Racing Publications

Evening Clanners

I live in the Platteland so Racing Publications are not readily available e.g. do not even get the Citizen news paper here. I used to utilise the Computaform but switched to the Sporting Post Pro a long time ago and presentlu use their On Line version.

I used to double check most of the pertinent info (to me) at the start and hardly ever found discrepencies so have been taking the info as being correct. Lately I have noticed that this is not the case as form lines are being being omitted, actual times have been incorrect, also other info is also wrong or being omitted. I have sent 2 e-Mails to the Sporting Post today and am awaiting their response.

Is anyone else having similar experiences and could it be that some settings on my Computer have changed for some reason thus poluting the downloads. I find this very irrating as it is negatively affecting my selections.

Morning to you Fogwils
Lovely part of the woods you live in and surely must be an envy to many.
Personally find studying form solely on - line sometimes irritating.
Also I find studying only from a formguide insufficient
However what works for me depending on interest and time is to initially draw up your own form worksheets. Your assessment of the race conditions must determine what information you omit and reflect.Its actually very interesting and I think the correct product leads you to extremely good value bets
These worksheets should form the basics from which one should go further

Sadly standards tend to be fashionable-if standards drop within an industry the bar just seems to get lower and lower without great concern-it is why it is important to bemoan the situation-all the way from regulation to publication-if every area just raised the bar a little, the overall effect would be a generally improved industry ......and it does tend to become infectious.

It is nice to see the Sporting Post have made an innovation this week in the way they present their summary below the full field, with the number of days since last run and course runs and C&D runs.... (tu) (tu) .... Does save some time studying. Would be better if they had places as well especially for the maiden races, but I assume space constraints restrict what can be displayed.

Well done SP>

Big editor in the UK reckons print media has 10years max left

The Madji Wrote:

---

> It is nice to see the Sporting Post have made an
> innovation this week in the way they present their
> summary below the full field, with the number of
> days since last run and course runs and C&D
> runs.... (tu) (tu) .... Does save some time
> studying. Would be better if they had places as
> well especially for the maiden races, but I assume
> space constraints restrict what can be displayed.
>
> Well done SP>

Yes I agree, credit where it is due. My problem is with the Sporting Pro version, when I cross checked the Sporting Post version the latter appeared to be up to date and info more or less correct. My problem with the Sportin Post version is personal in that at my age the eye sight does not allow for easy reading of the condensed info i.e. all the info across half a page.

Still awaiting a reply from Sporting Post.

Fogwils,

We have not seen your mails, so I can't be specific on what bothers you.

We made a switch last week with formlines, showing 12 months worth of form, instead of the previous standard 7 form lines. This because horses often perform in cycles, and can regain form at the same time each season.
We've had comments that form lines are missing (which is not the case), which relates to the 12-month cycle. Horses who have gaps in their running sequence will show up with few or no formlines.
Several readers have commented, and we probably will be switching back to showing a standard number of form lines.

We made some other changes, which have been welcomed.

Rob Faux' comment ("Sadly standards tend to be fashionable-if standards drop within an industry the bar just seems to get lower and lower without great concern-it is why it is important to bemoan the situation-all the way from regulation to publication") is peculiar, especially the 'without great concern' bit. Has he seen the changes?

Karel Miedema Wrote:

---

> Fogwils,
>
> We have not seen your mails, so I can't be
> specific on what bothers you.
>
> We made a switch last week with formlines, showing
> 12 months worth of form, instead of the previous
> standard 7 form lines. This because horses often
> perform in cycles, and can regain form at the same
> time each season.
> We've had comments that form lines are missing
> (which is not the case), which relates to the
> 12-month cycle. Horses who have gaps in their
> running sequence will show up with few or no
> formlines.
> Several readers have commented, and we probably
> will be switching back to showing a standard
> number of form lines.
>
> We made some other changes, which have been
> welcomed.
>
> Rob Faux' comment ("Sadly standards tend to be
> fashionable-if standards drop within an industry
> the bar just seems to get lower and lower without
> great concern-it is why it is important to bemoan
> the situation-all the way from regulation to
> publication") is peculiar, especially the 'without
> great concern' bit. Has he seen the changes?

would you ever consider adding the ave MR of a race ?

My comment is a general one embracing the reporting on the forum of reduced expectation over the entire industry-not meant to refer to whether the Sporting Post complaint had merit......in fact unusual to have errors pointed at them!
Sorry if it appeared to support a specific complaint!

Thanks for the prompt feedback Karel on this forum. Maybe this change was made public and I did not see it. When U see my e-Mails I would appreciate a reply as I did give examples of my observations of missing form/info/incorrect actual times etc.

My post here was not having a go at SP, but mailnly to see if other Clanners were also having the same perceived observations as myself.

How much is sporting post online subscription

Rob - thought as much, but couldn't resist!

Mr Hawaii - we can have a look at that; not sure if it means anything, but hey...

Fogwills - will look at the email when I get them; maybe resend to spost@iafrica.com; we didn't go into detail about the changes as we're still experimenting; everyone's feedback helps

Thor - online form is free, both Spost and SPro; just need to register