Big Week, I Tell Ya!
Well, folks, we got ourselves one hell of a week coming up. Keeneland is heading into its final week, Breeders’ Cup horses are arriving on the grounds, and Churchill Downs is serving up an ALL-2-YEAR-OLD card on Sunday. Now, THAT’S my kind of card. Young horses, questionable form, and enough uncertainty to make you wonder whether you know a damn thing about this game. Which, if you’ve been playing the ponies long enough, you already know the answer to.
And OH, before I forget, we’ve got Banksy’s entered in his first graded stakes event, just one scratch away from getting into the field Saturday. One scratch! We’re standing outside the door, looking through the window, hoping somebody inside decides they’d rather stay home. Welcome to horse racing, where even getting the opportunity to make some money at a higher level requires a little luck.
But there’s something else I want to talk about.
At Racingwithbruno, we don’t toot our own horn every three and a half minutes.
We don’t need a parade every time we do something right. We don’t need to stand on a soapbox and holler, “HEY, LOOK AT US!” every time we have a thought, a winner, or a cup of coffee. We actually take a breath or two before indulging in society’s seemingly bottomless craving for attention.
And lately, I’ve made a decision. I’ve pulled the plug on my personal involvement in social media. Other than essential information like scratches and surface changes, I’m done commenting over there.
I’ve had enough of the negativity, the bickering, the slander, and the general-purpose foolishness that seems to have become the national pastime. Everybody’s got an opinion, everybody’s an expert, and everybody’s ready to bite the hand that feeds them before breakfast.
Well, I kinda like the quiet, anyway.
It’s peaceful. The horses are still running. The races are still happening. And somehow, the sun continues to rise even though I’m not out there arguing with some fella who thinks the world needs his opinion on everything.
I like that y’all took the time to sign up for our newsletter. I appreciate it, and if I’ve got something to say, I’ll say it right here. This is our forum. This is where we talk racing, share information, and have a little fun.
And if my thoughts are worth sharing, why the hell would I run out onto the internet and hand them over to a bunch of folks who might use them as an invitation to argue, ridicule, or bite the very hand that’s trying to help them?
To hell with that.
We’ll talk to the people who actually want to listen. Seems like a reasonable arrangement to me. Might even be the beginning of a revolution, though I doubt anybody’s gonna make a documentary about a man deciding he doesn’t need to argue with strangers on the internet anymore.
Now, enough of that. We’ve got a BIG week ahead!
BREEDERS’ CUP WEEK: LET’S GET TO WORK!
We’ve got our Wednesday and Thursday Zooms coming up for Friday and Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup racing. These things have been highly successful, entertaining, and absolutely STACKED with information. I generally end up losing my voice by Friday, but that’s what happens when you go big. Some folks lose their voice singing karaoke. I lose mine talking about horses. Everybody’s got their cross to bear.
The Zooms start at 8 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday. Breeders Cup Week, not today and tomorrow.
So sign up, get your spot, and join us. And YES, we record both shows and send them out afterward for those who have dinners, parties, travel plans, or other commitments. We also accommodate those who simply FORGOT.
And don’t act like you don’t know who you are. We’ve got a few of y’all.
If you have an all-inclusive subscription, you’re already covered. We’ll send your invitation on the day of the Zoom.
“Bruno, why the hell do you wait until the day of to send the invitation? Why can’t I have it sitting in my mailbox three days ahead of time?”
Fair question. I understand it makes you feel better to see that invitation sitting there, all safe and sound, like a winning ticket tucked in your wallet.
But here’s what happens. I send the invitations early, they get buried under emails about prescriptions, grocery coupons, and some Nigerian prince who needs your help moving a few million dollars. Then, at 7:59 p.m. Wednesday, my phone, email, and every other avenue of communication light up like a Christmas tree.
“BRUNO! I CAN’T FIND MY INVITE!”
Well, no kidding. You buried it under 400 other emails and too late to search for it.
So I send them all at once on the day of the show. Everybody gets the invitation, everybody knows where to go, and I don’t have to spend my Wednesday evening playing private investigator for a bunch of grown adults.
That’s the system. It works. We’re sticking with it.
HERE’S WHAT WE’VE GOT FOR YOU
For those who want the whole enchilada, we’ve got an all-inclusive package covering Keeneland, Churchill Downs, all tracks, and the Breeders’ Cup, including the Zooms, all for $250.
That gets you an all-inclusive subscription, and you don’t have to sit around wondering which products you’re supposed to buy individually. Sign up today, and you get all the racing through next Sunday, the day after the Breeders’ Cup.
One package. All that racing. All those Zooms. A whole lot of opportunity to make some good decisions, followed by the occasional decision you’ll spend the next three days trying to explain to your spouse.
Some of y’all will wait until the very last minute, of course. You always do. It wouldn’t feel right if we didn’t have a few folks signing up while the horses are loading into the gate.
What would we do without y’all?
For those who want the Breeders’ Cup weekend by itself, you can get the Zooms and the Breeders’ Cup races for $75 per day, or $150 for the weekend.
The Breeders’ Cup package on its own will be $29.95 each day, and for those using credits at Brunowiththeworks.com, it’s two credits per day.
There’s something for everybody, whether you want the entire operation or just want to saddle up for the biggest racing weekend of the year.
AND THEN THERE’S THE ZOOM ITSELF!
Every year, it’s a genuine pleasure to see your faces and interact with y’all. We get to talk horses, exchange ideas, and occasionally witness things that no handicapping manual could ever prepare you for.
We’ve had the shirtless man tuning in on a November evening. Sir, I don’t know what the temperature was in your house, but I can assure you the rest of us weren’t asking for that much access to your personal life.
Please. Put on some clothes.
We’ve had the snoring handicapper in the middle of a Zoom. Now, that’s commitment. The man apparently decided the best way to handicap the Breeders’ Cup was to enter a state of unconsciousness while the rest of us did the work.
And then there was the couple who forgot their computer microphone was on and proceeded to have an argument about a new refrigerator.
A REFRIGERATOR!
There we were, trying to discuss horses, pace scenarios, and Breeders’ Cup contenders, while somewhere in the background a domestic dispute was unfolding over what I can only assume was the relative merits of stainless steel versus whatever the hell they had before.
I don’t remember who won the argument. I do remember thinking that if the refrigerator discussion had gone on much longer, we might have needed to assign it morning-line odds.
And that’s the beauty of these things. You never quite know what’s coming next.
So, a little advice before we get started this year:
Check your camera. Check your microphone. Make sure you’re dressed. If you’re going to have an argument about a major appliance, please mute yourself first.
And if you’ve got a cat that wants to stroll across the front of your computer in the middle of a serious handicapping discussion, well, that cat is ALWAYS welcome. At least the cat has the good sense not to offer unsolicited opinions about everybody else’s picks.
We go big at Racingwithbruno. We bring the information, we bring the analysis, and we bring the fun. We appreciate every one of you who joins us, whether you’re there live or catching the recording afterward.
So get signed up, get comfortable, and get ready for a terrific week leading into the Breeders’ Cup.
We’ll see you Wednesday and Thursday at 8 p.m. [Breeders Cup week for y'all in the back hard of hearing]
And remember, folks: keep your microphone under control, your refrigerator arguments off the air, and your shirt on.
Well, most of the time.
Let’s have ourselves a week!
