Monday Morning Message with Jason Beem for Aug. 25, 2025

Jason discusses some of the highlights from Charles Town Classic night at Charles Town. 

A good Monday morning to you all! Great weekend of racing from around the country and also some good weather for all those big days. I’ve been an East Coaster for just a few years, but my unscientific theory is that it seems to rain a lot more in July than it does in August. Probably just jinxed this last week, but like I said, this was unscientific. 

I feel like most people will be talking and writing this week about Sovereignty and his sensational Travers (G1) win and rightfully so. He’s magnificent, and even though he didn’t exactly beat a tough lineup Saturday, the way in which he did it left no doubt he’s still the gold standard of his division and maybe all of racing right now. 

So let’s write instead about Charles Town Classic (G2) night instead. I was fortunate enough to go to this event a few years ago, and it was one of the most fun nights at the races I’ve ever had. I’ve been to Charles Town on their biggest night and a regular night, and while normally I’m not that fond of large crowds, the experience there under the lights with a bunch of horseplayers is the best Charles Town in my experience. 

Banishing used a big move going into the final turn to kick away and get the jump on the others closers to win the Classic. David Jacobson has gotten this horse to run huge on several occasions, including that monster effort he gave back on Kentucky Derby Day in defeat in the Churchill Downs (G1). I didn’t think the nine furlongs was going to be something he wanted at Charles Town, but he really won nicely after favored pacesetter Skippylongstocking faded before the turn. 

They’ve kept a very regimented schedule with Skippylongstocking over the years, and he’s won our Challenger S. (G3) at Tampa three years in a row, but I’m wondering if maybe they’ll be retiring him soon as he just hasn’t had the fight of late. Although I guess he won the Hollywood Gold Cup (G2) back on Memorial Day, so maybe he’s fine. I suppose we’ll see, but I’d like to see him get a little class relief in his next start just to get some confidence back. 

One of the stranger races of the night was the Robert Hilton Memorial, which saw Barbadian Runner score a bit of an upset and favored Owen Almighty run last. Owen Almighty looked to be in a great spot going into the first turn as he tucked over in fourth. But as the race wore on, he kind of got covered up and found himself in some tricky spots. It looked like as they turned for home he hit the rail or lost his action or something, but he was basically eased out of the race down the lane. I kind of thought they’d try a race like the Allen Jerkens Memorial (G1), but this race was for half a million and they were favored, so it’s hard to question the decision. 

Barbadian Runner had run last time out at Colonial Downs and made a good closing move to run second in the Petramalo Mile on Festival Day here. Well, he and Forest Boyce teamed up and looked fantastic blowing past their rivals in the Hilton, taking home the winner’s share of that $500,000 purse. I know Forest has won some Grade 3 races before, but I’m curious if that might have been her biggest purse race win of her career. She’s had such a nice career here in the Mid-Atlantic, going over $2 million in purse earnings seemingly ever year and almost always hitting around 14%.  This year she’s up around 17% and on pace for another $2 million-earnings year. 

All in all, a fun weekend as a fan, and looking forward to the Pacific Classic (G1) coming up this weekend. The product at Del Mar has been very good the past few years, and this season I just haven’t been able to watch as much as previous years, so looking to remedy that a bit this week. 

Good luck out there!