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Instructions (As of 8/09/04) As anyone who has played Simulated Sports Horse Racing for any length of time can tell you, this can be a very complicated game. The complexity is part what makes it fun and it to the realism of the game. But because it is so complicated, it can be intimidating for those new to it. These instructions are intended to help you understand the game. Don’t expect to master the game in a few hours, or a few weeks. Players who have played the game for years are still learning. If it all seems overwhelming, ask for advice on the Message Board The experienced simsters there are usually more than willing to help out a newcomer in distress. These instructions are intended to cover nearly every aspect of the game. I can’t promise to address every question that you may have, nor that the information contained will be still be correct in three months. The game is a work in progress, and Mike is constantly making changes. But I can promise that as of the time this was written, this is how the game works. Due to resource limitations, stables inactive for more than 3 months will be removed at my discression. General Information A lot of factors go into determining the outcome of a race: pace, distance, surface, and post position are some of the race factors. Other things include the horse’s condition, his form, and how well it takes to the trainer. Also a horse’s maturity can affect its performance. Some horses mature sooner, others later. Some may reach maturity quickly and stay there for years, others will decline quickly after age 3 or 4. A horse may run the race of its life, or it may throw in a dud for no apparent reason. Be patient in learning about your horses. You won't know all about them after just three or four starts.
Schedule The schedule for key sim happenings is (all times are USA Eastern):
Note: while some of these times are approximate, deadlines should always be regarded as firm.
Stable Screen The stable screen captures a lot of information in a small space. Most of it is fairly straightforward, but a few items need some explanation. Traveling Expenses Between Racetracks Traveling between tracks in the sim is not cheap! It is essential that you try and find tracks close to the track your horse previously raced. The links below show the monetary cost of moving from track to track. Monetary cost for movement among American tracks -- BP Cost Monetary cost for movement among Euroafrausasian (EAAA) tracks -- BP Cost Moving from American to EAAA Tracks and vice-versa is allowed. The sim-cash cost is a flat cost of $10,000. The BP point penalty for doing so, however, is that you lose any chance of earning BP's for the race you are shipping in for. Breeding Points The "Points Earned YR" and "Points Have" fields keep track of the number of breeding points you have earned and those you have available at the moment. Breeding points (or bps) are used to breed new horses (see Breeding), as the name implies. They are also used when claiming a horse from a race. See Claiming for more information. You earn breeding points when your horses finish first through fifth in their races (or simply by running in stakes races). The precise number of breeding points earned in a race is likely to change soon, so the breakdown won't be given here. At the moment, the number of breeding points your horse can earn in a race depends on several factors. Here are the important facts about earning bps:
Points Earned For Racing starting in week 2216
Penalties Shipping Penalties : Point penalties for movement among American tracksPoint penalties for movement among Euroafrausasian (EAAA) tracks If you are shipping to a Graded Stakes race or a Stakes race with a purse greater than or equal to $100,000, there is no BP cost. The sim-cash price for moving from an American track to another American track, or to move from a an EAAA track to another EAAA track is the same as before. Moving from American to EAAA Tracks and vice-versa is allowed. The sim-cash cost is a flat cost of $10,000. The BP point penalty for doing so, however, is that you lose any chance of earning BP's for the race you are shipping in for. The Exception : If you are shipping into a Graded Stakes race or a Stakes race with a purse greater than or equal to $100,000, there is