Monday Morning Message with Jason Beem for June 2, 2025

Jason discusses a few of his favorite things from this past weekend in racing.

A good Monday morning to you all! June is underway, it’s Belmont S. (G1) week, and we should have a fun edition of that historic race coming up this weekend. Obviously it plays much different at Saratoga than the traditional 1 1/2-mile Belmont races at Belmont Park, but still should be a good test with the top three finishers from the Kentucky Derby (G1) all set to come back. I feel like a lot of the talk has been that Journalism will be favored over Sovereignty, so I’m very curious to see where David Aragona sets the line on them with Baeza as the most likely third choice on the line. 

Speaking of the Kentucky Derby, certainly a big highlight of this weekend’s racing action was getting to see Mystik Dan return to the winner’s circle at Churchill Downs as he took home Saturday’s Blame S. (G3). Brian Hernandez Jr. got a much bigger rail opening this time around and was able to capitalize once again and hold off Antiquarian for a comfortable win in the 1 1/8-mile race. It marked the first win for the 2024 Kentucky Derby champ since that race, and I saw a lot of tweets after the race about how few Derby winners have come back to win lately at Churchill Downs.

The Triple Crown trail is certainly a taxing one, and I understand why some horses who have success there might not go on to be world beaters and Grade 1 winners. Mystik Dan certainly isn’t out of the conversation to win another Grade 1, but if his ceiling is winning Grade 3s as an older horse, that’s still much better than having him whisked away to early stud duty. So kudos to the connections for keeping him in training and for guiding him to a nice win this past weekend. 

I spent the weekend down in Miami and got to take in a couple of days of racing at Gulfstream Park. One of the highlights of the trip down there was seeing apprentice Christopher Elliott get a win on each of the two cards he rode. He’s been racking up the mileage as just this last week he’s ridden at Belmont at the Big A, Gulfstream Park, Finger Lakes, and Monmouth. I had the good fortune to interview him several months ago on the podcast, and he came across very mature on air for someone who is still under 20 years old. He seems to always be making good decisions in races and finishes well, and it seems the future is going to be very bright for him. 

The other cool part about going to Gulfstream is getting to hang out up in the booth with my pal Pete Aiello. I don’t need to tell most of you, but Pete is one of the best and most exciting racecallers in the sport, and even on a Thursday in late May, his excitement and skill are always on full display. I think sometimes when you get to watch racecallers like him, they make something that is quite challenging look routine. 

Pete is a great example of that. He would sit and talk with me between races and then take a quick look at the field and call the race perfectly without a hitch. All while having to navigate the oversized television in the infield that obstructs everyone but the drone’s view. He’s the man. 

Hope everyone enjoys the Belmont week up at Saratoga, and I’m looking forward to looking at those cards after the Belmont’s drawn on Monday.