"The Form"

[bigmack]

Many a day of yesteryear was spent going to get "The Form". DRF, that is.

As a kid, it looked as decipherable as Arabic. To many it still does.

Arguably, it was once one of the great publications. Opening a fresh Form with a hot cup 'o Mud, and a couple of different colored pens, was a nice moment.

Nostalgic moment #276

[RaceBookJoe]

Great memories, except that I still do the same thing today haha.

[arkansasman]

Do you remember the perforated forms in the 70's?

[BUD]

Yesterday the Form did not come....Used Bris...Today ,,Ahhh The Form!!!

I open it..I think I'm dreamin? Why are these horses running again....Look at the date...The nice men delivered Thursday on Friday.....

Will see what tomorrow brings

[Cangamble]

Many a day of yesteryear was spent going to get "The Form". DRF, that is.

As a kid, it looked as decipherable as Arabic. To many it still does.

Arguably, it was once one of the great publications. Opening a fresh Form with a hot cup 'o Mud, and a couple of different colored pens, was a nice moment.

Nostalgic moment #276
Getting the form two days in advance was a big deal when that became available.
How many times did I go to a variety store and hear the clerk say "the Form delivery guy hasn't come yet"
If I was a dog, my tail would be wagging when he drove up to deliver the Form while I was still waiting for it.

[bigmack]

I gave thought to which was worse, "we're out" or "they're not in yet". I think the latter as it gave more thought as to who would have them before others.

Do you remember the perforated forms in the 70's?
I don't. Were they bound and tore at the bind?

[BombsAway Bob]

Great memories, except that I still do the same thing today haha.
Wednesday thru Saturday, & Sundays when available, the paper DRF is my weapon of choice. When Gas was under $3 a gallon, I'd trek to Rockingham Park if I had to for the paper DRF. Mon/Tue, I've only been using free PP's online when I play. Of course, DelMar/Saratoga will make it a 6-day "work"week now thru Labor Day..Summer Vacation, my arse!

[KMS]

I used to drive 50 miles to the next town to pick up a Form just to "practice." At one time I had a few hundred in a spare room, and I would carry four or five in my briefcase to go over in my spare time. I rarely bet in those days, mostly because the nearest track was two hours away, but I did a lot.

In one of his books, Tom Ainslie writes of touring the Library of Congress, and seeing that most of the people in the reading room were poring over bound copies of the Form.

[Fingal]

Do you remember the perforated forms in the 70's?

Think it was called a " French Perforation" because they weren't easy to seperate with longer segments between the cuts. Had to do only a few pages at a time or you ran the risk of tearing the page.

In the early days, used to time the arrival at the liquor store. I recall one time asking the clerk if the form had come in yet. " What form ? ". :bang:

( Is there any other ? )

[NY BRED]

one of the best times to read the form is early(sunny) morning in Saratoga...

:jump: :jump: :) :faint: :faint:

[Zman179]

I remember when the DRF back in the 80's used to be a broadsheet publication (the same size as the NY Times, LA Times, etc.) Not easy to negotiate, especially on the subway. One race card would take up about five pages. Try THAT today. :lol:

I used to wait at the newsstand for the next day's paper which would arrive around 8 pm (believe me, I wasn't alone.) You never knew which tracks, other than NYRA and Monmouth, would be in the paper. One time, I was preparing to go on a day trip from NYC up to the Northampton Fair to take in the day's races. I knew that I would have to wait until I got there to get the pp's since the Mass. Fairs rarely were in the NYC version of the form. Went to the bus terminal to purchase the next day's bus ticket, passed by a newsstand, and saw the next day's form and in the heading for the past performances: Saratoga, Monmouth, NORTHAMPTON.

WOOHOO!!!!! :lol: :lol:

[Premier Turf Club]

When I was in my teens I often couldn't afford to buy the Form every day. At that time, way before internet, it was about the only way to keep up with what was going on at different circuits (I lived in NY). I'd go into the local OTB near the end of the NYRA card and ask a regular if I could have that day's Form when he was done. Most looked at me like I was crazy but I'd read the articles and PP's from cover to cover.

When I was in college I'd typically sit in the back row of a class (I liked those is a big lecture room best) and read the DRF while the prof. was lecturing. Fortunately for me I could teach myself everything from the textbook. Unfortunately for me I couldn't do that in grad school because they didn't get the Form in North Carolina...:)

[Tom]

Started out with the Telegraph, then the DRF. Used to wait in a car in front of the local newstand...waiting, waiting, waiting......for it to arrive. Some days it never did. We set up a network..... buddy in Geneva would call me on his CB radio (it was the 70's, afterall!) when the driver hit Geneva.....15 minutes away! Hehe. Then the Advanced Edition came along - late afternnon, evening, the next day's form! There was a GOD!!!!!!

