Left at the Gate's Alan Mann blogs for NTRA

If you're not reading Alan Mann, you're probably not a serious racing fan

Alan Mann, long the title holder for best horse racing blogger, began blogging for the Breeder's Cup folks a few weeks back, in addition to keeping up his mainstay blog Left at the Gate. If you read Crist's or Illman's blog at drf.com and want to know what inspired them, it's Alan's slice of the blogosphere. Few have done it longer and nobody does it better.

TBA New York Meet-Up

This past weekend while in New York I met up with several TBA members at Aqueduct Racetrack. I can't overstate how much I enjoyed talking track with folks. Even in a brief afternoon I was able to learn plenty from my cohorts, and wish I could spend every weekend at the track with them. They are each such experts in the game compared to your average fan, and as you know an average fan is hard to come by in itself.
I much prefer to go to the racetrack not because of the facility. My couch, television, Tivo, internet connection, and fully stocked bar offer a more comfortable and more technologically advanced racing experience. But, I go so that I can talk racing with people who get it. This step up in quality of experience is even greater when comparing discussing racing with folks at my local track and members of the TBA. These aren't just fans, but students of the game, and they are at the head of the class. Thank you.