Keeneland Friday Available NOW
- Bruno@Racingwithbruno
- Oct 2
- 2 min read
Ah, yes... Keeneland Friday. It’s here. It’s now. And let me assure you, it’s loaded.
Picture this: the clock’s ticking, the mist still rising over the grandstands, and the gallop echoes from Tapeta to turf. My friend, we’ve been working around the clock — quite literally — pulling together the latest, sharpest, most meticulous workout report you’ll find this weekend. And believe me, it’s not just a list of horses breezing four furlongs in :48. It’s intelligence. It's signal in a world of noise. It’s intel you can act on.
Now, Turfway — oh, Turfway. What a curious little world. It's Florence, y'all.
A racetrack with only one official clocker. One. Just uno. Like a lonely sentinel in the fog of war. On busy mornings, when half the barns are humming with pre-dawn energy, that one clocker must make sense of a flurry of activity. Enter: the honor system. Trainers send in their set lists and times like students handing in homework. And as you can imagine, well… sometimes the dog relieved itself on them.... and we have to read between the lines.
We time all the works we have on tape, and we note the discrepancies, almost all are from the gate, is worth noting.
And yet, amidst that chaos, a certain clarity emerges. Brendan Walsh — that magician — has a whole brigade of turf horses going in orchestrated sets, five or more, two and three at a time, like dancers moving in unison across a stage. You’ve got Devaux, Sharp, Asmussen, Brisset — all of them doing their prep work there. Christopher Davis. Destin Heath. Bill Morey. The cavalry is here, and they’re putting in the work. And we’re watching.
Now I’ve been asked, “BDJ, what should I look for in these Turfway works?” And my answer? The same thing I always look for — intent. Body language. Presence. That little something that says: this horse came to play. The Tapeta course doesn’t lie. A horse moving easily over it — ears pricked, breathing measured, energy coiled like a spring — that’s a horse telling you something. It’s all there, if you know what to see.
Gate works have been blistering. The kind of speed that makes you sit up, spill your coffee, and rewind the tape. And the best part? These Tapeta shippers? They’re traveling well. Dirt. Turf. Off-tracks. Coast to coast. They’re not just surviving — they’re thriving.
So yes… the Keeneland Friday card is out. Turfway, Keeneland, Churchill Downs, California, Florida works are added. We’ve got it all. And if you’re paying attention — I mean really paying attention — you’ll see that the story isn’t just in the times. It’s in the movement, the mood, the moment.
So, a show of hands please, how many of you have seen a Turfway Park work before?
There you go American Sonja entered to race at Belmont At Aqueduct on Sunday Race 6.
Stacked and ready to roll? Oh, my friend… we are beyond ready.
Let the weekend begin.