No more printed form books

D

Dawnrunfan

At the Start
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Feb 27, 2012
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I have just found out that Raceform / Racing Post no longer intends to print a Flat Annual 2021 (races of 2020) and that Timeform no longer intends to print Racehorses of 2020 - in 2021. In fact though I think the "Horses in Training" book will be printed in 2021, who knows how long they will bother with that?

I am not a mobile-fixated millennial. I have no idea how anyone is supposed to keep track of past form for hundreds of horses if you have to find a reasonable website - any suggestions please?? - and then look up every single horse in every single race? And what about horses which haven't run since the previous year. And what about horses which ran in the 3.30 at Nottingham in the previous November, and you have never heard of this horse - eg Enable aged 3.

Surely there must be enough people who still read books for someone to start to print these again? Or is it all a ploy by bookies to only attract mug punters who choose the horses they bet on with a pin? What do you think?
 
Dawnrunfan said:
I have just found out that Raceform / Racing Post no longer intends to print a Flat Annual 2021 (races of 2020) and that Timeform no longer intends to print Racehorses of 2020 - in 2021. In fact though I think the "Horses in Training" book will be printed in 2021, who knows how long they will bother with that?

I am not a mobile-fixated millennial. I have no idea how anyone is supposed to keep track of past form for hundreds of horses if you have to find a reasonable website - any suggestions please?? - and then look up every single horse in every single race? And what about horses which haven't run since the previous year. And what about horses which ran in the 3.30 at Nottingham in the previous November, and you have never heard of this horse - eg Enable aged 3.

Surely there must be enough people who still read books for someone to start to print these again? Or is it all a ploy by bookies to only attract mug punters who choose the horses they bet on with a pin? What do you think?
Click to expand...

Would say the number of people that still use printed form is under 100 people in the UK & Ireland.

https://www.attheraces.com/
https://www.irishracing.com/

Both sites are free and have everything you need.
 
The Form Book brought about its own demise when the publishers started down the cost-cutting route.

Fine, high-quality (what I call 'missal') paper was replaced with normal c80gsm paper, adding to weight and bulk.

Royal Mail didn't help when they changed how they priced letters. Increasing massively the cost of sending A4 envelopes forced publishers to go for A5, making the form book extremely thick. My books are up the loft but I reckon by the end of a Flat season the thickness changed from about 1.5" under the A4 format to at least 3" (10" to me...) under the A5 one. Postal costs still rocketed.

On top of that RM were/are totally unreliable. I finally gave up when the weekly instalment sometimes didn't arrive until the Monday or Tuesday after the weekend for which I needed it. Phone calls to Raceform received the standard "It was posted on Tuesday first class; we're at the mercy of Royal Mail for delivery" reply. My suggestion to them that they engage a private courier service fell on deaf ears. The chances are a courier company would have easily been able to compete with RM for cost and provide a more reliable service.

As I said before on the thread that mentioned Timeform pulling the plug on C&H, the Weekender pullouts suit me so much better. I prefer the tabloid-ish size format for seeing more races on the one page, allowing me to skim and scan pretty instantly for comparative times, plus the Weekender includes all the Irish racing which the Form Book didn't.

If they ever stop the Weekender and punters are left with only online access to form, I'll know it's time for me to take up pubic topiary for my entertainment.
 
Thank you both - have bookmarked the websites. But neither of them gives an essay on the horse - where relevant. Oh well.
 
I think Desert Orchid may have been talking about Timeform and it not coming in time each week? I just wanted a summary of last year's races so my friends and I can pick our annual 10 to follow. And I still can't see the book Horses in Training 2021 anywhere to buy? If I don't have one simple place to note all good horses as the year progresses, I think the pubic topiary is looking more and more attractive!
 
It was Raceform I was referring to.

I can't speak for or against Timeform's postal performance.

I only ever subscribed to Timeform for about three months back in 1990 when I had a long-term sick line from work and was looking to fill my time. At the time I was betting £1w/£1ew singles and was £130 in front for the NH season. Using Timeform I managed to turn that into a £100 loss within those three months so gave up. I got back in front by the Whitbread that season. I've never subscribed to Timeform since, other than the horses to follow booklets occasionally if they've been on special offer, and to their sectional service (which I quite liked) a couple of seasons back but gave up because it was too AW-orientated and missed a lot of the races on the straight courses at the big turf meetings.
 
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