DRF.com

[Tom]

Is there a more worthless, cluttered site on the web this this one?
A m ore appropriate name would be mumbo-jumbo.com, feelingluck?.com

Last two weeks, could not print out the free PPs for the race of the day, today, can't even view it - you get a message that you are trying to access a race that has expired. Not to mention that trying to find Pandy's column is akin to finding Dr. Livingston.

I used to be a full time customer, bought all the PPs 365 days a year. Their piss poor customer service and their insane excuse of a website has reduced me to about 10-12 single tracks a year. And that just dropped, too.

What morons.

[iceknight]

Is there a more worthless, cluttered site on the web this this one? imo, twinspires.com also competes well for the cluttered site award!

[Meunuco]

imo, twinspires.com also competes well for the cluttered site award!

TwinSpires has the 'don't have enough bandwidth so we'll freeze your TS TV just before they break' award all sewn up. I forgot: and blame it on your system.

[GaryG]

Today the Formulator is not working right, there is often an error message when you try to bring up the pp's from a results chart (key race data). Still, their product is so much better than bris that I will put up with it.

[castaway01]

The site could definitely use some cleanup and clarification. I think part of it is the stratification of racing, where people are following 20 different circuits. They try to list everything they can somewhere on the site, but it's hard to find what you're looking for sometimes.

[Tom]

Neat idea for DRF....a MAIN page with links to all the other stuff, clearly legible.

Naw, makes too much sense.

[Hoofless_Wonder]

Agreed. The DRF's main page is not only cluttered, but the gadgets they use cover up half the selections as you move the cursor over them. The scrolling tweets of the Inside Post are extremely annoying.

More flash with no substance. The DRF's web design staff must think their average user is 7 years old, and can be easily distracted without motion....

[so.cal.fan]

How much do they charge for their hard copy of the DRF these days?

Tom, I totally agree with you. They have really gotten bad, and their website is horrible.
I have blocked their mail and I do not go to their website anymore.
If they offer a Del Mar deal for a reasonable price for online basic drf, I'll purchase that, but I'm really thinking of going elsewhere.

[KingChas]

Not to mention that trying to find Pandy's column is akin to finding Dr. Livingston.



Have to use the search function at top right.
Type in Pandy.
As for the formulator I only use the downloaded version-no problems. ;)

[PhantomOnTour]

Does anyone wonder why DRF decided to make the Vanity from HOL (6 horses) their Race of The Day and NOT the Stephen Foster?

Brilliant !
What's todays ROD at DRF????
Why, another race from HOL..if you can access it. :D

[HUSKER55]

:D

[Rapid Grey]

Retail outlets selling it are getting harder to find. $7.50 for yesterday's midwest version, nine tracks four of which I hardly ever play. Still better than having to go through the hassle of buying on-line and printing out, not to mention the price if you want more than one track.

The web-site is poorly designed and frustrating with screens popping up when you scroll thru the page. Stable alert and charts are what I primarily go there for.

[so.cal.fan]

I hope someone from the DRF is reading this thread!
Many of our board group are long time customers of the DRF and we are not happy!
I know Tom and myself are long time customers and the fact that Tom is no longer happy and that I am no longer happy is significant.
DRF staffers! If you are reading this, pay attention. We speak for many.

[David-LV]

I hope someone from the DRF is reading this thread!
Many of our board group are long time customers of the DRF and we are not happy!
I know Tom and myself are long time customers and the fact that Tom is no longer happy and that I am no longer happy is significant.
DRF staffers! If you are reading this, pay attention. We speak for many.

I highly doubt that any DRF staffers will chime in here as their are fearful for their jobs in most cases and are riding this pony for as long as it lasts.

DRF never has and never will admit that they have a problem, and as their customer base continues to hemorrhage their only answer is to continue to raise prices (two increases this year alone).

