Racing resources

I'm often asked about online resources on thoroughbred racing and I'm more than happy to comment on some of those that I think provide good and useful information.

Obviously, as all racing people know, the premier racing site for English and European racing is the Racing Post (racingpost.co.uk). It contains THE database for all horses and their performances including interesting statistics. Their very well-classified News section is always the quickest to update. For over a year now, they have started a comprehensive Video section with features and race replays etc. I don't necessarily agree with their tv pundits as some of them seem to be more interested into showmanship, but some of their features on horses and trainers are fine.

Attheraces.com is another excellent website. I really like the fact that they display the pedigree of the horses on the race cards. They have an exceptional free Video library and their occasional features on horses, trainers is unsurpassed. I find them useful for those not having access to their satellite tv channel, when on trips etc. If a replay of a UK race is not available at attheraces.com, it is most probably in the racing video section of sportinglife.com or racinguk.com.

Drf.com is quickly becoming one of my favourite sites. The US equivalent of the Racing Post, its main focus is still mainly US racing but it has been revamped recently and very often offers live feeds of important races around the world for free. For instance, Dubai racing, the Melbourne Cup, Breeders Cup, Champions Stakes etc, were all broadcasted live on the site.

On the literature side, there are a few good daily publications such as thoroughbreddailynews.com, thoroughbredtimes.com, throughbredinternet.com and bloodhorse.com which I know many columnists refer to.

I find that all of the above provide a certain appeal and the way to benefit from them is to be selective from each. Get what you feel is the best out of each, be it pedigree queries, news, race cards, statistics etc.

Last, many jockeys and trainers have personal web sites as well as Twitter accounts. It's hard to gather whether reading those that are of actual benefit for analysis since they deal with a lot of subjective matter. Will a trainer ever publicly state that a horse he's running has no chance? Read their words with caution!