Monday Morning Message with Jason Beem Apr. 6, 2026

Jason talks about Saturday's Wood Memorial (G2) winner Albus in this week's Monday Morning Message. 

A good Monday morning to you all! Lots of fun this weekend and some big performances as Further Ado and So Happy both put forth very strong wins in their respective prep races in Kentucky and Southern California. 

Further Ado was sent off at sub-even money, and you can argue he faced tougher competition here at Tampa than he did Saturday in the Blue Grass (G1), but his effort and the way he did it will lead to him being one of the favorites (if not the favorite) in the Kentucky Derby (G1). 

I wanted to write today and focus on the Wood Memorial (G2) winner Albus, who took home the final edition ever to be run at Aqueduct. Sent off at odds of almost 12-1, the lightly-raced son of Yaupon rallied from eighth early on to grab the lead in midstretch and hold off the big longshot Right to Party to win the $750,000 event. 

Albus now has plenty of points for a spot in the starting gate at Churchill on May 2 if his connections so choose. He would be one of two likely starters for trainer Riley Mott, who also saddled Incredibolt to a win in the Virginia Derby. 

Albus showed up to Tampa Bay Downs at the end of February to participate in a maiden special weight event. He was bet down to 1-2 odds, and his chief rival appeared to be a first-time starter from the always potent Todd Pletcher barn. He tracked a longshot named Mo Beach early on in the race and proceeded to take the lead on the turn and then drew off convincingly down the lane to win by almost seven lengths. 

It was the last furlong that caught my attention, as he really looked good the last eighth of a mile – enough for me to tweet about the performance, telling people how impressive he looked to my eye. So you can imagine how happy I was to see him validate that opinion with this nearly 12-1 win in the Wood Memorial. 

This is my fifth season calling at Tampa Bay Downs, and each year it seems like we get one or two really nice maiden or allowance winners in January or February who will jump up and be big forces in the major three-year-old stakes. Pletcher has often been the trainer to show up with these under the radar types, as he did with Always Dreaming back in 2017. My first season here he had a horse named Emmanuel who ran a big one at Tampa in the winter before going on to have some good success on turf and dirt. 

It’s one of the great things about wintertime racing here in Florida. Whether it’s Gulfstream or Tampa, very often there are maiden special weight races or first-level allowance events that very well could have Kentucky Derby or Oaks (G1) ramifications later on that spring. Of course there’s probably more of them at Gulfstream, but we’ve had a lot of good ones come through here on Florida’s west coast as well. 

Just this year, Renegade, Further Ado, Emerging Market, and The Puma have all come through Tampa, and all four will probably be in the top seven or eight choices in the Kentucky Derby. Add Zany, Life of Joy, and Always a Runner to the possible Kentucky Oaks runners, and we’ve got more rooting interests that came through Tampa than I can remember. Should make for a run next couple of weeks! 

Have a great week everyone!