The beastlords that abandoned the site that was bought out have moved to
http://beastlords.demonshouse.net They're a good bunch of folks to ask bl questions of.
You'll get all kinds of answers to the 'best race' question. Kitties because they're cute, iksar for regen, etc etc, whatever. My BL is iksar, because I wanted a scaled wolf for a warder, no other reason. Regen is great to have though, has saved my tail a few times. But pick the one you like best.
Check out the spell link over there to the left. It will give you a list of spells you get at 9. Some BL spells can be bought from Shaman vendors, just so you know.
Beastlords are wisdom casters, but don't go hog wild on dumping points into wis. You're a fighter too, although your pet will be dealing a good portion (possibly majority) of the damage. I put my points into wisdom and agility, if I remember correctly.
Beastlords are a leather class. Acrylia reinforced is good armor for them, from what I've been told. I'm wearing Wu's fighting (insert name of armor piece here) and a few pieces of acrylia reinforced.
Mind you, this is advice from a 25 beastlord. The people at that site I mentioned would probably have much better advice. =)
Happy hunting