Most of the questions asked of me via email or in live presentations the past couple of years are  variations on "How do I find (--------------) on the Internet?" 

Frankly, I'm surprised at being asked such questions, given that the person asking obviously had learned how to get online and presumably do a little web surfing. While it's hard for me to believe my assumption goes too far, apparently there are plenty of people who are frustrated in using the Internet because of its tendency to overwhelm. I think a good analogy might be the old story about the best way to teach a reluctant person how to swim: throw him off the pier! 

So via a two-part series here, I'm going to go back to the basics of where and how to find different types of handicapping information on the Internet.

Before I get into Part One--entries and results--let me cover some computer basics that many users who think they know what they're doing really don't understand, but should, to get the most out of their computer experience both in handicapping and non-racing areas as well. 

The only assumption I will make is that you are already hooked up and online, whether through a local service provider, AOL, WebTV, or one of the national services, pay or advertiser-supporter. You know how to get online, on to the Internet. 

"What type of browser do you have?"

This is a truly important question that many people don't know how to answer, mainly because no one ever explained to them what a browser is!

The best analogy I can think of to explain the concept is this: to be able to watch a television program, you first have to have something that gets the TV signal into your house. That can be accomplished via an antenna or a cable. To be able to get on the Internet, you need to have something that gets the connection into your house. That's accomplished via your telephone or a cable. 

To be able to watch a TV program, you have to have a device that will display the program. That's the TV. To be able to look at the Internet, you need to have a device that will display individual pages. That's your computer monitor. 

To watch the television program, you need to have something that will translate the TV signal into video and audio that makes sense to you. This is done by the picture tube, tuner, and what most people call the electronic guts of the TV itself. To surf the Internet, you need to have something that will translate the data into video and audio that will make sense to you. This is done by a program called the browser, which, unlike different TV systems (RCA, Zenith, Sony, etc.), only comes in a few different styles, with the dominant one being either Microsoft Internet Explorer (also referred to as simply "Explorer" or MIE) and Netscape (with various sub-names such as Navigator, Communicator, and others). 

Most any TV will show you the program you want to see. Both Explorer and Netscape will do the same. If you use AOL,  a cable connection, or various other national service providers, your browser is very likely to be a somewhat modified version of one of the big two with essentially the same capabilities as the original versions you would use with a local provider who simply delivers the signal to your house. It's like the difference between various Ford and Mercury cars--the same car except that one may have a bigger trunk than its sister model! 

To find out what type of browser you have, while you are hooked up to the Internet, locate the "Help" button on the toolbar at the top of the page, click on it and then click on the selection that begins with "About." This will show you what browser you are using and what version. (Versions are like different years for the same model car.) 

Why is this important? Because Explorer and Microsoft are competitors, not brothers, and they have built their browsers so that some pages display fine on one and lousy on another. (WebTV: sorry, your technology is different still, in fact, very different, and some pages won't even display at all.) So if you are having a problem viewing a particular page that you really want to see, that page may not have been created to allow your browser to display it easily. When you ask customer service for help in there's a display problem, you'll be asked "What kind of browser do you have?" When you know the answer, you can usually get a pretty helpful answer. 

ENTRIES AND RESULTS

There are essentially THREE primary sources for entries and results for any racetrack in North America on the Internet: 

1) The track's own website 
2) The Daily Racing Form website 
3) The Equibase website 

You'll find dozens, maybe hundreds, of sites which offer entries and results. All of these sites merely link to one of the three primary sources, or have them displayed FROM one of these sources ON their own pages in a smaller "frame." 

Which is the best? 

Hey, it's all the same information! Each source displays it somewhat differently, so it's a matter of personal taste. 

By the way, some tracks don't even bother with doing their own. Their just link to DRF or Equibase. 

The preferred way is to go to the track's own website, because it's usually the fastest. How do you know what the URL, or "address" that you enter into the address box at the top of your BROWSER's page? 

Either (1) guess at it, and enter "www.tracknamehere.com" and be lucky [Fair Grounds is NOT www.fairgounds.com. It is www.fgno.com], (2) use a search engine to find it, or (3) buy my book Handicapping in Cyberspace, he said shamelessly,. which lists them all for you. Available in the Handicapper's Electronic Emporium. 

Or just go to the handicapping.com home page and follow the links!  

You might want to keep frequently-visited webpages in your list of bookmarks (or "favorites", depending on what your browser calls them. See what I mean about competitors? Sheesh.).

If you don't know how to add to your bookmarks/favorites...you might want to buy a basic user's (that is, a  beginner's) guide for whichever browser you are using. This will really save you a lot of time and it is one of the easier skills to master in using the Internet.