The DRF's "Closer Look" feature...

[Seabiscuit@AR]

So if you had followed the comments and boxed up all but No 4 you would be a winner. Well done DRF

I have never understood people complaining about tipsters. Horse racing is about having your own opinions and backing them. Betting on others' opinions is no fun for starters. But what if the DRF had some super computer that could predict the outcome of every race with 100% accuracy and printed these selections as the Closer Look? Then every winner would pay money back and there would be no way to win. The game would be dead

[thaskalos]

Originally Posted by Seabiscuit@AR

So if you had followed the comments and boxed up all but No 4 you would be a winner. Well done DRF

I have never understood people complaining about tipsters. Horse racing is about having your own opinions and backing them. Betting on others' opinions is no fun for starters. But what if the DRF had some super computer that could predict the outcome of every race with 100% accuracy and printed these selections as the Closer Look? Then every winner would pay money back and there would be no way to win. The game would be dead

I have nothing against the tipsters...or the people who patronize them. But the DRF is not a "tip sheet"; it's supposedly the "bible of the industry". It should be obvious that the people who fork over $9 for a copy of the printed addition are interested in doing their own handicapping...and they should be given the tools that they need to do their work.

If the DRF can find room on its pages to publish mindless drivel which showers accolades on every horse in the race...then they can find room to publish a reliable track variant...instead of that laughable version of a variant that they've been offering for over 40 years now. Their customers are paying through the nose for the printed version...and they deserve more than what they are getting now.

[Seabiscuit@AR]

Thaskalos

DRF do overcharge for their products I agree there. I once ordered a DRF publication book from DRF which cost $20 to $30 and they wanted to charge me $200 to $300 for shipping (I live outside the USA). The book was available from Amazon for the same price and a far far more reasonable shipping fee so I bought it from there. But this just shows the mentality of DRF. They don't want to be bothered but simply want to churn out form and these days book bets

As for the track variant I would guess their response would be that they give you the Beyer speed figure which incorporates final time + track variant so no need to give you the variant when the Beyer speed figure contains all you need to know

[Tall One]

Mulligan seems to be trying harder to not offend anybody as opposed to doing his job and helping the public. Back when the "Closer look" was introduced, there was a few snippets of info you could actually use. Sire/dam stats were helpful in the MSW races, and a horse without a chance was given that billing with no punches pulled. Been awhile, but Steve Rydowski(?) was good at his job when he penned some of the "Closer look" comments. EMD mentioned Liftin, and I agree. Always enjoyed his takes on the card. Good author too. How's his health, EMD? I saw him on the tv during the Belmont Stakes undercard, and he didn't look like he was doing good at all.

I hate...HATE...the new form. Fortunately, I work for an image reprographic company, so when I do buy a single card, I can scan and reprint them at 12x18, bind, staple, and voila, it's 1989 all over again. That said, I typically only buy the Form for Derby and BC days, and that's just the classic edition, nothing fancy. Rest of the time, the Equibase pp's (which I get for free) do me just fine. That's the pp's used out at Keeneland, and I'm more familiar with their layout.

Originally Posted by cnollfan

I used to have stacks and stacks of old Racing Forms in my home.

Mine are at my folks' house in storage bins going back to '89. Can't bring myself to throw them away.

[Aerocraft67]

You get the CL along with the picks with DRF Plus as part of the entries presentation on the web site. I know they appear in Forumlator, too. OP's beef is with the print edition, but the online is okay. Not great, but okay.

[ultracapper]

Some one mentioned having stacks of old DRFs. I'm sure we all did at one time. We all went through that time where we felt we would need to refer back to old forms to find that one snippet. We all had stacks of them. But that day is over. At $9 per, the amount it would have cost me to have an entire season of DRFs for Longacres would now only get me about 10 days worth.

$9!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[zerosky]

The comments in bold look like they are computer generated,
like Trackmaster's Railbird comments

[Fox]

Originally Posted by ultracapper

Some one mentioned having stacks of old DRFs. I'm sure we all did at one time. We all went through that time where we felt we would need to refer back to old forms to find that one snippet. We all had stacks of them. But that day is over. At $9 per, the amount it would have cost me to have an entire season of DRFs for Longacres would now only get me about 10 days worth.

$9!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had a closet full. Talk about a fire hazard.

[johnhannibalsmith]

I buy a few every year or drag leftovers home from the track to use as gift wrap. The new mini ones suck for anything but gift cards.

[Fingal]

For the longest time I had old forms & programs going back to the 1980's but finally had to toss it all as the silverfish found them.

Because it's been asked, back when the form consensus box had names like Sweep, Hermis & Trackman, Brian Mulligan was Sweep & he also used to do the graded handicap. He's worked at the DRF for at least 35 years if not longer.

[classhandicapper]

I find the Closer Looks comments useful in races with a lot of first time starters or first time turfers. Those are the kinds of races where extra research into pedigrees, sire stats, full and half siblings info, workouts at the sales, in company workouts, and information that is not in any PPs but sometimes in other DRF products is located. There's not much you can say about most horses in most races that adds any value unless there's a specific trainer stat or something else to highlight.