_________
David-LV

[BlueShoe]

How much do they charge for their hard copy of the DRF these days?
If you walk into Santa Anita or Fairplex, most likely for you given your location, you will pay $6.75 for a DRF. This is the ontrack price. For those of us that get the Form the day before from a retail outlet, it gets tougher. Just finding a dealer has gotten harder, as many outlets have stopped carrying the DRF in recent years. That means more driving. The offtrack price is now $7.00 plus tax. The offtrack price has gone up twice since the first of the year, it was $5.50, then $6.00 in February, then went to $7.00 in late April. In Orange County the price after the tax is $7.54, but recently it has gotten worse. Many of the liquor stores are now charging $8.00, $8.25, and one guy is charging $8.50. This is for the daily edition, the Saturday is half a buck more just for an insert that almost no one reads. Yours truly, like all dedicated horseplayers, knows of several outlets that carry the Form in case one is sold out, and in this case, which ones charge what they should and which ones are gouging. The increases in the price of the DRF has ticked off many of the players at the simulcast sites I patronize. There have been a couple of other fairly recent threads about the DRF and it's shortcomings and pricing policy. The prices mentioned above only apply to SoCal, from other posts, the prices may be different in other locations.

[usedtolovetvg]

Get rid of all the columnists and drop the price. I think we know they don't represent the interests of the player, anyway.

[so.cal.fan]

Thanks for your information, Blue Shoe.
I know they sell the DRF at the Bottle Shop in Sierra Madre. I'll check the price there. Lots of horsemen live here, jockeys and trainers and owners.
I usually avoid a hard copy, because I get allergies to the print ink.
I used other charts last fall, they were okay, but it took a while to adjust...I'm old and set in my own ways, not as adaptable to change as I should be.
Last Fairplex meet, I got a special online deal for Today's Racing Digest.
It was okay, but just okay.....I'm used to reading that, but don't buy it because of the high cost of that publication.
My husband, John will be working at Fairplex this year, so I'll be out there myself. It's a bad place to bet these days with Pedroza winning at such a high clip and low price....but I'll check it out everyday anyway, you never know.
Resent the additional takeout there as well, makes it even a tougher proposition.

I know in the past DRF staffers have responded to this board, but it's probably true, they don't dare.

[so.cal.fan]

UsedtoloveTVG....that's a good idea!
We should do a poll....how many of us would prefer just the past performances without all the other commentary.
After all, you can read this stuff on their websites if you wish.
I know when I get the Del Mar pps every summer, I don't look at any of that online, I just can't be bothered. The columnists work hard and most are good, but with the new "austerity" going on.....perhaps they aren't needed?

[Bullet Plane]

I already signed up for the DRF Morning Line, but I am still getting the pop up every time I go to the site. This is very annoying. The site is in dire need of a makeover. The same can be said for the Racing Post site. While not quite as bad, is nearly there.

[jelly]

If you walk into Santa Anita or Fairplex, most likely for you given your location, you will pay $6.75 for a DRF. This is the ontrack price. For those of us that get the Form the day before from a retail outlet, it gets tougher. Just finding a dealer has gotten harder, as many outlets have stopped carrying the DRF in recent years. That means more driving. The offtrack price is now $7.00 plus tax. The offtrack price has gone up twice since the first of the year, it was $5.50, then $6.00 in February, then went to $7.00 in late April. In Orange County the price after the tax is $7.54, but recently it has gotten worse. Many of the liquor stores are now charging $8.00, $8.25, and one guy is charging $8.50. This is for the daily edition, the Saturday is half a buck more just for an insert that almost no one reads. Yours truly, like all dedicated horseplayers, knows of several outlets that carry the Form in case one is sold out, and in this case, which ones charge what they should and which ones are gouging. The increases in the price of the DRF has ticked off many of the players at the simulcast sites I patronize. There have been a couple of other fairly recent threads about the DRF and it's shortcomings and pricing policy. The prices mentioned above only apply to SoCal, from other posts, the prices may be different in other locations.







The Horse racing Industry owns the past Performances and they don't seem to care how much their customers have to pay for It.


They don't seem to care If it has a negative effect on attracting new fans.



It has an effect on handle and creating new players and the Tracks,Horse owners,Trainers don't seem to care,It's never mentioned



Who in the Industry has raised a concern over this?

[mrhorseplayer]

I already signed up for the DRF Morning Line, but I am still getting the pop up every time I go to the site. This is very annoying. The site is in dire need of a makeover. The same can be said for the Racing Post site. While not quite as bad, is nearly there.


me to

[KingChas]

New record price?

