Thursday Thoughts with Jason Beem for May 22, 2025

A good Thursday morning to you all! I hope everyone’s week is going well and I’m very much looking forward to the holiday weekend of racing, including three big graded stakes at Santa Anita Monday. The West Coaster in me will always love a big day at the Great Race Place. 

This week was a tough one for many of us who are active on Twitter in the horse racing circles, as we lost a few members of that community with the deaths of Melissa Nolan (@keenegal) and Joe Tartaglia (@JoeT_OnTheSide). Melissa had been on the site since 2009 and Joe since 2012, and both were people I interacted with regularly on there for many years. I eventually formed a good friendship with Joe offline as well and got to spend time with him and his family on a few different occasions. It’s terribly sad that both have passed and passed at such young ages. 

Racing Twitter, or HRT/HRX as many call it, has certainly changed over time. The early days seemed like more giving out picks and sharing tickets and general commentary on the game. As it’s grown, it’s become more used for marketing and exchange of ideas of how to fix the industry. Also it’s generally gotten more nasty, but I suppose that varies from person to person on their timelines. 

What’s interesting is how much time we spend with these online friends and acquaintances. I remember a couple years ago realizing that I probably talk more day to day with several people from Racing Twitter whom I've never met in person than I do many of my closest relatives. I probably check that app 30-to-40 times a day to see if there’s any news or just something interesting to read. And as you follow people and interact with them more, you start learning about their lives beyond just their interest in racing. 

There’s a physical separation that exists with these online friendships, but the community formed and the connections made are very real. Looking through my phone right now and five of the first 10 most recent text messages on my phone are from people I met through Racing Twitter. People who one day are just an "@" handle asking you what race the 14% takeout Pick 4 at Portland Meadows begins, suddenly are folks you’re having dinners with and who are letting you stay at their house when you pass through Austin, Texas.

There was a quote I saw a while back about how we as a society are “more connected than ever yet feel less connected than ever.” There’s a lot of truth to that as that level of technology between us does often take away some humanity in the interactions. But make no mistake, these friends who we talk about racing with online often are very important in our lives. Social media waters can be tricky to navigate, but there’s so many wonderful people that make up our community there, that it makes it worth it to remain. At least I feel that way. As time has gone by, we’ve lost many of those friends, some good buddies, and some just people we’d chatted with once or twice.

I think a lot of people struggle to find real community, and at its core, racing and horse playing is such a great communal activity to find friends and partake in the game with them. A day at the races with your buddies is about as good as it gets sometimes. Technology has made playing the races so easily, you don’t even need to get out of bed. But to me a big part of the enjoyment is the community and without going to the track, we find our online communities to share our struggles and joys within the game. They become real friends, and that’s a great thing. 

Rest in Peace Melissa and Joe. Thank you for being such a part of our community.