By Jack Werk
I was speaking to a longtime client the other day who was complaining about a weekly magazine that he subscribes to because the information was stale, boring, and not very helpful to his business – breeding and selling racehorses. “I guess I’m gonna have to join the younger generation and start getting my news on the internet. I guess it’s true what they say, that the days of the print media are numbered,” he said, and then asked me how I got my news and kept up to date with the breeding industry.
Well, he is right: It’s ALL on the internet now. The days of waiting for the snailman to deliver a weekly were over several years ago, as far as I was concerned. So, here is what I told him:
There are four main sources of news and content that are a daily “must read” for me.
TDN: The first thing I read is Thoroughbred Daily News, or TDN as it’s referred to by just about everyone. This publication, which is run by Barry Weisbord and Sue Finley, was once delivered by fax, but now it arrives by email every night – which is when I read mine.
For the serious horseman, and especially breeders, it’s the “bible.” TDN covers race results from around the world, including every stakes race that qualifies for black type from the International Cataloguing Standards book. My company, Werk Thoroughbred Consultants Inc., actually provides the pedigrees and Werk Nick Ratings to TDN for all the Graded or Group race winners. More than that, TDN covers maiden and allowance races, too, and highlights promising maiden winners as “TDN Rising Stars.” The eZine – electronic magazine – also has great news coverage both here and abroad, and it’s interactive enough, too. You can get charts of the races and videos, etc.
TDN also provides a wealth of statistical data on stallions: TDN Sire Stats, TDN Progeny PPs, TDN Sales PPs, TDN Insta-Tistics, etc., not to mention informative weekly columns by Andrew Caufield and Bill Oppenheim.
In one shot, you can get everything you need as an owner and breeder to stay current with industry news with TDN. And the best news, which I told my client, is it’s FREE!! All you have to do is go and sign up, and they do the rest. Click here to sign up – for FREE! If you’ve never seen it, click here to view today’s edition.
TODAY: Next I read Thoroughbred Times Today, which is the eZine for the Thoroughbred Times weekly. It’s very similar in content to TDN, including delivery by email. But it’s not free. You have to be a subscriber to the weekly print magazine to get the daily free. Today is published by Joe Morris and edited by Mark Simon – two very savvy newspaper guys – and they do a heck of a job with its editorial content. I particularly like their various leading sires’ charts that are published daily, as well as John Sparkman’s weekly pedigree column. Like TDN, I read Today every night. If you’ve never seen Today, click here to view today’s edition. By the way, the Thoroughbred Times also has an outstanding website (www.thoroughbredtimes.com ) which I use daily.
The Thoroughbred Times has taken their print weekly into the 21st century with an electronic edition that arrives in my email box each Tuesday (no waiting a week for the hard copy!). It’s the actual print magazine delivered electronically with a multitude of options that makes for easy read, including zoom (I don’t even need my glasses!)
Between TT Today, the website, and the electronic edition of their weekly magazine, the Thoroughbred Times has set the bar for industry trade magazines.
PAULICK REPORT: After TDN and TT Today, I go to the Paulick Report (www.paulickreport.com). Here, Ray Paulick, the former editor of The Blood-Horse, aggregates news stories from print and internet media and the blogosphere. Plus Ray writes original commentary as well several times a week. Ray also provides all sorts of interesting links to prominent racing writers and blogs, and he’ll spice up some stories tabloid style! Hey, you gotta have a sense of humor sometimes, too. I’ve been so impressed with Ray’s site and its volume of traffic that I’ve been running a front-page ad for eNicks for months now.
- International Authority Sid Fernando
SID FERNANDO: Last but not least, the best individual racing/breeding/international blog out there is, in my opinion, Sid Fernando’s “Sid Fernando + Observations.” Sid, the former bloodstock editor of Daily Racing Form and president of www.eMatings.com, has a huge international following and covers topics that are generally not covered anywhere else. Where else can you find US-bred 2-year-old stakes winners in Russia, or articles and video’s about this year’s Czech Triple Crown winner, or racing in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain? I particularly like Sid’s slant on international racing and breeding, his writing style, sense of humor, unpredictability of content, and his nose for news!
There you have it, the four best sites to stay current with thoroughbred racing around the world. Of course, it’s just one man’s opinion.