Thursday Thoughts with Jason Beem Dec. 19, 2024

A good Thursday morning to you all! This column was supposed to go last Thursday in advance of Turfway Park’s big Synthetic Championships night. I thought it would be fun to get some Turfway thoughts from some friends who work there or follow the races there. So I solicited their thoughts and then I got crushed by Influenza and it hurt to keep my eyeballs open. So the column gets pushed back to today. Which is just fine because Turfway still has several months of fun and frivolity to get us through those chilly Kentucky evenings! 

I wrote last year about how Turfway was “having a moment” and that moment has gone right into this year. People love having big fields racing in the evening and it’s become a big follow for so many horseplayers. So here are some thoughts from some folks who watch it the most! Good luck up in Florence Y’all! 

“I look forward to playing Turfway because in this day and age, getting to consistently play full fields in the EARLY part of a card is a true rarity. You’ll routinely have more horses competing in the early Daily Double than a lot of tracks will have in an entire Pick 5 sequence and as a fairly selective player, that’s the kind of potentially lucrative challenge I’m looking for.”--Alan Schneider, co-host of the Kentucky centric “Auxiliary Gate Podcast”. 

“Something I obviously love about Turfway Park is the full fields. People always associate chaos with Turfway but it’s because the fields are so large and there are so many variables as compared to other races because of that.”--Kaitlin Free, Analyst at Turfway Park 

“Biggest thing for me as a handicapper is looking for “back form” on synthetic. There are often horses who ran well last winter and appear to tail off in the summer and then they’ll come back to Turfway and fire at long odds once they’re back on the synthetic here at Turfway.”--Gary Palmisano, Ex. Director of Racing, Churchill Downs Inc. 

“I love betting the races at Turfway Park because the Tapeta surface creates opportunities for big-priced outcomes, rewarding sharp handicapping. It’s crucial to trust your opinion and spread in competitive races and to maximize where you’re confident. With low takeouts in the PIck 4 and Pick 5 that have massive six figure pools, Turfway is a must play in the winter.”--Kevin Kerstein, Publicity at Turfway Park. 

“I love the big fields at Turfway Park. I really like how the action heats up at the midway point of the turn and the exciting, furious finishes. I look for post-position switches at Turfway Park, whether it’s inside to outside in sprints and outside to inside in routes.”--Tony Calo, Track Announcer at Turfway Park. 

Turfway runs Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights all throughout the winter months.  Good luck!