Nothing in the world like cracking open a brand spanking new Form.... a clean slate.

[rrbauer]

Spent a year in Saudi Arabia (Al Khobar) about 25 years ago. Rec'd the DRF via mail, issues were about a week after the pub date but that didn't matter. I could handicap the races I was interested in and then wait for the charts in the following editions to see how I did. Between the DRF and the BBC radio financial news every morning I was able to keep abreast of the world!

[098poi]

Many a day of yesteryear was spent going to get "The Form". DRF, that is.

As a kid, it looked as decipherable as Arabic. To many it still does.

Arguably, it was once one of the great publications. Opening a fresh Form with a hot cup 'o Mud, and a couple of different colored pens, was a nice moment.

Nostalgic moment #276

I remember the first time I saw a form. I was living in California and in my mid 20's. A friend and I decided to go to the track and so we bought a form. Your description is a good one! I stared at all the numbers, page after page, and had a feeling this wasn't going to help much. This I think is among the single biggest barriers in getting the game to a larger audience! Not the Form so much as horse racing is inherently complicated. You need a mentor or a lot of motivation to weed through all the info on how to read PP's, charts, handicapping etc.. There is a lot of info out there but unless one is truely motivated they will probably gravitate towards poker, the lottery, and slots. I don't know the answer but if the various ADW's or info providers took a very aggressive educational approach aimed at newcomers it might help. There is a big market out there for racing. With the online casino's made illegal and a huge boomer population about to retire (many with nice nest eggs) in theory the correct marketing strategy could make the game grow instead of shrink!!!

[GaryG]

When I was in junior high (mid 50s) I rode my bike down to the liquor store at 6:00 when the form was due in. Often he was late and I would hang out with all of the assorted characters waiting not so patiently. We looked at the girlie magazines and told lies to each other. Learned a lot about life from those guys. I was pleased that they treated me as an equal even though i was 13-14 years old. Took out my pocket knife, opened it up and started home. Great times.

[Cangamble]

When I was in college I'd typically sit in the back row of a class (I liked those is a big lecture room best) and read the DRF while the prof. was lecturing. Fortunately for me I could teach myself everything from the textbook. Unfortunately for me I couldn't do that in grad school because they didn't get the Form in North Carolina...:)
I did that in a Humanities class (it was mandatory at York in Toronto to take a humanities course). The guy sitting next to me turned out to be the son of an owner trainer. We quickly became friends, and around 8 years later he was best man at my wedding.

[jotb]

When I was in my teens I often couldn't afford to buy the Form every day. At that time, way before internet, it was about the only way to keep up with what was going on at different circuits (I lived in NY). I'd go into the local OTB near the end of the NYRA card and ask a regular if I could have that day's Form when he was done. Most looked at me like I was crazy but I'd read the articles and PP's from cover to cover.

When I was in college I'd typically sit in the back row of a class (I liked those is a big lecture room best) and read the DRF while the prof. was lecturing. Fortunately for me I could teach myself everything from the textbook. Unfortunately for me I couldn't do that in grad school because they didn't get the Form in North Carolina...:)

I can certainly identify with you when it came to school. I remember my senior year of high school I would read the "telly" in all my classes. I had 5 classes in my last year so I was done with school by 12:00. A friend of mine had to stay a bit longer but would cut class so we could make it to the "BIG A" by the 1st race. At night we would go to the local newstand and ask the guy "Did the Bible come in yet"? Fortunately for you, you went on to college. I on the other hand never made it to college thinking school was for chumps and handicapping was the key to success or should I say, a fast easy way to make money.

Joe

[ezpace]

a large news agency distributor to wait and pick up a dozen forms

when they came off the plane.
and on saturdays he knew better than come hang around the joint

without bringing the donuts. the,, Guy won every day we were large tippers

and he never bet more than a deuce across on ONE horse.

[Zman179]

Funny how all of you speak about school. One time, I had a math class in 9th grade and sat in the back row. One day, the teacher called on me but I was so into this one race at Bowie that I didn't hear her. Came over to me and took the form away. I was totally busted. :blush:

What I didn't expect was that after class, she looked in the form, saw all of the math equations (my speed figures) that I had written on the form, and graded my form a 90! She said that she would have given me a 100, but she had to deduct 10 points for writing in pen. :lol: :lol: :lol: True story! Counted it towards my grade because she said that I, in my way, was doing math in a math class. Ummm, sure! :lol:

She also said that if I were to ever read the form in class again that I would fail the class on the spot. Didn't have to tell me twice!

