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I wanted to take a look at the daily papers to see how they cover racing. There’s still plenty of punters who use them as their key source of information, so let’s take a look at the good, bad and indifferent. I thought today with four meetings – two jumps, two AW Flat – would be ideal ‘standard’ racing day. I’m sure coverage on a Saturday is bigger and maybe better.
I’m presuming all data comes from the Press Association feed and is manipulated in house. The SP forecasts are all from the PA with the exception of The Times. All cards contain the standard C, D, G, BF suffixes and Days Since Last Run carries a signifier of whether that was under a different code of racing unless stated.
The Sun 50p
Good use of colour on two NH meetings makes for easy reading, not repeated on the two AW meetings. Formline goes back seven runs on some cards, but only four on others; horse-detail includes all headgear, starred when used for the first time. Two NH meetings have full form ratings (strangely, the top-rated horse is always 99) and ‘Sun Form’ which is a simple how-they-ran last time out; those are missing for two AW meetings although top 3 form-rated shown under the card. Basic course details, leading trainers/jocks with runners, single longest traveller. Short news item about Saturday’s big race.
Solid effort 6/10Daily Mirror 65p
Larger, over-aggressive print with little colour is not particularly easy on the eye. Formline shows last 6 outings. Horse-detail shows blinkers/visor but other headgear – including first-time usage – is irritatingly listed in a side-panel. Days Since Last Run fails to signify whether that was under a different code. ‘Spot-Form’ ratings in full for all meetings along with a going-signifier where the best rating was achieved, which is a nice touch. One meeting has single-line of how they ran last time out under the horse line. Every race has an ‘F’, ‘SF’ and ‘EW’ tip on the horse detail in red. Top course trainers and jockeys doesn’t separate those with runners today and is over an unspecified time period. Virtually no text bar a few words on the Hennessey sponsorship deal.
Fair enough 6/10Daily Star 30p
Garishly coloured and print is slightly smaller and linespace slightly less than rivals, making it not the easiest to read. Formline is poor, showing only the last four runs, but it does include a hashtag next to NH-Flat outings (though that takes up one of those four places) and an ‘L’ for horses that finished last (although that can replace an actual 3rd/4th position). The upside is tremendous horse detail, with all headgear, starred for first-time use. Basic top trainers and jockeys with runners for the two jumps meetings, however missing for the AW cards. In-line form-ratings – another where the top-rated is always 99 – for all meetings. ‘Punter Pointers’ panel has some interesting stuff, especially a list of all horses having their first run for a new trainer. An article about The King George and one showing the reasoning for today’s preferred tips.
Decent information 7/10Daily Express 55p
Meetings are crammed into narrow spaces, three on one page, one overleaf. Largely in monochrome make it dull-looking and not easy to read. Formline is a dismal three past runs. Everything else is very basic, with headgear listed by card number (not name) under the card and not in the horse line. First-time headgear not shown on card, but in panel to the side. ‘W-Factor’ ratings are under each card, showing only top-three rated with the top-rated at 99 again! SP forecast is often truncated to four, and sometimes even three runners. Basic additional Top trainer/jockey information and single longest traveller. No news barring a few 2-line snippets.
Very poor 3/10The Guardian £2
I was shocked. Having leafed through the (thin) separate Sports section, I finally found the racing ‘coverage’ – a panel of tips for the day and ultra-basic details on ‘Today’s Big Race’, an eleven grand handicap on the AW. One race, no cards, no analysis. A typically worthy piece by Chris Cook on the Jim Best case was decent journalism but basically The Guardian have given up on horse racing.
Jacked it in 0/10
The Times £1.40
A dull, monochrome affair, although the use of a fine line under each runner makes the cards very easy to read. Formline goes back five runs, there’s no ratings or form analysis. The Times seems to use an independently-sourced SP forecast as it is different to all others, although disappointingly it is occasionally chopped to just the first 3 or 4 in the betting. Basic headgear info is displayed in-line with first-time-usage noted in a separate panel. Four meetings are crammed on to one page (The Times is now a tabloid in size) and there is just a cursory panel for top trainers and jockeys. A small report on The Hennessy sponsor is the only text. Tipster Rob Wright generally knows his stuff and he does a two-line precis of each race at the main meeting.
