New Racing Form Format

handicapperhandicapper Junior Member
edited October 2013 in Horse Racing Forum
The Daily Racing Form's new "magazine" format is ill-conceived, and fails every test of improving the handicapping experience. Here are the issues:

1) Hyper-abbreviated running lines, leaving the experienced handicapper guessing about who ran first, second and third. MSI, McB, Rdnt Tlnt are some real examples:thumbdown:
2) Reduced workout lines, often omitting key workout info. :surrender:
3) Scant room remaining, for the handicapper to input data and write notes.:cry:
4) Reduced spacing between data lines, making perception more difficult. :yelling:

Perhaps the most unfriendly user problem with the "magazine" format is past performances were never supposed to be analyzed in a magazine format, with the field spread over FOUR pages. It is supposed to be easy for the user to compare horses in preferably a Single View! Sifting through Four Pages or more (the Kentucky Derby will probably be spread over 6-8 pages is unacceptable, especially when you go back to review the race and have to do it all over again, thumbing as you go.

This last and main problem is inherent in the new format, and the new format will also prevent new info/data, to be added. Handicappers loved the Form they have been used to for decades. Under the old format new, improved innovations could be accommodated. Instead, the new format defies logic, as it makes the info that is important, harder to decipher and more difficult to access and use.

Comments

  • dirtyshirtdirtyshirt Senior Member
    edited October 2013
    Only thing that bothers me is the company line. And if you don't know who a horse ran against - should you really be betting? Overall, I'm fine with it.
  • DiscreetCatDiscreetCat Moderator
    edited October 2013
    I generally like it. I do agree that it's kind of a pain to have each race spread over several different pages, but the size of each horse's PP's is virtually unchanged as far as i can tell. Shorter company lines and less free space (for notes) the only real differences, i guess.
  • jjohns7777jjohns7777 Senior Member
    edited October 2013
    I download my PPS' off the internet. Living in Georgia, I can't get the DRF. The downloadable forms haven't changed that I've noticed. I do agree, though, that when I was in Texas and could get the DRF, I liked having fewer pages to look at to see all the horses. With the downloaded forms, I sometimes have to spread out five or six pages to see all the data. If the new magazine format is like that, I wouldn't like it. I would end up tearing the magazine apart so I could see as much as possible at one time. I want to be able to see at a glance how the #1 horse compares to the #12 horse if at all possible.
Sign In or Register to comment.