no BP cost. Finally, if you earn 0 BP for racing in a race, it is NOT ELIGIBLE to be counted as a "3-Man" race (starting in week 2216). Claim Drop Penalties: If you purchased or claimed a horse within the last 120 days for more than the claiming price, and that price is $10,000 or more, the following penalty kicks in if the (Claiming Price / Purchase Price) < .70 : Penalty = INT(100 * (.7 – (Claiming Price / Purchase Price)) The price then resets to the claim price you ran for (ie : if you dropped in for $15,000, and your purchased the horse originally for $30,000, your "purchase price" would be reset to $15,000, but your 120 day expiration date would not be reset (if, however, it were claimed, the price would obviously be set to $15,000 but the purchase date would be reset) For example: If you purchase a horse for $40,000 and enter it in a $25,000 claiming race in less than 120 days, the penalty is: 25,000/40,000 = .625 INT(100(.7 - .625)) = 7 point penalty If the penalty exceeds the amount of points earned, you will receive 0 points. After the race, the horses "purchase price" would be reduced to $25,000. Maiden Penalty:
Bonuses
These apply only to non-password protected, non CPU Value claim races when your shipping BP Penalty is 3 points or less :
Final Bonus Modifiers
All Races :
Non-CPU Value Claim Races Only:
Post Auction Cap The "Post Auction Cap" shown on your stable page is the maximum amount of money that your stable can have that week after the auction is settled but before races are run. The formula for determining the cap is: Cap = $5 million + ((Amount of money you have - $5 million) * 90%) The maximum cap is $10 million. If you sell a horse in the auction for a large enough amount of money to put you over your cap, some of that money will be taken away. For example: I have $1, 450,000 in my stable. My post auction cap is $5 million. I sell a horse in the auction for $4,575,000 and do not buy any. The total amount of money I have before the cap is put in place is $6,025,000. After the cap is exercised, I will have only $5,000,000 and $1,025,000 will show up as a loss in the "Misc" column. I earn $45,000 in purses and betting, so my total money available will be $5,045,000. My cap for next week will be: $5 million + ($5,045,000-$5,000,000)*90%)= $5,040,500
A horse will run better when it is "Ready to go!" or "Sharp." A race will also take less out of a horse if it is in good condition going into the race. The more unfit the horse, the harder the race will be on it. Some horses will run a race and come up sharp the next week. Should you run the horse again or let it rest? That’s your decision. Some trainers run their horses every time they come up sharp, even if it means running 3 weeks in a row or more. Others always give their horses two or more weeks rest between races. It’s your horse, you have to choose what you think will work best.
CPU Value The other important bit of information on your stable page is the CPU value for each horse. The computer will try to determine a value for each horse based on several factors, including age, recent performance, and (for lightly or unraced horses) breeding. The minimum CPU value is $5,000; the maximum is $5,000,000. CPU value is usually quite generous and does not reflect a horse’s potential. If a horse is misplaced or runs badly, its CPU value will lower. If it runs well, it CPU value will increase. If a horse is purchased from the auction for less than its CPU value, it’s CPU value will be lowered to the price paid for it in the auction. After its next race, the CPU value will be determined exactly like any other horse's. You should not use a horse’s CPU value to determine where to place a horse. A horse with a $35,000 CPU value should not necessarily be placed in a $35,000 claiming race. If it has been misplaced, it may be competitive at a higher level. If it has been properly placed, a $35,000 claiming race is probably too difficult for it. CPU value is not worth spending a lot of time and energy worrying about. It is used in two situations: to determine eligibility for *CPU restricted races and when determining taxes for claim purchases. For more information on *CPU races, see Race Restrictions. If a horse is claimed from a race for a price higher than the CPU value, taxes will be charged. See the Taxes for more information.
