Monday Morning Message with Jason Beem Aug. 3, 2026

Jason looks back at Arlington Million Day at Colonial Downs and shares some thoughts. 

A good Monday morning to you all! Writing to you on one of my favorite days of the season, the day AFTER the Festival Day card here at Colonial Downs. 

A good friend of mine who is at the top of our profession once said “you know the best part of a big day? When it’s over!” I couldn’t agree more. It’s just a lot of moving parts and things like that, but if the horseplayers and fans had a good time with the card, then truly that’s all that really matters. We had a nice crowd and for once this summer, the weather was on our side, and that makes a big difference! 

This year’s Festival card really was in my opinion the best overall card that we’ve had since this race was first run at Colonial Downs in 2023. The 2023 Arlington Million (G1) was probably the best edition of the race here – as far as featuring a big, open field – but this year’s was certainly very strong with arguably the top turf horse going right now in Burnham Square headlining the event and going on to win. 

When I had Ian Wilkes on the podcast last week, he said he had the horse a little sharper coming into this race because of the 1 1/4-mile distance. Burnham Square seems to thrive so much at an extended distance that this was a bit of a cutback for him. Obviously the 1 1/2 miles of the Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1) should hit him right between the eyes in terms of distance, but he’ll of course have to best the Euro runners in that spot. But he’s got to be a big contender.

I was happy for Ian and for Brian Hernandez Jr. These connections have had some great wins with Whitham Thoroughbreds who own Burnham Square including a Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) win with Fort Larned back in the early 2010s. I love when the same connections can continue to have success like that for such a long and sustained amount of time. 

Each big day has its ups and downs as far as working and announcing. Saturday was a bit of a struggle for me all day because my brain just felt kind of foggy. On my morning walk I even felt a little bit off, and it just kind of carried with me throughout the day. I’ve learned in 20 years of doing this that sometimes things like that just happen. You can prepare and stick to your routine as much as possible, but we can’t control everything, as much as we’d like to. In some ways it’s like a horse race. You can plan all you want and try to account for all the factors, but on occasion, it just won’t go that way. Part of the beauty of life and racing, even though it can be frustrating. 

I’m very proud of our little team at Colonial and to see the product continue to develop and grow. There are some obstacles here racing this time of year as the weather can be a challenge. But when that cooperates, I really do think we put out a very good product that should continue to grow. And we’re only halfway done with the season, we still have five more weeks of racing until we close up shop on Labor Day, September 7. So hopefully we can keep some of that good momentum going through the back half of the meet. 

August in my opinion is one of my favorite months of the year on the racing calender, so I’m very excited for the coming weeks. Of course there’s the Travers (G1) and Pacific Classic (G1) and all that, but also some regional favorites of mine including the West Virginia Derby (G3) and Charles Town Classic (G2) night in the Mountaineer State! Also can’t forget the Longacres Mile which is only a couple of weeks away. It’s a great time of year in racing.