The Daily Telegraph is one of the most highly circulated newspapers in Australia.
News Limited reported that the New South Wales spread, which includes the racing form guide,
reached as many as 1.497 million readers in January 2016.
Punters who buy the popular rag usually open it straight-up to the middle section, giving them quick access to the daily racing lift-out. Boasting up to 16 pages of content, the racing information source contains:
- Detailed form for major race meetings in New South Wales;
- Summarised form for interstate meetings;
- Race fields for all TAB meets across the country including harness
and greyhounds;
- Tips, best bets and top four selections for all New South Wales thoroughbred
meetings and the major Victorian race meeting of the day; and
- Tips for greyhound and harness.
The Daily Telegraph has traditionally been distributed in its pre-printed 'newspaper' format via news agencies throughout
Australia. These distribution points have since expanded to include general
grocery stores and large supermarket chains. With the growth of the Internet, the Daily Telegraph Form Guide section
has expanded its distribution network to include on-line access via the SuperRacing.com.au website, allowing punters to access the printed version through
their computer or tablet screen seven days a week. Punters can also access racing articles, form and tips in an on-line format through the website.
Racing Journalism
The Daily Telegraph ('the Tele') racing team boasts some of the most respected
and talented journalists of their type in the country. The NSW paper covers
all aspects of news relating to the three codes of racing in addition to regular
news articles that preview and review daily race meetings. A best bets article
is produced daily for each NSW race meeting. The article reviews each race on the
card highlighting the best bets, value bets, jockeys and trainers to watch,
and the best exotic bet. The article provides a narrative which supports recommended
selections, quoting comments from trainers, jockeys and connections.
Racing Form Guide Format
The Daily Telegraph is one of the pioneers of the modern racing form guide
format. Having undertaken multiple face-lifts over the years, the guide
still remains one of the most recognisable betting information sources in Australia. The Tele form includes an abbreviated form-indicator format where
specific letters are added to the end of each runner's name to indicate key
form statistics that punters generally seek. Examples include:
- t - the horse has won at the track
- c - the horse has won over this distance at the track
- d - won over this distance at a different track
- w - has won on a wet track (soft or heavy)
Each race listing shows runners in saddle-cloth order with key details outlined including 5 characters before the horse's name which represent the runner's finishing position in their last 5 starts. The character representing each run is interpreted as follows:
- 0 - 9 position finished in the running where '0' represents
a finishing position of tenth or worse.
- s the horse had a spell which equates to a period of three
months or more without a run.
While this abbreviated format provides punters with a good snapshot of each
horse's form, it can mask comparative strengths and weaknesses of some runners
in the race. For example, a horse may finish worse than sixth in
its last three runs, which may turn a punter away from taking a closer look at its form.
However the actual distance finished behind the leader may be close enough to
rate as a good run. These apparent 'poor runs' might also represent improvement as the horse gets
fitter and as they get out to a more suitable distance.
Daily Telegraph Racing Tipsters
The Daily Telegraph employ one of the largest team of racing journalists and
form analysts in the country. The newspaper also utilises it's affiliations with large
wagering operators like TAB Corp to further increase it's scope of coverage
across all three codes of racing.
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