Regardless of what industry you work in, life-altering decisions will arise that could result in the difference between happiness and discontent or survival and prosperity. When choosing where you will ply your trade, one must weigh the aspiration for greater recognition versus earnings potential and, of course, consider which location will keep you close to family or provide the best environment for your kids to flourish. When it comes to Standardbred racing, catch drivers must consider all of the above before choosing tracks to compete at and ultimately determining their career trajectory. Some of them choose to stay at home and are quite content. Others choose to venture out into the world, seeking new opportunities either because there are few at home or simply better ones elsewhere. Some try to get the best of both worlds and travel as needed to dabble in the Grand Circuit while keeping a firm footing at one location. It is certainly no easy decision to leave home and start fresh, as so many natives of Illinois and Ohio have done over the last 30 years before casino-fueled purses began to inject life into the latter's product about a dozen years ago. David Miller was the top driver in Ohio in the mid and late 1990s before he made the switch full-time in 1999 to New Jersey (the Meadowlands), and the rest is history for the now Hall of Fame driver with over 14,000 career wins and north of $282 million in career earnings (second all-time). "At the time it wasn't a tough decision," said Miller. "I came out with a guy and we only planned on staying a few months. It pretty much worked out and I decided to stay. "I was married at the time and my wife [Misty] and daughter came with me. Misty was all for it. She was right behind me." The fork in the road certainly worked out for the better monetarily for Miller, but perhaps his win total would've been much higher had he remained in the Buckeye State. Miller hit a high of 733 wins in 1998 and averaged 582 victories during the five-year period leading up to and through that year. The following handful of years after the move he averaged just 395 wins and never won more than 457 in a single season. "I probably would've had more [wins]. It really dropped off considerably, but it was the best move I ever made," said the now 59-year-old Miller, who added that he always wanted to be a Grand Circuit driver and still loves competing. The other end of the spectrum is the path of Dave Palone. The all-time leader in wins with 20,748 as of March 25, he decided long ago that The Meadows was going to be his home and he would simply moonlight as a Grand Circuit driver when it made sense. "Even when I go on vacation I get homesick after five or six days," said Palone, who was returning from the golf course and getting ready to go to a softball game involving a family member when we spoke on his off day. "I've got daughters and I wanted to see everything. I could've made more money on the Grand Circuit, but it was a decision I would never second guess. I give those guys all the credit in the world. I've been on those flights. It is extremely stressful. "What really solidified my decision was when Pennsylvania got the slots. I had gone to the Meadowlands as a trainer and made some good connections, did well driving, and made some great friendships. I probably would've given it a go, I'm not saying I would've been successful or not, and maybe it would've come back to bite me in the butt. I'm just thankful it worked out the way it did." Despite keeping his home base at The Meadows and away from the limelight of some of the East Coast tracks, Palone was still able to win Grand Circuit races, including the Little Brown Jug and Breeders Crown races when the opportunity arose. He was the regular driver behind Crown winner Sweet Lou at age 2 and continued to drive him as a 3-year-old. He has also won over 1,000 stakes while avoiding the grind of a true Grand Circuit driver. "You watch sometimes and think 'boy would I like to be in that race' but also it is kind of nice to call it a day at 5:00 P.M.," said Palone. "I don't regret staying home, getting to see my kids' events and having my farm to piddle around on. [Catch-drivers] are kind of as envious of my situation as anyone would be of theirs. I'll run into those guys in September or October and they just look beat up. People don't understand how hard they work. The racing is the easy part. Anyone can drive a great horse. It is the getting there; letting people down when you have to go with another horse. Decisions like whether to go to the Meadowlands or Woodbine, and, of course, the travel. It is not easy. It is a job where you wake up every morning and you piss someone off." ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter Palone clearly made the correct decision as his spot in the harness racing history books is secure with his lofty win total. The only driver with any chance of catching him is Aaron Merriman. He is 17 years younger, 5,000 wins behind and gaining 400 wins per year currently. If Palone, who guaranteed us he wouldn't be driving in his 70s, keeps up his current pace for five more years, Merriman would be 50 and have a deficit of 3,000 wins to make up. That is assuming Merriman can keep up the breakneck pace of driving over 4,000 horses a year at two separate tracks. "I give Aaron credit. He's up and down the road. Nobody works harder than him," said Palone. "It isn't just the racing. It is the driving between. It is a torturous two hours [between The Meadows and Northfield Park]. He's tougher than me. I start thinking about race 10, 'Where can I play golf tomorrow? What is the weather like? What are the pin placements?' Merriman has been able to keep up a schedule typically only reserved for younger drivers in their 20s and perhaps early 30s. It's almost a rite of passage for a catch-driver to prove themselves with a heavy workload at multiple tracks before they can move on to the next stage. At just 21, Brett Beckwith is a young driver currently heading from track to track putting in the miles to hopefully advance to stardom at some point. He trails only Merriman in starts (812 to 698) and wins (171 to 145) in 2024. While he is getting in his on-track miles, the goal remains a spot on the Grand Circuit. "There is no real feeling like driving young horses. I get a lot of enjoyment out of watching them progress. I also think it would be fun to travel around and drive different horses on the Grand Circuit, but it takes the right opportunity to come your way to do something like that," said Beckwith in a recent DRF Harness interview. Tyler Miller (26) is also working hard to move up the ladder and has big aspirations as well. "The goal for my career is to be one of those top Hall of Famers who travel on the Grand Circuit and drive the best horses in the country. I'd love to be a part of that and hopefully win some of those big races along the way. That would be pretty cool in my book," said Miller in another DRF Harness interview. A few years older at 34, Ridge Warren seemed more content to accept a simpler fate rather than chase a dream of stardom. Perhaps that comes with more age and experience, or maybe that is a decision which will work better for him. "I'm not saying no to Grand Circuit drives, but that is probably not in the near future for me. My goal is to keep getting better each year and see my numbers grow," said Warren in late 2023. It isn't an easy decision to give up guaranteed revenue at your home track to venture to new surroundings. William Parker Jr., 13th all-time in career wins with 11,315, spent much of his career as the King of Monticello Raceway. He did venture to Yonkers Raceway at times but never fully experimented on the stakes scene nationally. "Sometimes being a big fish in a small pond keeps the pockets a little fuller than being in a big pond and scrapping along. It is a lot easier to keep your head above water in a small pond," said Parker Jr. in a 2018 DRF Harness interview. Just as any person pondering a job change must carefully consider many variables before potentially making the dive into new waters, catch-drivers each year have the same difficult choices. They may not be as split-second as whether to move to the outside and make a bid for the lead during a race but they are certainly as determining of whether the end result will be positive or negative. Beckwith's impressive driving feat Being the leading driver at any track is impressive, but the aforementioned Brett Beckwith has taken things to new heights in 2024. If my research is correct he currently ranks as a top 10 driver in terms of wins at four different tracks in 2024. That's amazing! As of March 25, Beckwith is dominating at his home track in Saratoga with a 26.7 win percentage and 31-win lead over Billy Dobson in second. He closed out the Batavia winter meet in third, trailing Jim Morrill Jr by 13 wins. At Freehold, with 40 percent fewer drives than those in front of him, Beckwith sits fifth in the standings with 26 wins and a 23.9 percent win rate. Finally, at the Meadowlands he has won a respectable 12.7 percent of his races and sits seventh on the leaderboard. For the year, Beckwith has 143 wins in 685 starts (20.8 percent) and is inching in on $1 million in earnings. That's quite an accomplishment for a 21-year-old with a limitless future ahead.