Thursday Thoughts with Jason Beem for Feb. 27, 2025

A good Thursday morning to you all! Wrapping up February and I wanted to share kind of a neat experience I had last week. I actually won an award! Last Saturday, I was presented with the Mark Kaufman Media Award from the Washington Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association back home in Washington state. My mom was able to attend and accept on my behalf and now that she’s retired, I think she appreciated the free dinner buffet meal!

They called and told me a few weeks ago about it, explaining I’d always been a strong supporter and promoter of racing in Washington. I was extremely surprised because to be honest, I’d never won an award before in racing. And never really thought I would. I don’t think anyone goes into working in anything for awards, but I got to admit, it felt great to be recognized enough where someone thought enough of the work I’d done to think of me for an award. 

The other thing it made me feel was old. When you’re an athlete and win awards, you’re usually young. But when you’re a broadcaster it’s usually because the end is near! I remember when I got the announcing job at Colonial Downs, the press release said something to the effect of “Colonial Downs hires veteran racecaller Jason Beem.” I remember seeing that and thinking, 'I’m the young upstart, a kid on the rise!' I was 39 and had been calling races since I was 25, a veteran indeed I was. It’s amazing how fast time goes for all of us. I still remember calling my first race on January 8, 2006 and how nervous I was hearing my voice over a loudspeaker for the first time. Now that’s been nearly 20 years. “The decades disappear like sinking ships,” indeed. 

So let me tell you a little bit about Mark Kaufman, whom the award was named after. Mark was a longtime publicity director at Longacres Race Course back in Renton, Washington. He was also a racecaller and I believe the last person who Gary Henson beat out for the announcing job in 1973, a role Henson had until the track closed in 1992. Mark was the backup and called Chinook Pass’ famous Owners Handicap win that set the five-furlong track record. He passed at age 47 back in 1995, and the media room at Emerald Downs has a plaque with his name and photo on it. 

Washington racing means a lot to me. My first job in the industry was there as a turf writer. Emerald Downs was always my dream announcing job, but it just never worked out for me there. But regardless, I always root for that track and hope that they’re able to continue racing for a long long time. There’s so many special people in Washington racing and they still draw a great live crowd on live racing days. If you’ve never been to Emerald Downs, I highly recommend it. 

We had my dad buried at the Scenic Hill Cemetery that overlooks Emerald Downs and the Auburn Valley. You can see the track from his grave and if you have binoculars, you can almost make out the races while they run. I got to announce at Emerald on a few occasions and would always look up toward the cemetery before each race. He died in 2001, never getting to hear me call a race, and that always makes me sad. But I always have tried to be a force for good in racing and share the love of the game that he and I shared together. Getting this award made me think a lot about my dad this week and that made me smile. 

Everyone have a great week!