Thursday Thoughts with Jason Beem July 30, 2026

A good Thursday morning to you all! Exciting weekend here for us in Virginia as we have our Festival Day on Saturday for the fourth time with the Arlington Million (G1), Beverly D. (G2) and Secretariat (G2) all drawing very good size and competitive fields. It should be an awesome Saturday and hopefully the weather forecast holds up! 

Last week we had members of the local Autism Society out to the races and when they stopped by my booth, several of the kids were curious about how I colored my program for the races. So I explained to them that I always colored the saddle towel colors on the left side and the colors of the jockey silks on the right and then memorize them. I don’t recall who told me to do that or when I learned that some announcers did color their programs, but I’ve been doing it since I started practicing announcing and have done it for almost every race I’ve ever called. A couple of years ago I tried two races at Tampa with no coloring on my program and it went fine, but it’s become a crutch of sorts because I felt uncomfortable without it as a part of my preparation.

I always color my program the day in advance and will look over it the night before the races. I’ve seen a lot of racecallers who just color in their program as the horses are in the paddock or coming onto the track. Where I get burned sometimes is when horses show up in the wrong silks or “house” silks because then my program starts to look messy coloring over. Also I’ve spent time memorizing the listed silks versus what they’re actually wearing which could trip one up. But it’s worked for me for 20 years so I’m probably not changing at this point. 

Many announcers I’ve seen color their programs don’t include coloring the saddle towels. Of course, we all know the colors of those by heart, yet I still color them in. Travis Stone who calls the Kentucky Derby (G1) and Churchill Downs races, does the silks and no saddle towels and uses markers. 

I’ve always used colored pencils as they’re just the easiest and cleanest option in my opinion. I keep a little box of them and am probably due for a new set as the lime green (#12) is down to about an inch long! Larry Collmus, voice of Del Mar and NBC racing uses an iPad program and coloring app to color his programs and sets them next to him as he calls. 

I think most announcers either hold their program in their hands along with their binoculars or set the program on the table in front of them where they can have a quick glance down to see if need be. I’m a hand program holder myself. Travis and NYRA’s Chris Griffin both use a small apparatus around their necks that holds the program for them so their hands can just be on the binoculars. 

There’s also many callers who don’t color their programs at all, including some of the best in the country. Pete Aiello hasn’t colored a program in 18 years of calling races and I’d argue he’s quite good. Frank Mirahmadi, the voice of Saratoga and Santa Anita, doesn’t color! Legendary harness racing caller Gabe Prewitt says with harness he doesn’t color because the drivers wear the same colors each time. But when he fills in calling at Thoroughbred tracks he does bring a set of markers and colors his program there. 

 I think it really does boil down to a comfort thing. For me I’ve had enough occasions in 20 years of racecalling where I can’t see the number of a horse and only can see a small trace of the silks, where I’ve been able to quickly glance and see that color on my program and realize who it was and give them the call. You obviously don’t have a heck of a lot of time if you forget a name, so that little cheat sheet can save you.  

Good luck out there this weekend players!