Monmouth Park purchasing DRF at the track;

Their words (what they called them);
Local Edition-3 tracks....................$11.00
Big Edition....(Simulcast Edition)....................$12.50

[duncan04]

New record price?

Monmouth Park purchasing DRF at the track;

Their words (what they called them);
Local Edition-3 tracks....................$11.00
Big Edition....(Simulcast Edition)....................$12.50


Wow what a ripoff!!! :eek:

[MaTH716]

New record price?

Monmouth Park purchasing DRF at the track;

Their words (what they called them);
Local Edition-3 tracks....................$11.00
Big Edition....(Simulcast Edition)....................$12.50



Maybe they were just trying to gouge the 27,000 in attendence yesterday...........:rolleyes:

Seriously though, that price is ridiculous.

[johnhannibalsmith]

Get rid of all the columnists and drop the price. I think we know they don't represent the interests of the player, anyway.

Stuck out here again in CO for the summer, they did something right since last year - at the local OTB crackden they installed a machine where you just pump some money into a machine and print out individual track's PPs for $2.00 and single races for a quarter or some such thing. Great idea for those of us that show up to play one or two tracks on different coasts and don't want to buy two different editions at $7 a pop with the same press releases posing as articles.

Best part is it prevents me from accidentally playing a race from New Mexico just because it is in the form and I'm bored for three minutes.

[Beachbabe]

New record price?

Monmouth Park purchasing DRF at the track;

Their words (what they called them);
Local Edition-3 tracks....................$11.00
Big Edition....(Simulcast Edition)....................$12.50


Iran won't let the Printing Ink tankers pass through the Straits of Hormuz.

[KingChas]

New record price?

Monmouth Park purchasing DRF at the track;

Their words (what they called them);
Local Edition-3 tracks....................$11.00
Big Edition....(Simulcast Edition)....................$12.50

I screwed up (NTFT).Forgot I bought 2 programs also.

Anyway here is the tally before I started betting.

A day at the races 2 people Eastern PA to the NJ beach;

$3 park
$6 admission
$12.50 form and 2 programs
$1.50 Parkway Tolls
$20.00 gas
$25.00 MP sweatshirt-wife cold forgot jacket
$18.00 MP tee-shirt for friend

Total Cost before wagering
$86.00

[Greyfox]

I signed up with drf several years ago in order to receive notifications of horses on my "Watch List."
That is a good feature.
When I first signed up I'd get spam from them about once every 3 weeks.
Now I seem to get spam from them almost every day.
When a big race is coming up they spam me more than once a day.
It can be annoying.

[devilsbag]

Iran won't let the Printing Ink tankers pass through the Straits of Hormuz.

Just letting you know someone out here appreciated this.

[BlueShoe]

I screwed up (NTFT).Forgot I bought 2 programs also.

Anyway here is the tally before I started betting.

A day at the races 2 people Eastern PA to the NJ beach;

$3 park
$6 admission
$12.50 form and 2 programs
$1.50 Parkway Tolls
$20.00 gas
$25.00 MP sweatshirt-wife cold forgot jacket
$18.00 MP tee-shirt for friend

Total Cost before wagering
$86.00
In SoCal programs are $2.50, so assuming that they are about the same (?) in Jersey, that would still mean $7.50 for a DRF at the track, worse than the $6.75 we pay here. I'm funny, little things like that mean a lot, just do not like being gouged or taken advantage of. On many a really bad losing day have dropped several hundred dollars, and most surely will do so many times again in the future, that is part of racing that I accept. Perhaps I am one of those that are "Penny wise but pound foolish." :D

[Leparoux]

I screwed up (NTFT).Forgot I bought 2 programs also.

Anyway here is the tally before I started betting.