Travel Costs An unraced horse may make its first start at any track without incurring travel costs. After that, travel costs become a consideration. Shipping a horse from one track to another always costs sim dollars. If the distance is far enough, there can be an associated bp penalty which will range from 0 to 13, but the penalty will never be greater than the bps earned by your horse. You CANNOT loose bps by racing a horse. A horse that has raced is stabled at the track where it ran most recently. Travel costs will be charged based on the travel distance from that track. When looking up races for your horse with the "Find Races" tool, select the track where your horse is currently stabled. When the list of available races comes up, the column one from the right will be headed "Cost from …" and give the code for the track you have selected. This column shows the cost in sim dollars and bps (the number in parenthesis is the potential bp penalty for shipping). If your horse earns more bps than the bp penalty, the bps you are awarded will be reduced by that amount. If it earns fewer, than you will receive no bps. Again, you can never loose bps by racing. For example: Your horse last raced in California and you enter it this week in a race in Ohio. You are charged $1,960 for shipping the horse. The horse earns 15 bps in the race (see Breeding Points for more information on how bps are distributed). Because you shipped from California, 5 bps are deducted, and you receive 10 bps. 15 bps earned - 5 bp shipping penalty = 10 bps awarded. Note: New stables (those with 50 starts or less) will not be charged travel costs as long as those costs would be less than $300. Travel costs of over $300 will be charged. Note: Mike’s map is unique, and costs do not always reflect the actual distance between two places. For example, you can get from Australia to England for less than $300. For a complete chart of costs from and to each track, check the Travel Matrix, available under the "Misc" section. This is a large chart, so you may need to be patient waiting for it to load.
A complete set of instructions can be viewed here.
If your horse fails to draw into a race and you believe the reason is incorrect, e-mail kingab@simulatedsports.com by 6:00 p.m. Thursday. Be sure your e-mail includes your stable name and password, the horse’s name and ID number, and the race it was entered in. A good e-mail looks like this:
Selecting Jockeys You may select up to 20 jockeys that you would like to ride your horses. To see which jockeys are available at any given track, check the "Jockey Pool" link (under the "Misc" section) then the track name. Jockeys are listed in order of their career win %. You will request a jockey by his/her ID number, so make a note of it when you find a jockey you want. Jockeys will be assigned at the same time that races are carded, so jockey selections should be entered before 6 pm Eastern time on Wednesday. You should enter the ID of your most preferred jockey first, and less preferred jockeys lower on the list. Please note that the matrix is numbered vertically, number 2 is directly below number 1, not to the right. If you hit the tab button, the cursor will go from first choice to eleventh choice then to second choice. Jockeys will not always ride your horses even if you request them. They are allowed to reject mounts! Assigning Jockeys When carding a race, the CPU will rank horses according to the ratings (or CPU) points earned over the last 52 weeks. In case of a tie, horses will be ranked according to earnings per race. Earnings of greater than $99,999 per race are treated as equals. A horse that has earned $125,000 per race will be treated the same as a horse that has earned $100,000 per race. Similarly, earnings of less than $1,000 per race are treated as equals. A horse which has earned $999 per race will be treated the same as an unraced horse. If horses are still tied, the CPU will rank them according to odds, low to high. If a race has been bid or bought, any horse’s from the stable the race was bid for are automatically put at the top of the list, regardless of any other consideration. A person who bids/buys a race will always get the jockey or jockeys of their choice. After the horses have been ranked, the computer will go through them one at a time. If the owner of the top ranked horse has selected a jockey at that track, the horse will be assigned that player’s first selection of jockey. If the player has not selected a jockey at that track, the computer will assign a jockey randomly. The computer will then move on to the second ranked horse. The horse will be assigned the jockey that the owner rated highest. If the owner requested the same jockey as the first ranked horse, then the horse will get the owner’s second jockey selection. If the owner did not make a second selection or did not sign up for jockeys at all, the computer will assign a jockey at random. The process will continue until all horses have been assigned jockeys.