[eastie]

Nick Yemana (Jack Soo) in the opening credits on Barney Miller reading the form at his desk. The headline was Rough March vs 5 in Big A mile or something like that. I know it was Rough March against somebody.
That was around the advent of the xerox copier who put theNational Armstrong(Never on Sunday) out of business. If you were betting horses with the bookies, they wrote the bets going by the Armstrong Numbers. The chalk double would be 0ne and 0ne.
Most of the oldtimers still call it the telly around here , but it's the "form", anything else is Brooklyn.

[bigmack]

We'd sit in school with a stack of forms. We'd have one guy mark scratches and off odds. We'd then pass the form around making selections and check the charts at lunchtime logging our roi. Beat the heck out of learning about the Pythagorean theorem.

[Premier Turf Club]

I can certainly identify with you when it came to school. I remember my senior year of high school I would read the "telly" in all my classes. I had 5 classes in my last year so I was done with school by 12:00. A friend of mine had to stay a bit longer but would cut class so we could make it to the "BIG A" by the 1st race. At night we would go to the local newstand and ask the guy "Did the Bible come in yet"? Fortunately for you, you went on to college. I on the other hand never made it to college thinking school was for chumps and handicapping was the key to success or should I say, a fast easy way to make money.

Joe

Everyone knew me at SUNY Stony Brook in the early '80's as 'racing form guy.' The best situation were the holes they had in their curriculum where I could take entry level algebra courses for credit after completing 2 years of much higher math. That and the Art History classes I took pass/fail to complete my humanities requirements. The school was about 2 miles from an OTB and I could often cut-out early and catch the double. I didn't meet too many racing fans there though I once met the daughter of the guy that trained Runaway Groom (I think her last name was DiMario) at a party. It was really tough being in NC for two years where there was no racing info available. Still no gambling allowed in that state...

[badcompany]

I remember the first time I saw a form. I was living in California and in my mid 20's. A friend and I decided to go to the track and so we bought a form. Your description is a good one! I stared at all the numbers, page after page, and had a feeling this wasn't going to help much. This I think is among the single biggest barriers in getting the game to a larger audience! Not the Form so much as horse racing is inherently complicated. You need a mentor or a lot of motivation to weed through all the info on how to read PP's, charts, handicapping etc.. There is a lot of info out there but unless one is truely motivated they will probably gravitate towards poker, the lottery, and slots. I don't know the answer but if the various ADW's or info providers took a very aggressive educational approach aimed at newcomers it might help. There is a big market out there for racing. With the online casino's made illegal and a huge boomer population about to retire (many with nice nest eggs) in theory the correct marketing strategy could make the game grow instead of shrink!!!

Agree. Simultcasting has made horseracing, IMO, the most exciting type of gambling as it solved the problem of the long downtime between races. However, this type of betting is very intimidating to a newb. I could only imagine what it's like for someone just starting to walk into a simultcasting facility and seeing all those screens.

[Turfday]

Mike Sandler was the head honcho in those days and Bill Dow (a great guy) was the general manager. This is when the Los Angeles edition was located on Bimini Place.... 170 S. Bimini Pl. Won't ever forget that address.

I worked in stats and then as a handicapper alongside Jack Karlik (who was Sweep for many, many years before leaving for the Pasadena Star News), columnist Pat Rogerson (he called everybody "babe") and the late, great, brilliant Leon Rasmussen, whose desk was very close to mine.

Those days we were handicapping both Northern and Southern California plus doing lots of bush tracks as well....Prescott Downs, Rillito, Sunland Park, etc. We would spend about 10 minutes per track handicapping under the banners Hermis, Sweep, Trackman, Analyst, etc.

[alhattab]

These are great stories. I used to drive all over looking for a Form if I got to my main place too late. I used to work at a newstand and for a summer when I was 17 or so I ordered my own copy (the broadsheet). I used to spread it out at another job I had working the lunch counter at a golf club. The green's guy comes in one day and says "Whaddya readin'?" After my reply he said "You read that goddamn thing so much you oughta know when the horse shit last!" And then he left.

That feeling of anticipation hasn't let up after 20 some odd years. And as someone else noted I really love taking a road trip where you get into that rhythm- (early) morning Form (except I give myself one night in Saratoga to stay out late and get loaded), day at the track, make sure you hit the exits in time to pick up "tomorrows".

Toughest part about the broadsheet was trying to fold in the wind at Monmouth.

