For the horse racing enthusiast or someone new to the sport, I offer my top ten horse racing websites. The list does not include betting platforms, pure handicap sites or blogs. These horse racing sites revolve around sport-related news, offer an interactive experience, and / or provide participation in contests. Drum roll please.
1) Road to the Roses (roadtotheroses.com). This site generally begins in mid to late February each year and runs through the first Saturday in May. You know what day that is; The Kentucky Derby. It’s a great interactive site where you can set up your own horse stable on your way to the most exciting two minutes in sports. Thousands of people participate each year in the hope of winning valuable prizes.
2) Horse Racing Nation (horseracingnation.com). This is a relatively new site. It is a great site that offers you the opportunity to design your own silks. As a participant on this site, you are allowed to demonstrate your disability prowess, as well as comment on the disability selections of other participants. The site has news, links to some of the best thoroughbred blogs, key racing videos, and other valuable information. These guys are doing it right!
3) Daily race form (drf.com). The online version of the oldest horse racing publication in North America. Contains the best news and information on handicap. Drf publishes entries and results for all Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse races in North America. A wonderful feature is the “Race of the Day” where you can download past performances for free. They offer all kinds of disability information, from books to career cards, for sale. Beautiful site with a lot of information.
4) Case the Race (casetherace.com). Great site. It has a wonderful free contest that gives you the opportunity to make selections in various predetermined races. It provides you with your own metrics regarding contest points and virtual money won. Then he ranks among the other participants in the contest. For each breed, it provides you with its potency ratings based on a proprietary scientific formula. Other handicappers across the country offer their picks for Saturday’s races. This is a nice site. We include it in the list by interactive contest.
5) Blood Horse (bloodhorse.com). Site full of fabulous information. Contains all kinds of video shows about trainers, jockeys and horses. He also provides video for “That Handicapping Show” which is always very informative. Excellent snippets of information on all types of horse racing businesses.
6) National Thoroughbred Racing Association (ntra.com). They have a very well done website. Covers a lot of news and information about the sport. It has links to other sites with contests and other promotional items. Its key component is the betting calendar, which allows users to access past performances during at least one betting race over the weekend.
7) Brisnet.com. A simple site that provides information on disabilities by membership. I include it here as it has a “Race of the Day” contest in which it offers free past performances that you can put at a disadvantage and then make your selection for the contest. A contest is currently running where you earn one entry for each “race of the day” selection you take. The winner gets tickets to the Kentucky Derby in May 2010.
8) Horsehats.com. This is an eCommerce site that has a great deal on all kinds of great gifts for the horse lover you know. It also has links to all kinds of horse products. I include it here because it has an important element for all handicappers; an exotics calculator. Just plug in your selections and it will show how much the ticket will cost. This is especially important when you are assembling complex ten hundred surface entries.
9) Espn.com. You will need to hover your mouse over “All Sports” for the drop down menu, then click on “Horse Racing”. The news is more or less a rehash of other sites, but they do have some very good columnists who can offer valuable information. There are also links to other betting sites and platforms. They have bad update tendencies.
10) CBSsportsline.com. You have to hover your mouse over the “plus” button for the drop down menu, then click on “horse racing”. It has a message board where you can discuss horse racing with other fans. It has some links to other sites. It seems that sport is an afterthought for them.
When you have time, please visit any or all of these sites. I am sure you will find them informative and enjoyable.