Only 5 claim attempts per week are allowed. A claim attempt will not go through if it would drop your stable’s bankroll below $2,500, or if you do not have at least one open slot in your stable (a stable of 9 horses or less). When claiming a horse, you must pay both the amount of money in the race description and the bps indicated in parenthesis next to the horse¹s name. The number of bps it costs to claim a horse is based on the claiming price of the race. A horse that is making its first start in a claiming race will cost more bps. The bp cost for claiming a horse is:
BP Cost = INT(Claim Price * .002), Maximum of 150 BP The additional cost for claiming a first time starter is 15 points. Note: If a horse is claimed for more than its CPU value, taxes will be charged to the previous owner. See Taxes for more information. To enter a claim on a horse, eith click on the "Enter Claim" link from the Upcoming Races page after races are posted, or click on the "Claim Horse" link is below the "My Stable" link. Be sure to enter the horse¹s ID number in the first field, and the race number in the second. Claims will be processed in race order, not the order you enter them in the claim matrix. Races from California will always be processed first, and races from tracks with the higher numbers will be last. Note: You must use the whole 8-digit race number, including the week, when entering a claim. Why Didn't I Get This Horse? If more than one person puts in a claim for a horse, the computer will determine who wins the claim. In these situations, advantage goes to new players and players who have a horse racing at that track. If the horse was not claimed by anyone (which you can check by clicking "Recent Claims" under the Misc menu), you probably made a mistake in filling out the form or tried to claim a horse from a non-claiming race. Horses cannot be claimed from starter allowances, allowances, stakes races, or from Maiden Special Weight races. If that is not the case, it is likely that you did not have enough money (you must be left with $2,500 after a claim) or enough points (you can only go to -20 BP when claiming a horse). If you have negative BP to begin with, you cannot enter claims until you have earned more BP.
Anyone may buy a horse at the auction, as long as they have at least one empty stall in their stable. Any stable with more than 20 starts may sell a horse at the auction. Selling at Auction To enter a horse in the auction, click on the "Enter in Auction" link (below the "Claim Horse" in the "Manage Stable" section). A list of your horses will come up. Simply check the box next to the horse’s name to enter it in the auction. You may enter a reserve price if you wish. This is the minimum amount of money you are willing to sell the horse for. The reserve price may be any amount between $1,000 and $4,000,000. When entering the reserve price, enter the dollar amount WITHOUT the $ or commas. When you are finished entering horses and reserve prices, click on the "submit" button.
If you sell a horse for more than its CPU value, taxes will be charged. See Taxes for more information.
To bid on a horse, you must have at least one open slot in your stable. If you do not have an open slot, the computer will give a message telling you that you do not have any open slots. Note: If you purchase a horse in the auction for more than $100,000, the horse will be Vet Listed for at least two weeks. Vet listing of a horse is indicated by a v- next to the horse’s name on your stable page. While a horse is vet listed, it cannot race, cannot be used for breeding, and cannot be entered in the auction. Note: If horse is purchased from the auction for less than that horse’s CPU value, its CPU value will be lowered to the price paid for it in the auction or $5,000 whichever is greater. The CPU value will remain in place until after the horse’s next race.
Taxes Taxes will be charged when a horse is claimed for more than its CPU value, or is purchased from the auction. The tax for selling a horse at auction is a flat 15% tax. Taxes will NOT be charged if a horse is claimed for less than or equal to the CPU value. Only the original owner is taxed, not the purchaser. The amount of taxes charged on a claim is determined by the difference between the price paid for the horse and the horse’s CPU value. The greater the difference, the higher the tax. The tax percentage is on a sliding scale, and can reach up to 95% in extreme cases. Here are a few examples: CPU value: $10,000 Purchase Price $0 - $10,000 - No Tax Purchase Price $20,000 - Tax $1,030 Purchase Price: $50,000 - Tax $11,374 CPU Value: $15,000 Purchase Price: $200,000 - Tax $147,489 CPU Value $20,000 Purchase Price: $256,427 - Tax $256,427 As you can see, if a horse is purchased for an amount dramatically higher than it’s CPU value, very little of that money will end up in the hands of the original owner.
