Racing form $8.95

[jelly]

Walked into a newsstand in Miami Beach a few weeks ago to buy Daily Racing Form but ended up walking out without it. Why? The $7 price on it had been blacked out with a marker, and a sticker with a price $8.95 was placed next to it. I didn’t wait to find out if tax was included. … DRF informed me that stores can charge what they want. … Ended up getting the tracks I wanted to bet in Gulfstream simulcast programs that cost a bit less in total. … Houston, we have a data cost problem, perhaps yet another reason pari-mutuel handle continues its decline.



This should help get new racing fans. :rolleyes:


http://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/at-large-tom-lamarra/archive/2011/02/15/things-that-make-you-go-hmmmm-8.aspx

[Mineshaft]

Mid week froms are $7.50


weekend forms are over $8.00


But go to Delta Downs and forms are $4.00 every day

[Robert Goren]

You actually found a news stand and they actually had forms. Next you be telling us that it was next to a phone booth. :lol:

[samyn on the green]

You are on the internet. Why not take advantage of this? Why not just print out the DRF for much less cost. Or download the free pp's from Bris this month?


You have to keep the wind at your back and right now the wind is blowing us all towards internet PP's. Remember that dinosaurs became extinct for a reason.

[therussmeister]

I suspect the form sold for the cover price has a very small profit margin.

[Stillriledup]

Nice newsstand.

I can't imagine they sell too many copies at that price.

[Robert Goren]

Nice newsstand.

I can't imagine they sell too many copies at that price.I can't imagine they would sell very many at any price.

[Grits]

In Hallandale Beach, off track--$7.00 a few days ago--bought it each day for 10 days.

[Wright Stuff]

You actually found a news stand and they actually had forms. Next you be telling us that it was next to a phone booth. :lol:

AND....Wait for it:

It was a ROTARY phone

AND.........Wait a little longer:

The number was Melrose 5-5300

The escalating cost of the DRF was why I sought alternate PP's in the first place and is NO LAUGHING MATTER.

[PhantomOnTour]

Unless you just can't live without Beyer speed figs, what do the DRF pps have that BRIS or other services don't have?
I switched to BRIS a few years back because of price and availibility of the DRF print edition. Heck, their online pps are more costly then BRIS as well. Hmmm, no wonder they got into the ADW business.

[duncan04]

Used to always buy the DRF but when the price kept going up I stopped. Now when I go to the track I'll print out the pp's from BRIS thru Twinspires. That way I get the pp's for free by making a small wager on one race of the tracks I will play.

[magwell]

I have to have a fresh form everyday, its to much hassle printing them up and they are not user friendly like the form, but that's just me "old school" i guess, at what price I'd stop ??? they got me hooked long ago.....:cool:

[Track Phantom]

You are on the internet. Why not take advantage of this? Why not just print out the DRF for much less cost. Or download the free pp's from Bris this month?


You have to keep the wind at your back and right now the wind is blowing us all towards internet PP's. Remember that dinosaurs became extinct for a reason.

Not following. Are you saying dinasaurs became extinct by reading a paper copy of the form instead of the online version?

[samyn on the green]

They become extinct when they can not adapt to a new age.

The door on the hardcopy DRF is closed. The door to the on-line version is wide open. This is a door we should all use. Not following. Are you saying dinasaurs became extinct by reading a paper copy of the form instead of the online version?

[takeout]

Just like the tracks the more customers they lose the more they crank up the price to the ones that are left.

[Spiderman]

Is a sales tax on a newspaper legal? I was in a 7-11 in Northern Virginia and asked to purchase the local paper. Cashier rang sale with 6% tax added.

[Mineshaft]

I have to have a fresh form everyday, its to much hassle printing them up and they are not user friendly like the form, but that's just me "old school" i guess, at what price I'd stop ??? they got me hooked long ago.....:cool:




Im the same way...

[OTM Al]

Just like the tracks the more customers they lose the more they crank up the price to the ones that are left.

Obviously it has nothing to do with paper and printing costs which have risen astronomically over the last few years. No, they just want to screw their customers. I'm sure they have a meeting at 9 sharp every day to come up with new ways to do that.

