Monday Morning Message with Jason Beem for March 17, 2025

Jason discusses the Virginia Derby as well as the NHC from this past weekend and congratulates champion Dan Piazza! 

A good Monday morning to you all! What in years past has kind of been the quiet week of the season in horse racing, wasn’t so quiet with the new Virginia Derby at Colonial and the NHC going on in fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada. I was trying to follow along with both all weekend as we raced at Tampa Bay Downs on Saturday. 

Some initial thoughts on the Virginia Derby and Oaks first. I did have a little bit of FOMO watching the races go on there. Since Colonial reopened in 2019, I hadn’t really watched any races there as a fan so that was kind of surreal, but of course Travis Stone was awesome as usual and fun to listen to. The scratches throughout the three-day meet were obviously a big issue, and I’m sure a disappointment to many on the staff and the people who were betting the races. I know that seven day-out entries are popular amongst players, but I wonder if they do contribute to more scratches on raceday? 

What looked like a tough start the first few days certainly seemed to get better on Saturday as the track looked back on the television signal and everyone I talked to who was there said the atmosphere was fantastic. They ended up handling over $6.5 million on the card which is huge for a 10-race card there. Other than the 2023 Arlington Million Day card which was just under $10 million, I believe Saturday was the second largest handle ever at the track. Certainly something to build on and hopefully grow in future years. 

About 2,500 miles west of New Kent, Virginia, was the National Horseplayers Championship going on at the Horseshoe in Vegas. I know that the NHC gets is fair share of criticism from many players, but it really is an event like no other. I’ve had the good fortune to go a few times as media and cover the event, and it has such a fun vibe. 

There’s the competition aspect of course, but so much of NHC is about camaraderie and people just enjoying playing the races. The first morning there, you have 800 people brimming with optimism about possibly making a life-changing score in the next few days. To me, it’s a big part of what makes our game great, and I wish we had more events that celebrated the horseplayer in this way throughout our calendar. 

Congratulations go out to Dan Piazza who took home the title and basically went gate to wire as he led the contest after days one, two, and three. I’m not sure if that’s happened before in NHC history, but it’s pretty darn impressive. 

So often someone who is hot on day one comes back to the field, but Dan was able to go it all the way in front and cruise home with $14 more in his bankroll than his closest competition. And for that win he gets to take $825,000 with him back home. He’ll also get an invite to come on my podcast probably later this summer. I always let all the other shows have the champ on first, then interview them once things have settled down. Plus I feel like it’s fun to chat with them a few months later because the reality of the whole thing has more set in, and they can reflect on it. 

This week our Kentucky Derby and Oaks trails finally arrive at the races worth 100 points to the winner, which means that the next three weekends are all going to be major events. Strap on as we get walking further down this Derby and Oaks trail!