Could be so much better 4/10Daily Mail 65p
All four meetings on one tabloid page again, entirely in monochrome. Formlines are a bit random with two meetings showing last seven runs and the other two showing only the last four. The typeface is very clear and actually quite good to read. The Mail uses an ‘L’ for last position and a hashtag after a NH-Flat run. A separate panel gives one top jockey and trainer per meeting with no accompanying stats and lists first-time headgear. That panel also displays horses placed in the same race last year, travellers and those dropped in class. The Mail’s Formcast ratings (top-rated always 78 for some reason) are on all runners. There’s virtually no racing news, save a few lines on Ed Greatrex.
Easy to view 6/10
The Daily Telegraph £1
Housed in a seperate Sports section, cards are monochrome and the typeface includes lower-case, making it all hard-to-read and uninspiring. Horses are seperated by narrow lines which at least helps slightly. Formlines are a dismal and universal three runs. The horse-line contains the most basic information with no details about first-usage of any headgear. Furthermore, this information is not available elsewhere and nor is any other information whatsoever. This is real, basic bang-out-the-PA-feed coverage. There are two decent articles, the first covering general racing news and the second a Charlie Brooks opinion piece about the Hennessy.
Dreadful 2/10Conclusion: The first thing that occurs to me is how poorly racing is covered by the broadsheets. None covers it well, but special brickbats for The Guardian who hardly cover it at all. The Daily Telegraph is also pretty woeful. Of the rest, The Sun and The Mirror do solid jobs and I find The Daily Mail very clear and easy-to-read. However special praise for The Daily Star which is just about the winner in this for me, especially at 30p. If you don’t mind the annoying limit of only four past runs displayed on the formline and the smaller print, it really contains as much as is possible in rudimentary racecards.
Conclusion: However special praise for The Daily Star which is just about the winner in this for me, especially at 30p. If you don’t mind the annoying limit of only four past runs displayed on the formline and the smaller print, it really contains as much as is possible in rudimentary racecards.
You’ve left out the absolute humiliation one would endure actually buying the Daily Star, Mike. :lol:
Excellent review, I wonder how the Morning Star gets on?
Value Is EverythingConclusion: However special praise for The Daily Star which is just about the winner in this for me, especially at 30p. If you don’t mind the annoying limit of only four past runs displayed on the formline and the smaller print, it really contains as much as is possible in rudimentary racecards.
You’ve left out the absolute humiliation one would endure actually buying the Daily Star, Mike.
Have it delivered Ginger,
Then the poor Paper boy will have to walk all the way to the other side of town and get to see how the other half live.
Nice work, Mike. Am surprised so many are still offering any coverage at all, aside from The Sun and The Mirror who are far and away serving the biggest population of racing fans in the betting shop demographic.
When I used to be a bit more in touch, I’d hear regularly that sports editors moaned relentlessly about giving racing any space at all. And yet remember that bampot, Savill at the BHB wanted to charge newspapers a data cost to run cards?
The Guardian’s online racing section is excellent and, like the whole paper, free (can’t see that being sustained much longer).
The London Evening Standard for many years showed the cards for the following day’s racing but now they only concentrate on providing tips for the big festivals at Cheltenham and Aintree and the occasional big meetings.
You’ve left out the absolute humiliation one would endure actually buying the Daily Star, Mike. :lol:
The way the Telegraph has gone I think I’d be more embarrassed buying that.
Doesn’t the Star have some dog coverage (beyond the bare minimum at least) as well? Pretty sure I remember that being the case last time I saw a copy (It was lying around in the bookies, honest guv
)thanks for that betlarge……very interesting
I haven’t bought a daily paper for over 20 years so it’s interesting to see how they’ve developed in my absence
Good analysis Mike.