The Riding Options matrix allows you to give instructions to jockeys and tell the computer what week you are aiming your horse for. Intructions
Riding % Riding % tells your jockey how hard to ride the horse in a loosing effort. If you have the riding % set to 0.90 - More a Work and the horse is clearly beaten in the race, the jockey will ease the horse in the stretch. If you have riding % set to 1.00 - All Out, the jockey will ride the horse as hard as he can. . If your horse wins a race with jockey instructions of 0.90, it does not mean that the horse would have gone significantly faster if the instructions were set 1.00. This will apply to loosing efforts only! Setting the instructions to 0.9 - More of a Work does not mean the jockey will not try to win; a jockey will always ride out a horse that has a chance for a win, regardless of the instructions. A 0.90 is merely telling the jockey not persevere with a clearly beaten horse. Train For Week The Train For Week allows you to determine what week each horse is pointed towards. You may enter "train for" numbers for all of your horses, some of your horses, or none. If you leave this blank, the computer will train the horse for the next available week. There is no guarantee that a horse will come up sharp on the week you have chosen as the "train for" date. If the horse does not come up sharp that week, it is up to you to decide whether to race the horse any way or wait for another week in hopes that the horse will come up sharp. First time starters usually will not come up sharp regardless of what the train for date is set to. Most first time starters are run at "ready to go." If your horse’s condition is "needs rest" or worse, you should leave the box blank. The computer will rest the horse until it is ready to resume training. Block Claims By checking the "block claims" box, you are telling the CPU to automatically scratch that horse from any claiming race you enter it in, even if you enter the horse in a claiming race on purpose. The purpose of this is to prevent you from entering a nice horse in a claiming race by mistake. If you later decide to enter the horse in a claiming race, you must uncheck the box or the horse will be scratched. Upcoming Races Clicking on this link will bring up a list of tracks, sorted by track number. If entries have been set for the week, clicking on the track will show the conditions of the race and track and the field for the race. If entries have not been drawn, clicking on the track will show only the race number and conditions. Clicking on the race number will show the entries for each race. After entries have been drawn, this is where you need to look to find out whether the track has been effected by rain. Possible track conditions are: Dirt: Fast - no rain Wet fast - track is wet on top, but dry underneath. Good - a little moisture, but track still in good condition Muddy - track is thoroughly saturated with water Sloppy - track has standing pools of water Turf: Firm - no rain Good - a little moisture, the turf has a little extra give Yielding - the course has a significant amount of give Soft - course has absorbed a lot of water and is very soft If rain is particularly heavy, a turf race may be moved to the main track. Find Races Clicking on this link will take you to the race look-up screen. Here you can search for races for this week and the next three weeks. Use the drop down menus to specify the week to start the search from, where the horse will be shipping from, the type of race, age restrictions, sex, distance, and surface. You can also specify the claiming price for claiming races, maiden claiming, and starter allowances. When you have entered the information, clicking on "Submit Query" will return all the races that fit the description you gave.
Maiden Special - Restricted to horses that have never won a race. Also called "Maiden Special Weight" or "straight maiden." Abbreviated as MSW. Claim (or claiming) - All horses in the race can be bought for a predetermined price plus a preset number of breeding points. The number of bps it will cost to claim a horse is shown next to the horse’s name in parenthesis. Maiden Claim - Restricted to horses which have never won a race and from which all entrants can be purchased for a predetermined price plus a preset number of bps. The number of bps it will cost to claim a horse is shown next to the horse's name in parenthesis. Abbreviated as mcl. Allowance - Horses cannot be purchased from allowance races. Starter Allowance - Restricted to horses which have started for the indicated claiming price or less in the past six months. For example: a starter allowance $5,000 is restricted to horses which have run in a claiming race where the claim price was $5,000 or under; a starter allowance $20,000 is restricted to horses which have run for a claiming price of $20,000 or less in the past 6 months. A horse which has run in a $5,000 claiming race can enter the $20,000 starter allowance. The lowest claiming price a horse has started for in the past 6 months is shown on the individual horse screen as Low Claim-Tag/6 Months, with the week it most recently ran for that price in parenthesis. Stakes -The most prestigious kind of race. There are two kinds of stakes races, graded and ungraded. The most prestigious race is a grade 1, followed by grade 2, then grade 3, then ungraded. Race Restrictions Claiming and allowance races frequently have other restrictions on them. The kinds of restrictions that can be placed on a race are:
Note: The number of allowance (non MCO) races a horse has won is tracked on the horse and stable screens. The number or races a horse has won in the past 3, 6, 9, or 12 months is tracked on the individual horse screen.
