Monday Morning Message with Jason Beem Jan. 13, 2025

A good Monday morning to you all! 

So last Thursday I did a column about things I wanted to disappear from racing in 2025, and one of them was “DQ’s that promote a horse to win that was never going to win the race.” Wouldn’t you know it happened in our Pasco S. Saturday at Tampa. Not questioning the stewards’ decision, but more the rules that lead to this situation. The runner-up (Naughty Rascal) was not winning that race, and there was no interference against that horse, so why does it get to win because another horse was fouled? I mean, I know why; it just feels odd. 

Like many folks, I was following closely all the news and tragedy of the fires out in California. What a horribly sad situation. On the racing front it led to Santa Anita canceling the weekend, as I’m sure many in that area are dealing with some really tough stuff still and will be for a while. It’s along those lines I wanted to talk about weather and cancellations.

I remember a few years ago a buddy of mine complaining that tracks cancel too easily nowadays. He lamented that if there’s a sprinkle of rain or snow, tracks don’t even bother. I get where he’s coming from, but then when I had someone look up how many cancellations there had been over the years, it was pretty flat in terms of discrepancy. 

Certainly post-2019 when Santa Anita was going through their troubles in the media, I think everyone got a little more careful in general. Whether it was with cancellations, showing replays that involved spills, or whatever. HISA I’m sure has furthered that caution. In fact, remember for a period of years there, every racing press release for a cancellation would include the phrase “Out of an abundance of caution.” That phrase I swear has never been said by a human in real life, only in press releases. 

I think as I’ve gotten older I’ve just got more accepting of weather and what it will do as far as whether or not we run or not. 

People always love to make the joke about synthetic tracks when they cancel “I thought it was all-weather.” Of course the real truth is that when there’s snow and freezing roads around, many horses and connections can’t ship or get to the track. 

Personally there are few things that I find more unenjoyable in racing than a card that is off the turf and decimated with scratches. Five-horse fields with number 14 and 15 horses winning at 3-5 just doesn’t get me too revved up. But sometimes it’s necessary to run even when it’s not optimal. And sometimes it’s necessary to cancel when running is dangerous or just going to be miserable for everyone. 

Of course the situation in Southern California is complicated because along with the air quality issues or potential fire issues, there’s the magnitude of what a scary-big event this has been. Things like that make the decision to cancel or run always a bit murkier. 

There have been many situations where accidents or tragedies happen at the track and the decision whether to run a card or continue a card must be made. There’s often a lot of factors at play when these decisions get made, and I think usually it’s not 100% cut and dry on whether the races should be run or not. 

Nobody likes bad weather and cancellations aren’t good for anyone, at least that I can tell. But they’re going to happen, more so this time of year. Just gotta roll with it. 

Have a great week everyone!