Thursday Thoughts with Jason Beem May 28, 2026

A good Thursday morning to you all! Hope everyone had a good holiday weekend. I was thrilled to have the extra day to lounge inside as the heat wave here in Florida continues. A good weekend of racing is coming up, and we covered a lot of the big races from Churchill on my podcast for Thursday if you want to check that out.

Legendary television host Todd Schrupp joined us on Wednesday’s show, and one of the things we talked about was how much the outside of the race day racing community has changed in horse racing. Todd was talking about his days at Calder Race Course back in the 1990s and the pos- race poker games, softball leagues, and things like that. And how much of those things seem to be gone now. 

When I first started working in racing in 2006, it seemed like every track had its go-to spot after the races. At River Downs, we had AJ’s Roadhouse. At Portland Meadows, we had Mars Meadows and BJ’s Pizza. Emerald Downs has Las Margaritas. I feel like every track had its spot. It just seemed that at least once a week, at night, there was something going on for people at the track to go out and do something. And it just seems like all of that has kind of stopped. ,

Most tracks still host a golf tournament, and places like Saratoga certainly buck the trend I’m talking about. I’m sure there are other exceptions, but it does seem as though the racetrack community just isn’t the same. I was thinking about why that is after the interview, and I’m sure phones are the biggest factor. We all have our “communities” in our hands at all times. People are more accessible than ever, and so is stimulation and information. Maybe people as a whole just don’t socialize the way they did before the proliferation of cellphones. I’m sure the 2020 pandemic also played a bit of a role, as I think people have just stayed in more ever since.  

Before I go any further, I want to raise my hand and take part of the blame. I’ve always been a bit of a loner, and usually after the races the thing I want to do most is just go home and relax alone. I think that to re-establish communities at the races as we had in the past, it’s going to take people like me getting out of our comfort zones and going and spending more time with people around the track. I’ve been at Colonial Downs for seven years now, and I’m sure there are a lot of trainers and jockeys who couldn’t pick me out of a lineup. And that’s my doing. 

So I’m making it one of my goals for this summer and going forward to try and be more social around the track. And with people in the racing community, both horseplayers and racing employees and connections. I think it’s important that we all get to know each other better and forge stronger bonds, as we are a part of this great game that we all put so much time and attention to. Everything changes, and how we find community does as well. When you’re in school, it’s so easy because you’re forced to make friends and do activities. When you get older, I think it’s incumbent upon us to try and create those spaces and experiences for ourselves as well as for the members of our racing community. 

Have a great weekend, everyone!