Thursday Thoughts with Jason Beem for Aug. 7, 2025

A good Thursday morning to you all! Good to be back in Virginia after a quick little trip up to Mountaineer on Sunday, as well as baseball games in Pittsburgh and Washington D.C. the last couple of nights. One of the very cool things about living on the East Coast is just how many big cities and neat places are within a reasonable drive of here in Richmond. 

It’s Arlington Million (G1) week here in Virginia and for the third time we’ll get to host the historic race at Colonial Downs. A couple of really interesting story lines for this year’s race with Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Mystik Dan trying turf and Integration looking for his first Grade 1 win after so many close finishes at the highest level. The big event is part of a wonderful 12-race card that gets underway at 12 p.m. EDT, I hope you’ll be able to join us in person or via TwinSpires. 

This week has me thinking back to the first Million I got to call back in 2023, when Set Piece rallied from last to win. I remember being very nervous all week long. A funny thing happened though about an hour before the Million. The Secretariat Stakes (G2) happened. My nerves almost got the best of me for that race and if you listen back to that call (I believe Gigante was the winner) you can hear my voice crack a bit in the stretch. That was purely because of nerves. The Beverly D. (G2) was an hour later and only a four or five horse field, and I remember not being quite as nervous. By the time the Arlington Million came around, my adrenal glands were out of adrenaline and I was just tired. I was probably more calm for the Arlington Million that year than almost any big race I’ve ever called, purely because of exhaustion. 

I remember being happy with the call and when it came time for the finish of the race, I had thought all week about “what would John G. Dooley say if he was here.” John had brilliantly called the Million for all those years at Arlington Park, and for some reason I thought he’d say something along the lines of calling it “Virginia’s Maiden Million!” So that’s what I said when Set Piece hit the wire first. But as soon as I said that, I had a moment of immense dread. Was that Set Piece that won? 

For the first Million at Colonial, all the horses wore matching saddle towel colors. If I remember correctly, all the horses wore red saddle towels, and it was a big field. I’ve always been against same color saddle towels in any race because our customers are so used to the now traditional colors of each cloth, why make it more difficult for them to watch the race and identify their horse? It’s never made any sense to me. 

But as a racecaller, we generally use the silks as our means of identifying a horse. The saddle towel is usually a backup identifier, if at all. As I called the race, I realized for me I didn’t need the saddle towel colors as identifying by silks worked just fine. Until Set Piece crossed the wire. I realized then that the saddle towel colors for me are often a way to double check that it is indeed the horse I’m calling. And Set Piece’s Juddmonte silks with the teal/green and pink sash, aren’t a far cry from Madaket Stables colors of teal with a pink sash, and they had the runner up. 

As Set Piece galloped out I frantically grabbed my binoculars to see if that was indeed the #3 horse. As he was running away from me and into the gallop out on the turn, it wasn’t until he almost reached the backstretch that I could see #3 on his towel. Deep relief! I hope I never have to call a race with the same colored saddle towels ever again!  

Happy Million week everyone, I hope it’s a great day!