Talking with Alan Sepinwall: "It was HBO, definitively. There was back and forth about it, but their feeling was so clearly that the situation was untenable, that there was really no protracted dispute. We were presented with an accomplished fact. And I don't say that with any resentment. They made the decision they felt they had to make."

"It's telling that HBO's biggest successes have not been major star vehicles; Steve Buscemi, in Boardwalk Empire, is an exception, and one who combines screen excellence with a jobbing actor's ethic. The Wire, The Sopranos and Game of Thrones are not celebrity reliant. (The latter was able to dispense with Sean Bean in the first series with no loss of steam.) At their best, such dramas resonate because, however far-fetched their premise, they tell awful, ringing, thematic truths about the world as it is, its powerplays, ironies and tragedies. Luck doesn't; it was surly, selfish men plotting obscurely about something or other, graceless on the small screen. Lesson to HBO? Next time Hollywood's ex-players come a-knocking at the stable door, pretend you've already bolted."

"Keeneland already has 200,000 Daily Racing Form pages online. It sounds like a lot until you add up the pages that remain. 'We think there's 11 million," Ryder says. "And it's still publishing.'"

"More than anything, it’s refreshing to see those so passionate about our industry willing to find innovative ways to accomplish their career goals. They are not taking the easy road by using the challenging circumstances we all face to complain about the lack of opportunity. They are creating their future in the industry on their own terms and challenging the marketplace to step up."

"Our limited run is what made me think Kentucky Confidential would be a good fit for Kickstarter. It’s an independent project, and a very defined project -- not the content so much, because we’re giving contributors a fair amount of latitude -- but in time and purpose. With its storytelling approach, the site’s something of an experiment in publishing. We’re trying to create something lasting out of an event that is so anticipated, so hyped, and then is over in mere minutes. For backers, I hope that means we’re a two-week pleasure to visit, and hopefully as memorable as whoever wins the Derby."

"In this modern world of instantaneous information, the pursuit of coverage as a literary art often falls by the wayside. Quality control is compromised. Overproduction threatens the writer's creativity. Originality is a dying pursuit. Publishing venues are also vanishing, and the interest in writing on racing in general has declined. But there are still places that seek out and feature excellent literature and unique work, and I'm pleased to introduce one of them – Kentucky Confidential, a new online magazine with a strong emphasis on high-quality literary coverage of this year's Kentucky Derby."

"In the past, DRF was simply a media company and we viewed CDI’s relationship with DRF as that of a business customer and a partner. In our role as customer and partner, CDI purchases advertising from the Form, and our locations serve as distribution outlets for DRF’s daily publication. DRF has positioned itself as a media and wagering company, drastically changing its relationship with our racetracks, OTBs, and TwinSpires.com. That change in direction gives us pause."

"It seems very short-sighted. It's a classic example of one part of racing trying to get a slightly bigger slice of the cake, regardless of how big the cake actually is, or what it might mean in a wider sense."

"There is no doubt that what you want in a magazine will change. We recognize that readers use our publication in different ways. Some of you read it cover to cover; others prefer to read the features and personality profiles first, while others jump straight to the graded stakes section to learn about the connections of the previous week’s stakes winners. Many of you have embraced the Web as a great supplement to the print magazine and dive right into its constant stream of news and information. As your habits change, we need to respond by shaping the design and content of our magazine to suit you."

"The network held off a strong challenge from Fox to sign a multiyear deal worth in the neighborhood of $9M per year to keep the rights, sources say. The rights fee was pushed up due to an unexpected bid from Fox, according to several sources. NBC's previous Kentucky Derby deal was over five years and worth $44M."

"Most recently there has been a new philosophy at NYRA when it comes to servicing media. Traditional press departments are tasked with providing information by which the press dispatches publicity on upcoming races and events and the relative condition of a circuit’s equine stars. The NYRA has developed a new approach that has created a culture of distrust between the two groups. Here are a few examples which, while it appears to be much ado about inside baseball is about more than that: The elimination of anything that’s perceived as a negative whether it‘s in the public interest or not."

"There was one troubling development during the course of this meet. Some NYRA officials have attempted to regulate the flow of information to and from the media ... the emergence of an intensified adversarial relationship could interfere with the readers’ need to know facts."

"I understand the political implications of Asmussen's job, especially since he's employed by an owner like Jackson, but I also find it frustrating that a man who benefits greatly from the presence of such a star runner in his barn should play hard-to-get with certain members of the media. Of course, Turf writers develop stronger relationships with certain individuals than others, but the respect of decent, straightforward answers to decent, straightforward questions is owed to members of the media who cover this beat on a regular basis."

"Less sport and more style. That's the winning ticket at the racetrack these days, as the horse racing industry is trying to reinvent itself in an effort to attract new, younger and female fans."

Nice! "NBC Sports’ coverage of the Derby, won by Super Saver, earned the highest overnight rating for the race in 18 years, according to data from the Nielsen Company. The 10.3 overnight rating and 23 share for the race showed a gain of 1 percent over last year’s (10.2/22) and was up 7 percent from the 9.5/21 rating in 2008, when Big Brown cruised to victory. ABC earned a 10.9/23 rating when Lil E Tee won in 1992."

PA board members discuss the iPad and how they're using it for racing. Small ideas? None that I see.

"Women, who made up 52 percent of last year’s Derby viewership, have become crucial to boosting viewership." (Related: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iqLoPl9_UtlFg9Q46ZwvsKg1wn-AD9FDU7K00 "When NBC and Churchill Downs conducted market research a few years ago to increase TV interest in the Kentucky Derby, the results were startling. Turns out, the sport of kings does well with women, too.")

And the answer can be found in Australia. "America's great dailies? They just don't get it." See also: http://publiceditor.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/28/is-the-times-ignoring-the-boxing-ring/ (Is the Times ignoring boxing?).

"This flourishing ecosystem of startups is just one sign that scientific publishing is moving from being a production industry to a technology industry. A second sign of this move is that the nature of information is changing."

"How the cult of high profits triumphed at the expense of quality, staffing and the public trust." Jim Squires, AJR, 1992. Prescient about the media business, equally so about breeding and sales? [For background, Headless Horsemen review.]

DRF profitable, says publisher.