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Training hours are probably my favorite time to be at a race track. If you can, go with an owner or someone familiar with what is going on out there and can explain it. Frankly, it's organized chaos. If your track has a program where you can go see a presentation or a barn tour (Emerald Downs has an excellent one) by all means do it.
Even if you decide to go on your own don't be afraid to ask questions of those you run into. For the most part horse people are "good people" and happy to answer questions.
Pre-COVID at most tracks you could walk into the grandstand and take a seat and watch the workouts, no one would bother you. In fact you'd probably find a smattering of owners and trainers doing the same, as well as maybe a private clocker or two.
I'm guessing most tracks have restricted access now due to COVID protocols, but at some point we'll get back to that. So I'll answer your questions under "normal" circumstances.
1) Training hours for most tracks are a 4 hour period every morning. Some tracks like GG shut down on Mondays but others go 7 days. Generally it's 6am to 10am but can change with daylight savings and track location. Generally you don't want too much training in darkness.
2) Most tracks I've been at there is no special access needed, though I suppose some tracks may limit it to license holders, especially those with casinos attached, but for the most part if you can get into the grandstand, you're good.
3) Unless you know someone personally, there is no way of knowing before hand what horses are working out. Generally just about ALL horses on the grounds will get out for a gallop or walk around the track a couple of times every training day. The rules for a work out, or "breeze" is a process but is also rather chaotic, involving a person on the grounds, usually called a "gap attendant" and a clocker or group of clockers located in the grandstand with a view of the whole track. Rules vary, but for the most part it is up the gap attendant and the clockers to verify that a particular horse is working out, but a trainer can't just work a horse out without announcing it. They identify a lot of them by sight, which is remarkable if you think about it, but there are back up methods involving barn rosters (horses wear a saddlecloth with the trainer logo on it) and a Jockey Club marking database.
4) I've never taken the time, but if you're going to go this route you have to do it every day without fail, take extensive notes, and really, get to know nearly all 800-1500 horses on the grounds by sight and peculiarity. There are very few with the discipline or skill of a Bruno de Julio or Gary Young or Andrew Harrington among others to do this right. At the major tracks now there are services selling workout reports and I'd highly recommend going this route as I don't think the time would be worth a casual individual doing this on their own. If you're serious about using workout information these services are well worth the money. In addition, for SoCal several of the TVG hosts have access so them and will often mention "good workout reports". There are few secrets any more so you're not likely to catch a 30-1 shot you saw in a flashy workout.
5) When watching workouts, the most obvious thing is how much pressure was the horse under to run a particular time. Most trainers now do not tend to work theirs horses fast. Baffert likes his to go 12 second furlongs. Jeff Bonde works them as fast as they can go. You watch the rider and see is he restraining the horse, is he urging with hands, or is he in a full out whipping frenzy. And again, you have to know what horse you are watching.
Hope that helps a bit. The XBTV (Stronach owned) YouTube channel has a lot of workouts of stakes horses, watch those and you can get a good idea of what the process looks like.
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