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so superform .the form book has closed down after 30 years in business.so we are left with raceform&timeform .
Presumably doublethetrouble means that we now have less players in the market.
Such a situation in any market can, and quite often does, lead to a lowering of standards.On a different tack, I was wondering whether the ‘Superform’ situation is related to Betfair’s acquisition of Timeform?
Reading the message on the Superform website they at least closed down because the proprietor wanted to retire rather than a failing business.
It’s a shame because the web service was fantastic value at less than £11 per month for ratings, results and commentaries.
I suppose the £11 contributed to the company not being able to continue as a web-only venture at the moment. It was very good value – too good!
I may have a vested interest but it does us all good to have different sources of information and for some smaller, independent companies to survive as long as they provide a good service or something different.
It does mean that we’ve gone from race analysis from four sources: Racing Post, Raceform (when it was independent), Timeform and Superform. It’s now just two with Racing Post/Raceform and Timeform.
There are plenty of fantastic ratings services from small providers on the net but it’s the commentaries that will be missed most by Superform subscribers, myself included.
Everyone sees the Racing Post and Timeform is read by huge numbers – there were plenty of gems in Superform that went below the radar.Hello,
I found Superform very difficult to understand, and when I thought I understood what it meant, it turned out to be nonsense.
But maybe that is me…
regards,
doyley
Having the Raceform/Timeform dinosaur double act for the mass market is just great for me. I wouldn’t thank you for a free annual subscription to either of these.
To take things at a bit of a tangent, this is something I’d like to understand: who actually owns racing data?
For instance, do I need permission to publish basic racing results on a website? If so, from who and how much? When does racing info go from being public fact to proprietary knowledge (i.e. when beaten lengths calculated by someone are used)?
If I’m watching a race and I publish on my blog the final finishing positions, is that technically breaking some kind of data ownership?
What if we all did it i.e. a communal results site where the results data is entered by us, people who watch racing?
I know the bookmakers had some sort of legal case that I think they won about racecards. What was the actual result of that judgement and does it apply to results also?
If I’m watching a race and I publish on my blog the final finishing positions, is that technically breaking some kind of data ownership?
If you mean just jotting down the finishing order of all horses, plus your own interpretation of how many lengths apart each runner finished, then I can’t see a problem with you doing that.
You can expect to find several (or more) characters at any given point-to-point meeting doing exactly the same thing, with the intention of framing those positions in their own private handicaps subsequently, and the Weekender, Weatherbys Chase, etc. cannot and do not lean on them for that.
Was that kind of what you meant?
gc
Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.
From the Superform website:
Since we informed subscribers that all Superform activities would be suspended after racing on Sunday May 4th 2008, we have been overwhelmed and taken aback with all the messages, complimentary remarks, suggestions and best wishes.
Clearly Superform is very highly regarded. Many subscribers have been with us for thirty years or more. A heartfelt thanks to all who contacted us by phone, email and letter. Your messages are very much appreciated.For the record we have not gone bust – far from it. Subscribers have had any outstanding subscriptions refunded in full and no charges for the internet service were made after April 5th. Our staff have had redundancy, all suppliers have been paid and there is no bank overdraft – we owe nothing!
So why did we decide to stop? There were several reasons. Superform produced a twice weekly printed service, two Annual publications and the internet service. Together these three services contributed to a sound business.
However, subscriber numbers to the weekly printed service and Annuals declined as internet broadband spread into most homes. Royal Mail added to our difficulties. The withdrawal of the the second postal delivery plus the move to an “anytime” single delivery was a disaster for time sensitive publications like Superform. There is no viable alternative letter service to Royal Mail and we were helpless during the latest postal strikes.
Our search for a successful business model which would allow Superform to continue solely on the internet has been unsuccessful. Meanwhile key members of staff received outside job offers which were too good to refuse. Suddenly, after thirty four years of producing Superform, retirement looked an attractive option!
Therefore Superform is not dead, it’s merely in suspended animation. If anything changes we will certainly let you know.
Personally I would like to thank all the loyal Superform subscribers, especially those who have been with us since the first Haig Annuals in 1974!
Also I would like to thank all the staff both permanent and freelance, for their hard work over the decades – often over and above the call of duty.
And finally I must thank my wife for her terrific help with Superform over the years. Without her unstinting support it would have been impossible to keep the show on the road!
Good luck and successful punting to you all.
Kevin Gilroy
Publisher, Superform.
Furlong Press High Street Shoreham By Sea West Sussex BN43 5DB
My getting a Haig Annual (forerunner of Superform) for my eleventh birthday in 1974 was the single most important event in ensuring that a juvenile interest in racing became an adolescent and then adult obsession, for all that I moved on to Timeform once I could afford it as a teenager.
The Sprotsnam was in discussion with Superform for some time in the early days about paying for their database, but it came to nothing and we got stuck with the Press Association instead. Things might have been different for all parties otherwise…
I have to agree Prufrock – having Superform in The Sportsman would have taken it to another level.
I think Timeform is excellent as an alternative to Superform although I think the writers of the black book/racecard comments would benefit from a little more freedom although I understand why there is uniformity.As for the earlier question about publishing racing results, there are no restrictions at all on publishing your ‘notebook’ online or wherever.
If you want something more detailed, you would have to pay a licence fee to the BHA.
I think the restrictions are on the SPs, racetitles and official winning distances.
But your observations on a race are your own business – maybe Wikiform should be born!I think that Kevin Gilroy has looked into links like that in the past but I wasn’t aware of the Sportsman connection. It certainly would have been interesting to see what happened if they had joined forces, but I think that even that may not have been enough for Kevin to postpone his retirement – the lure of his boat is too strong!
As I mentioned in an earlier thread, I was very fortunate to work for Superform for nearly five years and it gave me a great grounding in the racing industry – I will always be very grateful to Kevin for giving me that first opportunity.
Kevin will in fact be at Fontwell next Wednesday as a guest of Weatherbys, in honour of his retirement, and will be presenting the prizes for our sponsored races. If there are any ex-"Superformites" lurking around, come and sound us out. I’m sure Kevin would be pleased to have a chat about the good old days.
I have been subscribing to Superform for many years and found it’s layout easy to understand and user friendly. I am not a ratings punter so did not buy it for the ratings they produced. It was the excellent commentaries and the simplicity of their coverage that I found useful along with their pace figures which highlighted races run at a slow pace. This helped a lot when deciding on horses to lay ( win or place ) on BF.
Good luck to Kevin Gilroy and his wife who deserve a happy retirement. I dislike the layout of Raceform so it is going to be Timeform for me now but I doubt that the extra cost involved will be value compared to Superform.
Pete
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