Monday Morning Message with Jason Beem Oct. 20, 2025

Jason discusses the upcoming Breeders' Cup and some races he's looking forward to. 

A good Monday morning to you all! We’ve now reached inside of two weeks until the Breeders’ Cup, and most racing eyes shift to California after we wind up what’s been an interesting Keeneland meet in many ways. 

One of the funny things for me about the leadup to Breeders’ Cup or even Kentucky Derby (G1) is how much the morning workouts get coverage. I personally don’t pay much attention at all to workouts, in part because I know very little about them and what might make a good or bad one. So unlike a lot of racing folks, I’m not going to pretend to be some expert clocker once the Breeders’ Cup arrives. 

However, one thing I do like about that added publicity in the morning works is that it just helps get me excited for the event. Breeders’ Cup leadup has changed quite a bit since I first started really following our end of season championships. Horses train up to the big weekend more often than they used to, and we’ve seen less of them throughout the year than we did back in the 90’s or early 2000s. 

As bad as it sounds, this week for me will in part be trying to just remember who is who. We might see a really good performance at Del Mar or Saratoga, see a horse once more after that, and then it's the Breeders' Cup. Personally, I take my vacation for the back half of September, so I missed all the Kentucky Downs horses in those races who might be heading to Del Mar. 

As is often the case, the Classic (G1) is the race I’m most looking forward to. I’m sure part of that is because of the attention the three-year-olds and the older runners get throughout the year, but also this year it just feels like a very contentious and open race – so many storylines, including Sovereignty trying the older horses. I haven’t seen an early morning line but I’m assuming he’ll be the favorite for the race with Sierra Leone, Forever Young, and Mindframe in that next flight. 

As far as Journalism is concerned, I do wonder if maybe in terms of odds he’ll be a bit of the forgotten horse? Just because Sovereignty has beaten him so soundly and those older horses are salty veterans, I have to think he goes off as fourth or fifth choice at the lowest. And Baeza has all the ingredients to be a serious wiseguy horse come Classic time. Just a very fun race. 

My other favorite races of Breeders’ Cup weekend tend to be the Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) and the Mile (G1). I don’t know if it’s having a good history of picking good longshots in these races, or the fact they’re just always entertaining, but they are at the top of my list each year as favorite races other than the Classic. The Friday races are fun to watch, but I’m just hopeless when it comes to two-year-olds. I just seem to never have a decent opinion on them at all. 

Would be curious to hear from any readers out there which races they’re most looking forward to in this Breeders’ Cup. Are there certain sequences you focus on, or just kind of see how the day unfolds?  I think one of the big mistakes I used to make back in the day was handicapping like crazy and then not putting any real substantive time into deciding how to maximize those opinions with my wagers. 

Have a great week everyone!