Colin,
Racing Plus is what used to be Racing Ahead Weekend, although Racing Ahead boss Stephen Mullen has nothing to do with the publication and hasn't for virtually any of its existence. Different company altogether.
Professional interest compelled me to purchase a Racing Plus for the first time in a very long time last weekend, and for me at least I'm afraid there's virtually nothing there.
The pieces by messrs Luck and Willoughby are shorter than I'd like (and maybe than they would like, if the remit is to keep to what looks a fairly swingeing word count), and the virtues of the chronological racecards are comprehensively negated by the identikit nature of the analysis contained therein. "Placed x times in y starts over hurdles", etc., for every runner instantly betrays a thick streak of computer- rather than human-generated compilation of information; and whilst the Verdicts are produced by humans they are not fulsome enough for my tastes to compensate adequately.
I've not been through the form data itself yet to check whether this Press Association-origin material is any more veracious and accurate than it was during my Sportsman days, but expectations are low - we spent hours at that paper correcting by hand many obvious anomalies such as improbable amateur rider / conditional allowance combinations (e.g. "Mr B Moorcroft (10)"), and at least some of these ricks endure to the present day in PA racing data if what's reproduced on the Sportinglife website is any guide.
gc