[BlueShoe]

I have to have a fresh form everyday, its to much hassle printing them up and they are not user friendly like the form, but that's just me "old school" i guess, at what price I'd stop ??? they got me hooked long ago.....:cool:
Ditto, am in the same boat. In SoCal the offtrack price is $6. Places that carry it, almost always a liquor store, that charge that price have told me that their profit margin is very small, they carry it mostly as a convenience for their regular customers. Fifty years ago a Form was 50 cents. According to an online inflation calculator, in todays prices that would be about $3.60, so even after adjusting for inflation, the DRF today is almost double what it used to be. For those of you teckie types that say the printed form is obsolete and that all players should go online, there are few things that you have overlooked. The old guys that are the die hard fans, the ones that racing officials make jokes about, are, for the most part, not computer users. I see very, very few copies of online pp's at the track or otbs. Stop printing the Form and all of these old guys will stay home. Instead of looking like an old peoples home, the otbs would look like a morgue

[A. Pineda]

Ditto, am in the same boat. In SoCal the offtrack price is $6. Places that carry it, almost always a liquor store, that charge that price have told me that their profit margin is very small, they carry it mostly as a convenience for their regular customers. Fifty years ago a Form was 50 cents. According to an online inflation calculator, in todays prices that would be about $3.60, so even after adjusting for inflation, the DRF today is almost double what it used to be. For those of you teckie types that say the printed form is obsolete and that all players should go online, there are few things that you have overlooked. The old guys that are the die hard fans, the ones that racing officials make jokes about, are, for the most part, not computer users. I see very, very few copies of online pp's at the track or otbs. Stop printing the Form and all of these old guys will stay home. Instead of looking like an old peoples home, the otbs would look like a morgue

I resemble this remark. Though, some of the guys have looked a little stiff lately.

[cj's dad]

Is a sales tax on a newspaper legal? I was in a 7-11 in Northern Virginia and asked to purchase the local paper. Cashier rang sale with 6% tax added.

Yes. It's not considered a necessity.

[slew101]

The newspaper industry fought to keep its product from being taxed a few years ago. The theory being people often throw two quarters on the counter on their way out. They didn't want the customer getting called back because "that's 53 cents." They feared the customer would say "never mind."

Yes. It's not considered a necessity.

[Robert Goren]

When I go out to the simulcast center at the local track, I don't see a lot of people using the DRF. They are using a booklet with PPs in it which cost about half of what the DRF cost. Even less if you have to buy more than one edition of the DRF. The only time some of them buy a DRF is when they have bunch of losing tickets in a row and they think they are not enough information to pick a winner. It does not take them long to go back to the booklet though.

[JohnGalt1]

Fifty years ago a Form was 50 cents. According to an online inflation calculator, in todays prices that would be about $3.60, so even after adjusting for inflation, the DRF today is almost double what it used to be. For those of you teckie types that say the printed form is obsolete and that all players should go online, there are few things that you have overlooked. The old guys that are the die hard fans, the ones that racing officials make jokes about, are, for the most part, not computer users. I see very, very few copies of online pp's at the track or otbs. Stop printing the Form and all of these old guys will stay home. Instead of looking like an old peoples home, the otbs would look like a morgue

Fifty years ago, didn't the Form and Telagraph only print data for one track?

Today they print about 6 tracks.

That said, I print the pp's from Bris for a buck a card. And I do it 2-3 days before I bet to fully prepare myself.

When I found myself lurking in convenience stores at 3 AM waiting for delivery--because the Form kept getting bumped for more important and higher paying freight--I bought a computer.

[wisconsin]

When I found myself lurking in convenience stores at 3 AM waiting for delivery



Wow, did that bring back memories. Had to hang out at 3rd and Wisconsin in downtown Milwakee at 10pm to get tomorrow's Form. Was living there at the time. Remember how exciting it was to actually get it in your hands, fresh and un-read?

[thaskalos]

Wow, did that bring back memories. Had to hang out at 3rd and Wisconsin in downtown Milwakee at 10pm to get tomorrow's Form. Was living there at the time. Remember how exciting it was to actually get it in your hands, fresh and un-read?5-6 regular "degenerates", waiting outside of a remote Chicago newsstand every night, in the snow...and then burning the midnight oil trying to dope out the next day's winners...

