The Daily Racing Form began publishing as a 4-page newspaper in 1894 in Chicago. Originally, the Form reported the results or 'form charts' of horse racing at major tracks in the United States, Cuba, and Mexico. In 1971, the Daily Racing Form absorbed the entertainment broadsheet, The Morning Telegraph, to become the Eastern Edition of the Daily Racing Form. The Western Edition emerged in 1984. Today, the DRF publishes over 2,000 pages of editorial and statistical content 364 days a year.
The Daily Racing Form collection at the Keeneland Library comprises approximately 3,700 hardbound folio volumes in 3 editions representing more than 113 years of racing history. Included are the Eastern, Midwestern, and Western editions of the Daily Racing Form as well as the long-established entertainment broadsheet, The Morning Telegraph. When The Morning Telegraph ceased in 1971, the Eastern Edition of the Daily Racing Form became the premier daily representing the tracks on the east coast.
In 2007, the Keeneland Association and the University of Kentucky Libraries formed a partnership to develop a preservation and access plan for the Keeneland Association's nearly complete collection of the Daily Racing Form and its predecessor title, The Morning Telegraph.