A day at the races 2 people Eastern PA to the NJ beach;

$3 park
$6 admission
$12.50 form and 2 programs
$1.50 Parkway Tolls
$20.00 gas
$25.00 MP sweatshirt-wife cold forgot jacket
$18.00 MP tee-shirt for friend

Total Cost before wagering
$86.00
In fairness, nobody made you purchase a sweatshirt or t-shirt :D

[KingChas]

In fairness, nobody made you purchase a sweatshirt or t-shirt :D

Or the beer,soda,hoagies and chips I forgot to add, another $20+. :D

[Leparoux]

Or the beer,soda,hoagies and chips I forgot to add, another $20+. :D
:ThmbUp:

[affirmedny]

In SoCal programs are $2.50, so assuming that they are about the same (?) in Jersey, that would still mean $7.50 for a DRF at the track, worse than the $6.75 we pay here. I'm funny, little things like that mean a lot, just do not like being gouged or taken advantage of. On many a really bad losing day have dropped several hundred dollars, and most surely will do so many times again in the future, that is part of racing that I accept. Perhaps I am one of those that are "Penny wise but pound foolish." :D

$7.50 is correct I think. I'm pretty sure that's what we pay in NJ.

[andicap]

The DRF keeps raising the price of the paper edition because it does NOT want you to buy it -- newsprint is increasingly expensive. Printing presses (or however they put together newspapers these days) cost money. Distribution costs money.

In comparison a web site is much cheaper to maintain -- and considering how poor the design I doubt they are paying big bucks for a good designer.

I don't subscribe anymore so I'm not familiar with the online prices but I'd love to compare the cost of the newsstand price to the online edition PLUS printing out the PPs. I also presume the DRF believes a lot of people don't bother with printing them out as they are either a) playing at home or b) bringing a computer to the OTB facility. (No one's at the track anymore.)

ALSO, firing the columnists would do bupkus for lowering the price of the product. Considering how poorly the writers are probably paid, the savings would be minimal compared to the DRF's total operational costs. I would guess you'd save maybe a quarter if that much.

It would be nice if someone from the DRF would come on here and discuss its operations like Mark used to do. (He is not working there anymore.)

[Rapid Grey]

The DRF keeps raising the price of the paper edition because it does NOT want you to buy it -- newsprint is increasingly expensive. Printing presses (or however they put together newspapers these days) cost money. Distribution costs money.

In comparison a web site is much cheaper to maintain -- and considering how poor the design I doubt they are paying big bucks for a good designer.

I don't subscribe anymore so I'm not familiar with the online prices but I'd love to compare the cost of the newsstand price to the online edition PLUS printing out the PPs. I also presume the DRF believes a lot of people don't bother with printing them out as they are either a) playing at home or b) bringing a computer to the OTB facility. (No one's at the track anymore.)

ALSO, firing the columnists would do bupkus for lowering the price of the product. Considering how poorly the writers are probably paid, the savings would be minimal compared to the DRF's total operational costs. I would guess you'd save maybe a quarter if that much.

It would be nice if someone from the DRF would come on here and discuss its operations like Mark used to do. (He is not working there anymore.)

$2.95 for a single card, not bad if you limit yourself to one track, gets pricey after that if you want to download more than one. Think they used to have a plan for something like 3 for $4.50 but don't see it on their site anymore.

[David-LV]

If you are a daily player you may like this plan from DRF:

Monthly Unlimited - Downloads
Total Price: $119.95

________
David-LV

[andicap]

If you are a daily player you may like this plan from DRF:

Monthly Unlimited - Downloads
Total Price: $119.95

________
David-LV




My point exactly. Say $8 for a limited number of tracks. If you play 15 days a month you are now saving money -- and getting ALL the tracks. PLUS I would presume this comes with the Forumulator. They want to make it a better deal to go online.

[PhantomOnTour]

DRF has lost my biz forever

[therussmeister]

If you walk into Santa Anita or Fairplex, most likely for you given your location, you will pay $6.75 for a DRF. This is the ontrack price. For those of us that get the Form the day before from a retail outlet, it gets tougher. Just finding a dealer has gotten harder, as many outlets have stopped carrying the DRF in recent years. That means more driving. The offtrack price is now $7.00 plus tax. The offtrack price has gone up twice since the first of the year, it was $5.50, then $6.00 in February, then went to $7.00 in late April. In Orange County the price after the tax is $7.54, but recently it has gotten worse. Many of the liquor stores are now charging $8.00, $8.25, and one guy is charging $8.50. This is for the daily edition, the Saturday is half a buck more just for an insert that almost no one reads. Yours truly, like all dedicated horseplayers, knows of several outlets that carry the Form in case one is sold out, and in this case, which ones charge what they should and which ones are gouging. The increases in the price of the DRF has ticked off many of the players at the simulcast sites I patronize. There have been a couple of other fairly recent threads about the DRF and it's shortcomings and pricing policy. The prices mentioned above only apply to SoCal, from other posts, the prices may be different in other locations.

