Monday Morning Message with Jason Beem July 21, 2025

Jason discusses Journalism's Haskell (G1) win and deciding on a horse's "greatness."

A good Monday morning to you all! Saturday was easily the most fun day of the summer for me from a racing standpoint so far. Saratoga feels like it’s really starting to get going after a bit of a wet and slow start. Monmouth’s card was excellent, and the thrilling last furlong of the Haskell (G1) was very, very fun. Journalism continues to prove himself a top three-year-old, and how crazy is it that Gosger is only a length away from being a Preakness (G1) and Haskell winner. 

We started hearing the utterings of Journalism’s “greatness” on social media and traditional racing media after this win, and it made me curious how people determine when a horse moves beyond being a good horse to a great horse. Obviously it’s extremely subjective, and there are different levels to it. There are many good horses that run in $20,000 claiming events. They put up speed figures and times that are better than 70 or 80% of all Thoroughbreds out there. They are clearly good by most definitions. 

Now the word “great” is where I think we can start having some disagreements. Journalism is a great horse. But he’s not an all-time great, if that makes sense. Compared to his peers, he’s been bested only recently by the best horse of his class, Sovereignty. He’s won classic races and done so in one of the craziest Preakness wins we’ve seen since Afleet Alex. He’s been memorable and has danced so many dances already. 

But how do we judge greatness? What makes a horse not just great, but one of the greats or an all-time great? I suppose where you draw the line for those can be different for different people. Must they go into the Hall of Fame? Be an Eclipse Award winner? Or just have a laundry list of accomplishments against their peers at the highest levels of their divisions?  

To me the most tired debates in sports are “who is the greatest of all-time?” Comparing people or horses from different generations always just feels like a waste of time to me because the circumstances are often so different. Surfaces are different, riders rode differently, and of course the breed is just different. I think it’s fair to judge horses within generations of 10 or even 20 years, but beyond that, it just feels like a different game. Maybe I’m wrong on that, and I’d be happy to hear someone’s take. 

As far as Journalism goes, what’s cool about his story is that hopefully he will have a chance to avenge his defeats to Sovereignty. It’s 2-to-0 in heads-up matches, with Sovereignty winning decisively both times. While Journalism continues to dance every dance, Sovereignty has been picking his spots and gathering up victories. Should they meet up in the Travers (G1) or the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) down the road, the opportunity will be there for Journalism to try to best his nemesis. It’s a great hero's arc if he’s able to pull it off. Because right now Sovereignty is casting a very large shadow over what’s been a remarkable year for Journalism. It should make for a great showdown when it hopefully happens on the track. 

Everyone have a great week!