Monday Morning Message with Jason Beem Aug. 17, 2026

Jason discusses a thrilling edition of the Longacres Mile and talks about the winning connections in the race. 

A good Monday morning to you all! Just getting to the computer to type about the Longacres Mile we just watched on Sunday evening, and if you haven’t seen it, take a look at the embedded replay (about the 4:59 mark). A thrilling stretch battle saw Wesley Ward’s Kentucky invader Touchy finish just ahead of the local longshot Adios Jojo. But after a pretty short stewards’ inquiry and a jockey’s objection into the stretch run, Adios Jojo was put up. 

This year’s Mile (as I wrote last Thursday) featured the classic Longacres Mile formula of the out-of-town invader versus the local horses. Adios Jojo was 32-1 when the gates sprung open, and jockey Kevin Orozco sent him out of there quickly. I didn’t get a chance to watch much of the early card, but the :23.23 opening quarter-mile time didn’t exactly scream to me that they were flying, as Emerald Downs tends to be a very fast course, especially in the Mile. 

It looked at the quarter pole like Touchy, who was very hesitant to load in the gate before the race, might not go by. I was pretty convinced at the eighth pole that Adios Jojo was going to hold on, but Touchy lunged and did get up. Truthfully, when I saw the head-on shot, I didn’t think they’d make a change. I feel like in big races stewards are always a little more hesitant to make a change, but Touchy did come in a bit, and Adios Jojo did get knocked a bit off stride. And with the short margin of victory, maybe that was enough for the stewards to take him down. 

Adios Jojo became the first Oregon-bred winner of the Mile in well over 50 years. The state of Oregon doesn’t produce many foals any more – according to a quick search, it’s generally less than a hundred each year. I cut my teeth announcing Oregon-bred runners at Portland Meadows, so I’ll always have a soft spot in my heart for them. The first horse I ever owned part of was an Oregon bred named Eduardo. 

Another cool part of the Mile story from Sunday evening was the local connections. Trainer Howie Gibson is a younger trainer, but he has been around racing at Emerald and the Northwest since he was a little kid, as the Gibson family are stalwarts of Emerald Downs. He’s having a huge year, and for him to win the Mile adds to the storyline of this year’s edition. The owners Chad and Josh have been big supporters of Emerald Downs the last many years, and jockey Kevin Orozco has also been a regular there. So very cool to see them all get to celebrate. 

The disappointment in this race was certainly for trainer Wesley Ward. Wesley grew up in Washington, and the Ward family has had a lot of success there over the last many decades. Wesley has obviously gone onto great successes at bigger and better tracks from his Kentucky base, but I’m sure winning the Longacres Mile would have meant a lot to him. 

 It’s my favorite race of the year for a reason – it’s always entertaining and there’s always storylines. Looking forward to 2027 already!