Still only $4.50 ($5.50 on Saturdays) on track at Canterbury. Hasn't been a price increase in over a year. Plus Canterbury has a self-service kiosk where you can print Equibase PPs for $1.25 with a discount for multiple tracks, single race Equibase PPs for $0.25, and DRF PPs for tracks not included in the print edition for $1.00.

I've been told Canterbury's DRF price is the wholesale price which, if true, means DRF isn't getting anything from the recent price increases. It all goes to the retailer.

[Stillriledup]

Is there anyway i person can print out the PPs AFTER the scratches are announced and have those scratched horses NOT print out? I dont want to print 20 pages of horses when the Slop causes 3 or 4 scratches per race....i know its only 2013, but maybe DRF has the technology to 'shorten' the form for those of us who print it out after the scratches are announced?

[the little guy]

Is there anyway i person can print out the PPs AFTER the scratches are announced and have those scratched horses NOT print out? I dont want to print 20 pages of horses when the Slop causes 3 or 4 scratches per race....i know its only 2013, but maybe DRF has the technology to 'shorten' the form for those of us who print it out after the scratches are announced?

They have had this on Formulator since it's inception. Just go to the filter button for each race.

[so.cal.fan]

The changes come up at 10:00 am pst, at Santa Anita.
I usually just bet turf races only, however, when it rains, they take the races OFF the turf, unless it's a huge Stake. I find it best to always pass these races, as most every horse would prefer to scratch.
Today they had a 12 horse field of maidens, took it off the hillside, and only 3 horses ran.

I would not bother printing these races.

[cj]

Is there anyway i person can print out the PPs AFTER the scratches are announced and have those scratched horses NOT print out? I dont want to print 20 pages of horses when the Slop causes 3 or 4 scratches per race....i know its only 2013, but maybe DRF has the technology to 'shorten' the form for those of us who print it out after the scratches are announced?

They have had this on Formulator since it's inception. Just go to the filter button for each race.

Well, that is embarrassing, and the thread was "only" seven months dead.

[Track Collector]

I have purchased annual PP plans from DRF from somewhere around 2004 and forward.

Recently I received an e-mail from DRF requesting that I take their survey. A number of questions focused on the DRF.com website.

It will be interesting to see if they make any meaningful changes in response to the feedback.

[Stillriledup]

They have had this on Formulator since it's inception. Just go to the filter button for each race.

Can you print out 'last 10' for each horse? i dont want to print 150 lines of PPs for some horses. Thanks.

[cj]

Can you print out 'last 10' for each horse? i dont want to print 150 lines of PPs for some horses. Thanks.

Of course you can.

[johnhannibalsmith]

Can you print out 'last 10' for each horse? i dont want to print 150 lines of PPs for some horses. Thanks.

You need some paper or something? Work getting pissed about using their ink? Too many PPs and scratched horses ruining your handicapping experience... must be a practical reason besides a lack of pens in the stores and some focus. :D

If they omitted the scratched horses by default, you'd be pissing and moaning about how you meant to bet the four that won the race, but ended up playing the two because the mot******er* at the DRF deleted two scratched horses on page one and you were too distracted by the ages and birthplaces of the horses to notice that the four was the second horse in the PPs.

[Stillriledup]

You need some paper or something? Work getting pissed about using their ink? Too many PPs and scratched horses ruining your handicapping experience... must be a practical reason besides a lack of pens in the stores and some focus. :D

If they omitted the scratched horses by default, you'd be pissing and moaning about how you meant to bet the four that won the race, but ended up playing the two because the mot******er* at the DRF deleted two scratched horses on page one and you were too distracted by the ages and birthplaces of the horses to notice that the four was the second horse in the PPs.

Just trying to cut expenses, improve the ROI, ya know?