Who's Writing About Racing?

re: Who's Writing About Racing?

ADWNerd — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 18:57:32 GMT

I am a huge fan of the way the internet has allowed so much more access to the average racing fan than before. Not only do we still have a traditional source like the Blood-Horse, but we also get the TBA, MaryJean Wall's blog, the Paulick Report and Equidaily among others. The sport we all love is better off for it.

re: Who's Writing About Racing?

Real Racing Fans Speak Up — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 10:57:27 GMT

The good news is that the bloggers advertise our sport. Thank You Thoroughbred Blogger's Alliance for bringing so much more racing to the world. The bad news is that not all of the information is reliable. Some read more like political editorials than horse racing. I have seen blog writers also use public forums where they repost their stuff anonymously- in a way that they can smear owners, trainers, jockey's, etc. and not have to answer for it. For example, do you know how many times I have read that racehorse Inesperado's fate was deliberately planned by his connections? That is the kind of blogging we can do without. Who's writing about racing? Hopefully someone who loves the sport! Choose your blogs wisely, some blog writers live in a ghoulish fairytale land where every breakdown has a man made cause. That is the kind of writing racing can do without. Aside from that, my hat's off to the majority of bloggers who love racing and pass their love on to the rest of us. Handride, Foolish Pleasure, Colin's Ghost, Pedigree Musings are just a few of the good ones. Maybe someday we'll see you all on a horse racing television show? Best of luck.

re: Who's Writing About Racing?

Jamie — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 15:58:44 GMT

Teresa-

I know exactly what you mean about being frustrated when you cannot dig the information first-hand and must take it from other sources. I write a column for an online newspaper, SmilePolitely.com, and get all of my information from other newspapers or TV. Many times I want to cover a story that nobody is talking about, such as how horses outside the spotlight are doing, but I don't have the proper credentials to get inside information. It hurts me, too, that I don't have a track any closer than about 3 hours away from me.

I write the only turf column in my area and am trying to make people outside of the horse racing world aware of the issues and the sport itself. I may have limited access to the track and inside information, but I have become adept at searching the Internet for my stories and research. The Internet is a great way to connect to people from all walks of life, so though I may not be writing for a top-class publication like Blood-Horse, I can hopefully reach people outside the bubble who are new to the sport.

smilepolitely.com/.../the-call-to-the-post

re: Who's Writing About Racing?

barb — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 20:35:41 GMT

I am a big fan of print media and have been upset to see the decliine of it due to the internet. For a long time I sort of ignored the internet but in the past few months I have been reading and responding to the blogs on BloodHorse and I really enjoy it. It has been a wonderful opportunity to interact with other fans and industry insiders on a wide variety of issues(of course just one topic,lol). Racing fans appear to be few and far between so this is a gift to those of us with no close friends who share our passion. I hope that the budding relationship between the bloggers and journalists flowers.