[Tom]

Toughest part about the broadsheet was trying to fold in the wind at Monmouth.

I have no doubt at least a dozen or so of mine were later called UFO's after they whipped out of the Finger Lakes grandstand! :lol:

[rrbauer]

Everyone knew me at SUNY Stony Brook in the early '80's as 'racing form guy.' The best situation were the holes they had in their curriculum where I could take entry level algebra courses for credit after completing 2 years of much higher math. That and the Art History classes I took pass/fail to complete my humanities requirements. The school was about 2 miles from an OTB and I could often cut-out early and catch the double. I didn't meet too many racing fans there though I once met the daughter of the guy that trained Runaway Groom (I think her last name was DiMario) at a party. It was really tough being in NC for two years where there was no racing info available. Still no gambling allowed in that state...

Slots on the Cherokee Reservation in the Smokies. Indians keep the money, however. No racetrack subsidies!!

[SaratogaSteve]

This is such a great thread - brings back memories of driving to Nite Owl News w/ my Dad during August [I was about 10-11 when I got addicted] to see and wait for the Form to arrive. I even remember the good-luck, teal-colored markers I'd use to transfer notes onto the day's card.

[eastie]

Mike Sandler was the head honcho in those days and Bill Dow (a great guy) was the general manager. This is when the Los Angeles edition was located on Bimini Place.... 170 S. Bimini Pl. Won't ever forget that address.

I worked in stats and then as a handicapper alongside Jack Karlik (who was Sweep for many, many years before leaving for the Pasadena Star News), columnist Pat Rogerson (he called everybody "babe") and the late, great, brilliant Leon Rasmussen, whose desk was very close to mine.

Those days we were handicapping both Northern and Southern California plus doing lots of bush tracks as well....Prescott Downs, Rillito, Sunland Park, etc. We would spend about 10 minutes per track handicapping under the banners Hermis, Sweep, Trackman, Analyst, etc.

hey Bob maybe you could tell us all what Hermis, Sweep, Analyst mean. Also is Trackman always the DRF's main reporter for that track, like Mike Welsch ?

[alhattab]

Nick Yemana (Jack Soo) in the opening credits on Barney Miller reading the form at his desk. The headline was Rough March vs 5 in Big A mile or something like that. I know it was Rough March against somebody.
That was around the advent of the xerox copier who put theNational Armstrong(Never on Sunday) out of business. If you were betting horses with the bookies, they wrote the bets going by the Armstrong Numbers. The chalk double would be 0ne and 0ne.
Most of the oldtimers still call it the telly around here , but it's the "form", anything else is Brooklyn.

I get a real HO when I see the Form in the "mainstream". I didn't realize this Barney Miller appearance. One of my favorites is in Hart to Hart. The Hart's gave the butler (Max?) a year's subscription to the Form. It also made too many appearances to count in The Sopranos. And who can forget in Rocky II when, 5 seconds after getting admonished to "not take him to the track" by the Stallion, Paulie says to his nephew "ok, we got a problem here in the 5th."

[Premier Turf Club]

My favorite Law and Order character, Lenny Briscoe, can often been seen reading or referring to the Form. I think the late Jerry Orbach was a horseplayer.

[jotb]

I'm not sure if the DRF was used in the "odd couple" but there were quite a few episodes that horse racing was involved. Two episodes come to mine that I could watch over and over. "Felix the horseplayer" when Oscar gets tips from a midget named Harry and the other which I thought was extremely funny "A Grave for Felix". In this episode Felix entrusts Oscar with the money to buy his cemetery plot only to find out Oscar gambled the money away on a horse. I believe the words from Oscar to Felix were "something came along but it didn't come along fast enough".

Joe

[BombsAway Bob]

Dont' forget the classic :rolleyes: "Two & A Half Men".
Charley gets stuck watching the rugrat while his bro goes to the RMV
He's supposed to help with the book report...decides on Santa Anita...
Going over the form, Charley asks the kid who he wants to bet...
Kid wants to bet a longshot; Charley tells him he's throwing money away.
Rugrat wins $1,100 on 'the longshot'..hilarity ensues

[BeatTheChalk]

Do you remember the perforated forms in the 70's?

