Monday Morning Message with Jason Beem June 8, 2026

Jason discusses Golden Tempo's Belmont win and whether or not horses need to "validate" their Kentucky Derby wins. 

A good Monday morning to you all! Triple Crown season is officially in the books, and while it wasn’t my favorite Belmont (G1) weekend as a whole, I thought the actual race itself was quite thrilling and quite satisfying. 

I saw a few people in the postrace comments talk about how Golden Tempo “validated” his Kentucky Derby (G1) win with this performance. I feel like any time a non-favorite type wins the Derby, people talk about that in their subsequent starts. Even Mine That Bird, when he ran that good second behind Rachel Alexandra in the 2009 Preakness (G1), everyone talked about how that race kind of justified or validated his upset win on the first Saturday in May. 

I get where people are coming from with this discussion. The Kentucky Derby is meant to represent greatness, and as the most prestigious race in the country, people want that winner to be the best of the best and all of that. And I understand that line of thinking. 

But I also try to remember that sometimes winning the Kentucky Derby just means you were the best horse in that one race on the first Saturday in May. A horse like Rich Strike or even Mystik Dan in recent years, they didn’t go on to win more classics, but both ran some nice races post-Derby. But they were the first across the wire in the Kentucky Derby. Regardless of what they did after that, they and their connections get to hold that honor forever – with or without “justification” or “validation” in subsequent racing success. 

Golden Tempo is now a two-time classic winner, and Cherie DeVaux’s ascent up the ranks of trainers in the country continues. I remember talking to her husband David Ingordo in Kentucky one time, this was probably 2022, and he was very bullish about her talents when it comes to training horses. She clearly has proved him right as her barn continues to grow in stature and wins and earnings with each passing year. 

Cherie has been an amazing representative for our game these past few weeks, but she was already doing that well before Golden Tempo even hit the track. She also of course might have unleashed another superstar on Saturday as Englishman absolutely crushed his foes in the Woody Stephens (G1) and will likely be very tough as the sprint season goes on. I believe the Allen Jerkens S. (G1) is his next stop at Saratoga. 

To me, Golden Tempo just looks like a good horse who has developed brilliantly into a talented distance-racing three-year-old. I remember his Louisiana Derby (G2), where he ran third and really ducked in sharply down the lane to the rail, and I just thought he and his rider made an odd choice in doing that. Since then, of course, horse and rider have teamed up to win the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes. Shows you what I know! But I think it was just part of his development. 

Golden Tempo only began racing just before Christmas. He’s only been competing in races for six months. It stands to reason he would still be getting better at his craft with only that time’s worth of experience. 

I think a lot of times people like me are so guilty of analyzing what happened and not spending enough time looking forward to what could happen. I think a lot of horseplayers are guilty of navigating to horses’ last races and whether they won or not, not allowing for bad trips or bad luck or just a bad day. Or not allowing for inexperience playing itself out in the results. I think Golden Tempo is a horse who’s just getting better with more and more experience. And I’m super-excited to see what he does this summer! 

Have a good week everyone!