Where have all the years gone...

[firstoffclaim]

Used to buy the next days form at a deli across from Belmont Park, there was always about 10 idleing cars outside waiting for it to arrive. It usually showed up by 9:30 pm.

[Shemp Howard]

No, 45 years ago the Morning Telegraph printed for at generally 4 tracks closest to NYC. As an ambitious 12 year old I had a small business picking up a dozen or so copies at the North Broad Street station on the Pennsylvania Railroad when they came down from NYC around midnight. Delivered bright and early the following morning to several bookie joints in Frankford & Kensington and the local golf course. $0.50 a copy for which I got a dollar (and a free play and lunch every Saturday from the joint at K&A when came to collect). The linotype Telegraph and me went out of business in April 1970. I can remember the last headline like it was yesterday. Meadow Entry of No Le HAce and Riva Ridge Favored in Everglades Stakes at Hialeah.:( :( :(

[Valuist]

Look at it this way; with quantitative easing, the dollar is worth less and less every day. The DRF will hit the nice even $10 number soon.

[Mineshaft]

When I go out to the simulcast center at the local track, I don't see a lot of people using the DRF. They are using a booklet with PPs in it which cost about half of what the DRF cost. Even less if you have to buy more than one edition of the DRF. The only time some of them buy a DRF is when they have bunch of losing tickets in a row and they think they are not enough information to pick a winner. It does not take them long to go back to the booklet though.






The booklet is a program and it only shows the last 5 races for the horse. Its useless to me thats why i buy the form. The [eople who dont want to shell out $6-7 for the form buy the program.

[ronsmac]

Yes. It's not considered a necessity.
Maryland charges 6% tax on newspapers.

[Shemp Howard]

Come to think of it, it was 1972 and the Meadow entry was River Ridge and Spanish Riddle.

[Zman179]

Used to buy the next days form at a deli across from Belmont Park, there was always about 10 idleing cars outside waiting for it to arrive. It usually showed up by 9:30 pm.

My evening wait spot was at Christopher St and 7th Ave. About five or six people standing around until 8-8:30 pm waiting for the next day's Form. Can't forget that old broadsheet.

[Ocala Mike]

The DRF is taxable in FL at 6%.

My wife collects $6.90 for the $6.50 edition, and $7.40 for the $7.00 edition on sale at the OBS teletheatre. Her boss told her not to mess with pennies, so OBS is "eating" the breakage.

Here's a "blast from the past" for you all. Back in the late 50's, my old man would throw me a buck and send me to the candy store at around 9:30 at night to buy him the "telly" (Morning Telegraph, $.50) and a bottle of Rheingold beer (maybe $.40 at the deli next door), and I'd still have enough left for an ice cream.

Guy at the deli knew me, and would sell me the beer even though I was underage. Different times then.


Ocala Mike

[NJ Stinks]

I can remember many times waiting for the advance edition of DRF the night before a Triple Crown race at Cherry Hills News. There would usually be about 50 cars surrounding the place. One night the delivery truck was about 2 hours late and arrived around midnight. I can't remember anybody leaving before the truck arrived. Anyway, we had a great time bitching to each other in the interim!

Here in Jersey I pay anywhere from 50 cents to a buck more for the DRF than the cover price. I consider it a good deal. The weekend editions almost always have 8 tracks in them. Around a buck a track is fair to me.

If I can't get the DRF (they still usually sell out around here on weekends), I can always find and buy the Daily Racing Program because it is sold at a lot more locations. It's not the worst thing in the world to use the Daily Racing Program once in a while. It doesn't include Beyer Speed Ratings and sometimes that can be a good thing.

At any rate (that's a pun! :) ), I consider opening a new DRF one of the rare joys in life that never grows old. :ThmbUp: :ThmbUp:

[BlueShoe]

Whatever they charge for a Form in your area, at least all of the details should be correct, even the minor ones. While handicapping Sundays card earlier, came across a little glitch at Ellis in the California Edition that amused rather than annoyed, but still? When handicapping a track will usually check the selectors page, not for their picks, but to get an idea of roughly what prices will be on my selections. Did so for Ellis, but for some reason could not find a single one of my horses. A bit of digging found the reason. Instead of Sunday Sep. 4, the selections were for horses entered Friday Sep 2, ie, two days off, run yesterday. :D Not that it really mattered, but come on fellas, do a little editing before going to press.