Ab so lutely ! I was always verrry careful ...not to mess it up :jump: I
vividly recall the days at Holly Park. After the last race there was a mad
dash down stairs to the parking area.
The sicker folks would ALWAYS buy the next day's Form .. from the
2 guys selling them. ( Same two .. for years )

[affirmedny]

Nick Yemana (Jack Soo) in the opening credits on Barney Miller reading the form at his desk. The headline was Rough March vs 5 in Big A mile or something like that. I know it was Rough March against somebody.
That was around the advent of the xerox copier who put theNational Armstrong(Never on Sunday) out of business. If you were betting horses with the bookies, they wrote the bets going by the Armstrong Numbers. The chalk double would be 0ne and 0ne.
Most of the oldtimers still call it the telly around here , but it's the "form", anything else is Brooklyn.

http://www.pedigreequery.com/rough+punch


run your mouse over the "I" near his name

[Turfday]

In my day, WAY, WAY back, Analyst was a guy named Bob Dey. He was Analyst for many years and that's when Jack Karlik was Sweep and doing the odds you would see in DRF. He took great pride in it, although he had to do other tracks as well in those days.

Hermis was whoever wanted to do it that day among the editorial staff. I did it plenty of times. I also wrote Analyst several times when Bob Dey was off or on vacation.

Trackman in those days was one of the best in the business...Jay Woodward, who I had great respect for. He really cared about the quality of his position calls, etc. He also did his 1-2-3 selections under Trackman unless he was sick or on vacation. Very dedicated during his long tenure as So. Calif. trackman. He trained Darryl Hove, who later was the DRF's trackman up in Northern California for many years.

Don Fleming was the west coast editor of the Form in those days and Duane McKendrick was assistant.

Pat Rogerson, the DRF's west coast columnist, was quite a character and fun guy. This was the day was Oscar Otis wrote the column that appeared on the back page and I believe Mort Rose was the columnist inside the paper. This was for the West Coast editions.

And of course, we can't forget the venerable Joe Hirsch, who was always a tremendous read. There was another popular eastern based columnist ....name escapes me.

In those days the Form was located, as I said in my earlier post at 170 S. Bimini Pl. right near 3rd St. and Vermont for those that know L.A.

[Doc]

Many moons ago I worked in the Hightstown NJ office of the Form ... yes, the handicapping was fast and furious by the handicappers on staff, they'd bang out selections on their manual typewriters after getting the "dope" (past performances) that came through on the teletype machine (like a forerunner of the fax). There was this woman Jill Costello who was one of the handicappers and she was pretty sharp. Anybody here know what happened to her? Those were the good old days, allright ...


Doc

[BlueShoe]

When I first started playing the horses,the Form cost 50 cents.It came out late in the day,in fact,the spot results of the first race or two at the local track was printed inside,indicating that it did not go to press until mid afternoon.Recall all the men mentioned above by Bob,and few others.Used to enjoy the pedigree columns by Leon Rasmussen in particular.

[eastie]

thanks Bob. three more for you. Why don't Vigilant's selections count in the consensus ? what do Vigilant, Hermis , and Sweep mean ? What was the deal with those funny mud marks that they had in the form before the advent of wet track stats. The one Mud mark that they did have perfect was the very rarely seen X in a circle mark of a superior mudder for Waquoit, who loved it.

[overthehill]

When I saw my first form, it was like discovering a masterpiece, I had no idea all this information was available to people who bet on horses. I used to trek to the newstand every night at 9PM to get the next days form, and read it cover to cover. When I first started buying it in 1977 it was one dollar. I remember it being a big deal when they suddenly raised it to $1.25 and my friend and i started sharing it to cut our costs down. I always loved the editions leading up to the kentucky derby, and when i found out about the key race method, I ended up storing lots of racing forms in my apt.

[RaceBookJoe]

thanks Bob. three more for you. Why don't Vigilant's selections count in the consensus ? what do Vigilant, Hermis , and Sweep mean ? What was the deal with those funny mud marks that they had in the form before the advent of wet track stats. The one Mud mark that they did have perfect was the very rarely seen X in a circle mark of a superior mudder for Waquoit, who loved it.

Hermis was a horse from way back. I am not sure of the other drf names, but they might be horses as well. rbj

[Turfday]

except of course for Analyst and Trackman. Although, somewhere in the Jockey Club annals, there was probably a horse named Analyst and Trackman as well.

[BlueShoe]

Amusing story that comes to mind about the Form printing the early results in the next days edition.--In the early 60's just before the last race went off at Santa Anita,struck up a conversation with an elderly couple sitting in the grandstand near me.The couple insisted that the races were fixed,and that "They knew before the races who was going to win",etc.They insisted that they had the absolute proof of this.The old gent then waved a copy of the next days form at me,and pointed in triumph at the results of the first two races of todays card run a few hours before.When I gently pointed out that the Form went to press some time after the early races had been run,the couple could not be persuaded that their theory was false,they had made up their minds.