Monday Morning Message with Jason Beem for Oct. 13, 2025

Jason discusses tournaments including the recent Keeneland BCBC/NHC Qualifier and the upcoming BCBC. 

A good Monday morning to you all! Hope everyone had a good weekend. We’ve seen a nice cooldown heading towards fall here in Florida the last few days, and I’m ready for it! Going to New England last month gave me a false sense of fall as I got back here to Florida, and it was 88 degrees. But now we’re into the 70s and some cool mornings means fall is almost here. Also we’re just over five weeks away from racing returning to Tampa Bay Downs, which I’m very excited for. 

This weekend at Keeneland, TwinSpires was part of their big BCBC/NHC qualifier tournament which was won by Massachusetts-based horseplayer John Gaspar. Congratulations to John, as he turned his $2,500 bankroll into over $21,000 and earned a BCBC berth and an NHC seat to go along with the prize money. Amazing job!

Tournaments have become one of my favorite parts of the horseplayer ecosystem over the years and I was thrilled when I heard TwinSpires was going to be offering cash tournaments on a daily basis. From small buy-in events to the $5,000 Kentucky Derby Betting Challenge, there’s a lot of really good spots for people to get involved. I think the game theory involved in cash tournaments in particular makes them so interesting to follow along with, let alone participate. It certainly requires a lot of skill and practice to get good at them. 

I’ve had the good fortune on my show to interview many BCBC and NHC winners along with some of the best tournament players like Marshall Gramm, Dylan Donnelly, and so many more. The one thing I’ve learned about them is they’re fearless. They don’t worry about going broke in a tournament because they know that’s going to happen quite often. 

But what they all consistently do is give themselves a chance to win if their opinion is right. Similar to when we’re constructing our regular tickets, I would think one of the worst things to have happened in a tournament would be to be correct and still not win. You hear it all the time from players. They love a horse but instead of a win bet, they tie the horse up in exactas and get beat. Their original opinion was good, but the capitalization of that opinion wasn’t. 

Back in 2019, I had a friend who had won a qualifier for the big Belmont S. (G1) tournament they had at Belmont Park. I believe it was a $10,000 buy-in, and he had qualified for just a tiny amount, like $100 or $200 or something. He had solicited some people for advice as he was not a tournament regular. 

I remember asking him, “Have you ever turned $7,500 into $70,000?” He quickly said “no.” Well that’s what you’re going to have to do Saturday to win. Because the top contenders in those tournaments have all done that before, and they know how to get there. I think my buddy was content to just break even and take the $7,500 back home with him – more power to him. But if you’re going to win one of these tournaments, especially the big ones, you have to be fearless and ready to go broke if your opinion doesn’t work out. 

The Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge is coming up in a few weeks and coincides with the Breeders’ Cup on Oct. 31-Nov. 1. Unfortunately, other than refreshing the leaderboard and the occasional updates on social media, it’s not that easy to truly follow along with what is the best tournament of the year. 

Some of these players are going to turn their $7,500 bankroll into six figures, and the winner will probably take home $300,000 or more with the prize money. Huge stakes, the best players, and lots of players taking big swings for the fences. It’s just great gambling to watch unfold. 

If you haven’t checked out TwinSpires’ tournament section, be sure to – they’re a blast. 

Have a good week everyone!