I fork out for one of the tabloids on Saturdays only. Pretty good racing pullouts, shame about the rest of the paper. Colour racecards for most races of the two main meetings being the main draw.
The Mirror costs too much and contains the horror of Dave Yates getting it off his chest. More usually get The Sun at 70p . Pretty good and well presented but the only other thing I enjoy in the publication is their general knowledge crossword. The Star costs 50p on Saturday .An occasional purchase.The racecards are a bit small for me but a good effort on the whole. Last Saturday included the Fairyhouse runners and the entries for the meetings on Sunday as well as a good spread of features and reporting. Sadly the rest of the paper goes straight to recycling.
If Richard Desmond (Lord Beaver Book) would merge his titles and put the Star Racing pullout in the Express we might be on to something worth buying
I think a weekend review wouldn’t go amiss betlarge
do they still publish the Sunday Sport.?…..
Gaelic Warrior Gold Cup Winner 2026
The Racing section of The Irish Independent on a Saturday is decent.
Good stuff betlarge.
but dont buy The S*N
The “i” newspaper coverage is pretty poor – except for Cheltenham & Ascot.
Everyday they have “Pick of the day’s racing” – today they have cards from the 17:55 at Chelmsford and the 13:20 Warwick with the form verdict below each card.
It is great value 50p newspaper but, not if you are into “racing”. (They seem to be obsessed with football as every other daily newspaper.)
You’ve left out the absolute humiliation one would endure actually buying the Daily Star, Mike.
Tuck it into the middle of a hardcore pornographic magazine Ginge. Far less embarrassing.
Mike
The Guardian’s online racing section is excellent and, like the whole paper, free (can’t see that being sustained much longer).
The Guardian is in desperate financial straits at the moment Joe, with a daily circulation now down to a paltry 160k. Having skipped through yesterday’s edition, it truly is a humourless paper, commenting on all the ills of the world (caused by the lack of left-wing progressivism, obviously) and is plenty pricy enough at £2 daily. Their model of a free website, as you say, looks unsustainable, although the removal of it’s cheerleader editor Alan Rusbridger last year may change things.
All paper’s circulations have taken a hammering over recent decades, with The Guardian and particularly The Mirror being the worst hit (from a peak of 3.2m to a current 800k). The Times has lost less than most and I can tell why, with yesterday’s edition being a really good read on a variety of issues.
Mike
I think a weekend review wouldn’t go amiss betlarge
Yes, I think I’ll have a look at them.
Mike
I wonder how the Morning Star gets on?
The Morning Star, and its predecessor The Daily Worker, had from circa the ’40s until the ’90s one of the racing fraternity’s more interesting tipsters in Alf Rubin, who went by the moniker Cayton. His fame was largely built on refusing to nap anything under 20/1; and he did pretty well, usually finishing in the upper reaches of the Naps Table despite regular losing runs of months on end. If memory serves he once napped a 33/1 winner of the Lincoln which being so early in the season meant he was top of the table until sometime around Derby Day
The print medium is a terminally declining market and I think The Guardian will follow The Independent’s lead in going online-only sooner rather than later. It’s had some decent racing hacks but has long been further up itself than usual regarding racing. It’s forerunner The Manchester Guardian refused to cover racing until, I think, the early ’60s: the last paper to lower itself to covering the filthy sport of Dukes and Dustmen, much to the annoyance of the Hampstead and Islington Socialist ‘guardians’
Cayton’s serendipitous selection of 66/1 chance Russian Hero for the 1949 Grand National was truly a triumph for Marxist-Leninist tipping stratagems over the reactionary techniques then employed by dissident capitalist running dogs working for imperialist Fleet Street press barons.
Cayton’s serendipitous selection of 66/1 chance Russian Hero for the 1949 Grand National was truly a triumph for Marxist-Leninist tipping stratagems over the reactionary techniques then employed by dissident capitalist running dogs working for imperialist Fleet Street press barons.
Sounds like textbook Marxist redistribution of wealth to me. But only if you were ‘on’.
Mike
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