Monday Morning Message with Jason Beem Jan. 26, 2026

Jason looks back at the career arcs of both White Abarrio and Skippylongstocking as they continue to buck the trend of most handicap division horses who retire early. 

A good Monday morning to you all! Hope everyone enjoyed the weekend and is staying warm. I know lots of racetrack cancellations meant lots of people are probably hunkering down from the snow out there. Be safe and bet on the warm weather tracks :) 

How about the race from Skippylongstocking in taking home top honors in the Pegasus World Cup (G1) on Saturday? Coming from off the pace, he reeled in stablemate White Abarrio, who I thought was going to win quite easily when they turned for home. But once “Skippy” got out into the clear, he honestly made pretty quick work of overtaking White Abarrio, winning by just under two lengths at the end. The win sent Skippylongstocking over the $5 million career earnings mark in what was his 13th victory. 

We’ve had the good fortune at Tampa Bay Downs to see Skippylongstocking as he’s won the past three runnings of our Challenger S. (G3). Might he come back and go for number four? I selfishly hope so. He’s been much the best and a big favorite in those three races, but to see him jump up and win a huge Grade 1 like the Pegasus World Cup was really awesome. I know that a lot of trainer Saffie Joseph Jr.’s emotion and excitement involved White Abarrio in the postrace scrum, but getting both of these seven-year-olds to show such big efforts was a very impressive training feat. 

One thing worth celebrating about White Abarrio and Skippylongstocking is that they’ve both had full careers. Not just running dozens of times and having longevity, but they have had real career arcs. They’ve had huge wins and big defeats. They’ve had hot streaks and droughts. To me, that makes them wildly interesting as they’ve gone through these multi-year journeys on the racetrack. I grew up watching claiming and stakes horses make 50 to 100 starts and have legitimate careers. Surely they weren’t up to the level of these two horses, but they were unique, sustained, and important to many. And that’s something to celebrate. 

In a day and age where so many of our best horses just get whisked away to the breeding shed or retirement before they’re even done maturing, how fun is it to watch horses like this that dance so many dances, especially traveling to – and winning at – so many tracks. Just remarkable careers for two horses and for their trainer. Congrats to all involved. 

There were lots of highlights on that big Saturday card that handled just shy of $50 million for 13 races. I feel like Knightsbridge is the one most people were talking about in terms of future stardom as he scored impressively in the Fred W. Hooper (G3). He won the battle against his chief rival, but nobody else was really running on as he won by over four lengths. He hasn’t proven very durable yet as he’s missed a lot of time, but I have to think his next race is a step up to bigger leagues in terms of grading and purse money. 

The other big word of mouth horse was actually on Sunday, as Canaletto made a lot of noise with his eight-length debut win. A $1 million sales purchase in the barn of Chad Brown figured to garner some attention, but as he pulled away late and crushed his rivals, it seemed many were ready to put him in the Kentucky Derby (G1) conversation. 

Have a great week everyone!