saratoga Raceway.

Last year saw a career best of $1,297,568 earned.

John Stark Jr. is best known lately for his training and driving of Teeth Of The Dog who won his division tittle as a 3 year-old pacing colt. Another of his successes has been the filly Two-Fifty-Seven.

Billy Parker Jr.

Birthplace: Sanford, ME

Birth date: 9-24-53

Starts: 34,357

Wins: 7,096

Money won: $14,900,968

UDR: .341

"Zeke" is ranked 11th on the all-time wins list. He has won driving titles at Scarborough Downs, Foxborough, Yonkers, and Monticello. Billy Parker dominated the Catskill track for a dozen years amassing 10 dash crowns, 8 money titles, and 9 UDR championships. From 1990-1996, Parker lead in all 3 categories. He has won 300 or more races for the past 10 years.

Jack Rice

Jack has won numerous titles at Vernon Downs and Saratoga Harness.

He was selected to represent USA in international competition. He is perhaps the busiest driver on the NYSS circuit. His talent has teamed him up with trainer Jimmy Cruise to form "The Connection" ,one of the most successful driver-trainer combinations in NY.

Jeff Gregory

Has been more active than ever in New York Sire Stakes action. Jeff has been a regular at Freehold and The Meadowlands for several years, and now does much of his racing Yonkers Raceway. Once the sire stakes starts shifting its concentration to Yonkers, there will be more work for this intense competitor.

Stop back again soon as we profile more top horsemen.