[rstone]

I suspect the form sold for the cover price has a very small profit margin.
As a current employee of a racetracks programs' department, I can confirm that this is indeed the case. In some cases, there is no profit margin at all on the forms and the tracks just hope to run them at cost just for the convenience of the patrons who would rather use the form for their handicapping.

[trackrat59]

You actually found a news stand and they actually had forms. Next you be telling us that it was next to a phone booth. :lol:
:lol: good one

My hard-headed, late 50s year old friend, who works from home and has a 'puter and printer keeps looking for news stands that sell racing forms. I suggested to him one day that he should get on the internet, go to drf.com, purchase pps and print them. This is the look I got. :eek:

[lamboguy]

i use the layout on twinspires as a program and they have a unique feature that i personally use called bris-stats. when you click on their stats you can see the pp's for every race that a horse ran in his whole career, it shows you ever single horse that he ran against his whole career. and it lists all the workouts the horse has had his whole career. that is basically how i handicap, but there are other things that are good too, such as trainer stats, a complete list of trainer stats for some stuff that i never dreamed of. it gives you the sire and dam stats and also the jockey stats. its alot of work to go through a complete race though.

[Tom]

Not that it really mattered, but come on fellas, do a little editing before going to press.



The correct selections for today's racs are only in the $9.95 editions!
I think maybe Eastie worls there! :D

[KingChas]

You are on the internet. Why not take advantage of this? Why not just print out the DRF for much less cost. .

Three reasons;
The price of ink for my printer outweighs the cost of the DRF.
It's not a lot of fun looking through 16 single pages for a full feild of 12.
Kentucky Derby=20+ pages.
Carrying around a four inch stack of pages at the track and having to watch nothing gets them wet.
I use the online version to make my figs at home,or betting from home,but a hardform copy is a "must have when attending the track live".
Speaking for myself.

[lamboguy]

i buy a form too whenever i go to the race track. but the way i look at it these days is that racing form actually has gone down in price for me along with other things because i look at things as price vs. gold and everything has gone way down. it takes less gold today to buy a racing form than ever. i suspect that down the road sometime everyone will be looking at this the same way i am.

[KingChas]

What's ironic about this thread is a lot of people at the track will buy a
beer for $8+ with no complaints.
Let's say you drink Bud for example.
In my parts a 30 pack is $22 or approx 73 cents a can.
At the track 30 cans = $240.............................. :eek:

I can live with the current price of the form.

[onefast99]

Over the winter I was at GP and we had a torrential downpour, the whole grandstand area emptied out and everyone ran inside the tele-theatre for cover. The main object being used as umbrellas was the form, on that day paying $9 for a combination racing form/umbrella was well worth it!

[Citation1947]

In the mid eighties(when I started betting the horses), you could still buy a form for $1.25 / $1.50. Now it cost five times that amount, and since then, minimum wage hasnt even doubled. And they wonder why so many players have left the game.

I use to religiously buy a form everyday...EVERYDAY. Now, except for Derby day and Breeders Cup day, I havent bought a form since the late nineties...and now I even bet far less too.

[onefast99]

What's ironic about this thread is a lot of people at the track will buy a
beer for $8+ with no complaints.
Let's say you drink Bud for example.
In my parts a 30 pack is $22 or approx 73 cents a can.
At the track 30 cans = $240.............................. :eek:

I can live with the current price of the form.
The best is the soft pretzels(hard as a rock)for $3.75 and as a chaser a small bottle of water for $3.50 or the 20 oz bottle for $3.75 now correct me if I am wrong but a case of water is $4.99 for 24 bottles so the profit margin there is someones salary!

[Citation1947]

They become extinct when they can not adapt to a new age.


Didnt realise it was because of a lack of adaption. Always thought it had something to do with a large asteroid striking the planet. Shows you how much I know.

[Citation1947]

Wow, did that bring back memories. Had to hang out at 3rd and Wisconsin in downtown Milwakee at 10pm to get tomorrow's Form. Was living there at the time. Remember how exciting it was to actually get it in your hands, fresh and un-read?