Race Results The results are updated every Saturday at the same time races are posted. The results page will show the payoffs, complete order of finish, and running lines for each horse in the race. The previous week’s result will be available until the current week’s races are run.
My Credits Credits can be used to bid or buy a race or to breed a horse. Credits can be bought by credit card by clicking on the "Buy Credits w/CC" link, or through Paypal, or you can send a check to the address listed in the "Buying Credits" link. Currently (as of December 2003) you can also earn credits by writing for the Sim Racing Form. To check how many credits you have available, click on the "My Credits" link and enter your credit ID and password. The screen will show the credits you have available, as well as the "live credits." These are usually credits that you have spent to bid races in upcoming weeks or to breed a horse which has not yet arrived. If those races are bid over and not carded or if the horse cannot be bred for some reason, the credits will be added to your available credits. Any credit transfers you have been involved in will also be shown here.
Bid/Sponsor Online If you want to make sure that a certain kind of race will be run on the week and at the track you want, you can buy the race using credits. You can set the conditions, distance, and surface of races you buy or bid, within certain limitations. You must bid a race three weeks in advance. You can buy a race for a week until the upcoming races are set for that week on Sunday. Bidding Races Only the week three weeks away is open for bidding, and will be indicated by the phrase "Bidding Now Open" next to it. To bid a race, click on the Bid/Sponsor link then enter the week and track you are interested in and click "Submit Query." The next screen will show the races that are currently scheduled to be run that week at that track. The "bid" number on the left side indicates the number of credits the race cost. The second column indicates who bid the race, either *CPU or a player’s name. Be sure to check the "Bid or Buy" box on the form to bid a race. Leaving the box unchecked tells the computer you intend to buy the race, which is much more expensive. You can check the "public display" box have the name of the stable you are bidding the race for to be displayed the week the race is run. This can be helpful if you bid several races, or tend to forget which races you have bid, or if you just want everyone to know you have bid the race. Choose the kind of race and the age of horses eligible. If you are bidding a claiming race or starter allowance, choose the price from the drop down menu, from $2,000 up to $150,000. Set any restrictions you wish the race to have and choose whether the race will be restricted to female horses only. Finally, set the distance and surface you desire. Enter your credit ID, password, and the name of the stable you are bidding the race for. Click "Submit Query." Note: Players are not allowed to bid claiming races for 2 year olds. This is to prevent players from bidding excessive number of claiming races for 2 year olds for the purpose of claiming horses from the CPU. The next screen will show your available credits and live credits (explained above) and the races currently scheduled for the track that week. Scroll down and you will see the description of the race you requested. Be sure to double check to make sure that you have entered the information correctly. Once you click "Accept" no changes will be made. The default bid is the minimum bid necessary to add your race to the card, or the minimum for that kind of race. The following races have preset minimum bids: Claiming races (including maiden claiming) for fillies and mares - minimum bid of 25 *CPU restricted races - minimum bid of 50 You may increase this minimum bid or accept it. To add the race you want to the schedule, you will need to bid at least equal to the lowest number on the screen (if it is a CPU carded race) or 1 credit higher (if it is a player bid race). Races are carded according to the number of credits bid for them. For example: The top race on the card is 23 credits, and the lowest 11, all *CPU races. A player bids a race for 11 credits, and his bid bumps off the lowest *CPU race. His race is now the lowest bid race. Another player later bids 20 credits for a different race. The first player’s race will be bumped off the card, and a 12 credit race *CPU race will now be the lowest bid. Most tracks have several races bid every week. If you bid so your race is the lowest on the card, there is a chance that another player who bids a higher amount will bump it off the card. It is up to you to balance the desire to get your race carded against how much you are willing to spend to get the race. Once you have clicked on the "Accept" button, your race will be carded. You cannot make any changes to the race after clicking the button, and the race will not be removed. Be sure to verify the information before accepting the race.
