Most people don't ever stop to think “just exactly what is the Internet?” My favorite answer is “a sophisticated, state of the art, information delivery system”. It doesn't take a genius to make the small leap to the realization that such a system is well suited to advertising, marketing, and using the system to try to sell your goods and ideas to the world.
 

But not all the time!

Over the past five years of keeping an eye on Internet handicapping sites — especially racetracks — I've observed that the Internet is not much different from real life: some racetracks realize it's the fans in the stands who make their business go, not the horses running on the ovals, and certainly not the owners or trainers. Don't get me wrong, it takes all of these elements to make it work, but the engine is the guy or gal pushing money through the mutuel windows.

Or, translated into down-to-earth Cyberspace lingo: Some racetrack Internet web sites are great and some are wastes of bandwidth.

Here are my nominees for the best and worst racetracks on the Internet.

The Winners

Del Mar (www.dmtc.com) — The BEST of all racetrack web sites on the Internet! Throughout the site, there's an awareness that the track exists for the fans. An incredibly detailed offering of valuable information during the live meet, depth way beyond what anyone else offers. Sure, you'll find the usual entries, results, blah, blah, blah, but looky here: the posting of daily maintenance to the racing surfaces, vet's list, steward's list, and the patrol judges' report of horses in trouble! The Fan Forum is busy throughout the year with players discussing the races, sharing trainer nuances, and much more, with archives as well. An archive of replay shows is available on the site. And this is only a small sampling of all that Del Mar has to offer. The Best!

Churchill Downs (www.churchilldowns.com) — The awareness that players want and need good handicapping info is also very much evident from the home page down the line on this site. Race Day Information includes barn notes, sometimes so current that the information hasn't yet made it into print at the Daily Racing Form, meet-to-date stats, race recaps, and more. CD has one of the best beginner's introductions to racing available on the Internet, “Understanding Horse Racing.” From beginners to seasoned players, CD gets the job done!

Louisiana Downs (www.ladowns.com) — One of the first tracks to jump on to the Internet and show how to do it right. A remarkable collection of information, useful year ’round, with: standings (including owner standings), separate starts by jockey, trainer and owner for turf racing and two-year-old racing, a weekly track analysis of winning running styles, and a lot more. Unique racing information that other tracks should copy on their own and develop even more strongly. Great work by LaD!

Honorable Mentions

Oaklawn Park (www.oaklawn.com) — Many player-oriented features. Home page features a mini-result chart during the live meet with track condition, finish, and payoffs for the most recently run race with time of last update. Huge amount of current meet racing news, and fans are encouraged to interact via e-mail. Fun as well as useful.

Lone Star Park (www.lonestarpark.com) — A good-looking and well-constructed web site. (Note to other tracks: study this one to see how a small track can look big!) Unique features include Q&A with the track's general manager, and a lot of attention to horsemen's info, which ultimately will help the more experienced player.

Great Lakes Downs (www.greatlakesdowns.com) — A nice first effort for this little Michigan track. It's “how-to” page has the requisite “how to wager” stuff, but also has a lesson on handicapping for newcomers to the game.

The Losers

Prairie Meadows (www.prairiemeadows.com) — The worst racetrack site on the Internet! Home page is top-heavy with worthless graphics, and you have to plod through a lot of casino hype before finding the racing pages. Those pages aren't bad, but it's like maneuvering through quicksand to find them. Don't bill yourself as a horseracing site and then hide that information.

Mountaineer Park (www.mtrgaming.com) — A slow-loading home page, bare-bones information and the main emphasis is on slot machines, not racing. Why bother?

Turf Paradise (www.turfparadise.com) — Standard racing information available elsewhere, but with a special section “so that owners can keep up on the necessary information needed on racing at Turf Paradise.” How ’bout some special sections for the PLAYERS, like the ones listed above at the winning tracks in Cyberspace?

Most tracks do an adequate job in providing information and many add one or more features to make them unique and of special interest to local fans. If and when racetrack management ever learns that it's the fans who make the ponies run, the competition for winners and losers in Cyberspace will be much tougher than it is today.

I look forward to that time!