It was always nice to walk into the track kitchen and buy Saturdays form Friday morning, sometimes even sooner. But now, most track kitchens dont even carry them anymore.

[A. Pineda]

Compared to newsprint, the bright paper I print the form on is easier for me to read. While I may need to go back a few years while reading the form online, it's not necessary to print all of those pp's, so I usually only print 10 lines. When I can find two playable races, that's only six or seven pages. When I go to the track on special days I put these pages in a heavy pad holder and they don't get wet or blow away.

My XL ink cartridge cost is $4.84 with free shipping, and I re-use the paper, so my cost to play one track is $3.05, without any DRF discount. A buddy of mine gets his paper at the liquor store, and he gets into a big argument with the clerk when they try to charge him tax, plus he uses a gallon of gas round trip. Worst thing is, he's paying for tracks that he doesn't play.

[BMustang]

I too joined the degenerate horse players who used to wait outside of King's News in CIncinnati on a Friday night for the Saturday edition of the Form to arrive at midnight.

Track programs are nothing more than a pacifier for those who are obviously not serious horseplayers. Some may think they are, but then, if they are using the track programs .............

Tri-State Dog Track in Charleston, WVa sells poor quality "programs" for each of the venues they carry. They do not sell Racing Forms, BUT they have a machine that you insert $2 worth of quarters and it will print out the DRF past performances for a track of your choosing. I find this acceptable IF they would only maintain the machine and keep it in running order. Too often it is "out of order."

[thespaah]

Is a sales tax on a newspaper legal? I was in a 7-11 in Northern Virginia and asked to purchase the local paper. Cashier rang sale with 6% tax added.
Depends on how the state authorizes retailers to collect the tax.
The first time I traveled through VA in 1982 I stopped to buy a newspaper for my wife to read while I was driving. Handed the clerk 50 cents and she says "that will be 53 cents"....6% tax. I had never experienced that before. Where I come from (NJ) tax is included in daily periodicals. At least it was until 1989.

[GatetoWire]

Three reasons;
The price of ink for my printer outweighs the cost of the DRF.
It's not a lot of fun looking through 16 single pages for a full feild of 12.
Kentucky Derby=20+ pages.
Carrying around a four inch stack of pages at the track and having to watch nothing gets them wet.
I use the online version to make my figs at home,or betting from home,but a hardform copy is a "must have when attending the track live".
Speaking for myself.

I know the initial cost is high but using a tablet device like the iPad is the only way to go when it comes to the modern day Form.

You can download directly from DRF.com and use software to write electronically right on the PDF.

I have saved a ton of time and money this summer by using the iPad both on and off track.

[iceknight]

Not following. Are you saying dinasaurs became extinct by reading a paper copy of the form instead of the online version?

NO they became extinct because PETA protested too much about Dinosaur racing so the industry stopped raising and maintaining dinosaurs !!

[KingChas]

I know the initial cost is high but using a tablet device like the iPad is the only way to go when it comes to the modern day Form.



All in on the new tech Gate.
The problem is moving around at the track all day and having to worry about losing,dropping or theft of this device would be more costly in the end run.
I need to concentrate on the task at hand-handicapping.
The form can be abused all day long without these worry's.
Armpit or pocket secure the folded form.

Also, at my current age bigger is better for the eyesight. ;)

[thespaah]

Once tracks started selling programs with PP's, I stopped buying the Form.
I never liked the Form anyway. The Eastern Addition was this huge newspaper.
I could do without the articles and other drivel such as charts from the previous days races.

[Rapid Grey]

Once tracks started selling programs with PP's, I stopped buying the Form.
I never liked the Form anyway. The Eastern Addition was this huge newspaper.
I could do without the articles and other drivel such as charts from the previous days races.

The articles and charts are where I have found data leading to some of my biggest scores at the track. While they don't put the charts in anymore, I do still read the articles.

[pondman]

A brief drf single card online has risen to the $2.95. I need the advance copies on weekends because I do a lot of traveling. If it weren't for this I'd go for the free copies of bris at expressbet.com. I use bris M, T. W. But I buy the weekend cards 3 days in advance from drf.