Buying Races Buying a race guarantees that your race will be carded. When you buy a race, you can also increase the purse increment or choose to make the race owner restricted. In addition, you can name a bought race and have special graphics associated with the race. If you want to purchase a stakes race, the race cannot be bid and must be bought. A race may be bought for any week that is available on the drop down menu, including the week that is currently open for bidding. When you have chosen the week and track you want, click "Submit Query." If the week is not currently open for bidding, the list of races will be restricted to "Locked" races which cannot be bid over (stakes races or races which have been bought by other players) and races bid by players for that week. If it is the week that is currently open for bidding, all races currently carded for the track that week will be shown. Fill out the form as you would for a bid race, but leave the "Bid or Buy" box unchecked if the week is currently open for bidding. If it is not open for bidding, the "Bid or Buy" box will not be displayed. You must buy a race to add it to the schedule for any week other than the one currently open for bidding. Note: Players are not allowed to bid claiming races for 2 year olds. This is to prevent players from bidding excessive number of claiming races for 2 year olds for the purpose of claiming horses from the CPU. If you wish to make the race owner restricted, check the "password protected" box. It costs an additional 500 credits to make a race owner restricted. You may also increase the purse increment, if you wish. Increasing the purse increment by +1 costs an additional 300 credits, +2 costs an additional 600 credits, and +3 costs an additional 900 credits. When you have selected the conditions of the race, click "Submit Query." The next screen will show the conditions you have chosen for the race and how much it will cost to buy the race. You may not change this amount, it is determined by the choice of race and conditions you have chosen. There will be a drop down menu that allows you to decide how many horses can run in the race, from 14 to 20. There will also be three boxes which will allow you to name your race, link it to your website, and include a banner for your race on the "Upcoming Races" link when the race is carded. Once you have clicked on the "Accept" button, your race will be carded. You cannot make any changes to the race after clicking the button, and the race will not be removed. Be sure to verify the information before accepting the race.
My Sponsor If you have bought a race which is owner restricted, information about that race will be available here when the race is listed under the "upcoming races" link. This will happen only when your race will be run on the nest Saturday. You can request passwords here. For more information about buying races, click on the "Sponsoring Races" link. To bid or sponsor a race, click on the "Bid/Sponsor Online" link.
Transfer Horses Players may transfer a horse from one stable to another by clicking on the Manage Stable link, then on Transfer Horse. A list of horses that can be transferred will be shown. To be eligible for transfer, the horse must be a homebred and must be unraced. There must be an open slot in the stable you are transferring the horse to. To transfer a horse between stables, click on the box in the "Transfer?" column, and then enter the name of the stable you wish to transfer the horse to. You must request the transfer before 6p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday. When a horse has been assigned to transfer, it may not be raced and it may not be entered in auction. Horses will appear in their new stable after Saturday’s update.
Betting All wagers are placed from the betting screen, at the far right hand side after logging in. To place a bet, start by entering the complete race ID, including the four-digit week number. Enter the amount you want to wager, with no dollar sign, comma or period. To wager twenty dollars, simply enter 20. To bet a horse to win, enter the horse’s post position number in the first column. To bet a horse to place, enter the number in the second column. To bet a horse to show, enter the number in the third column. You may bet a horse to win, place, and show by entering the same number in all three columns. When making a win place or show bet, enter only one horse. If you want to make win, place, or show bets on more than one horse, you will need to place your bet on the first horse then click "Place your wager!" then bet on the second horse. Note: Wagers must be placed using a horse’s post position number, not the ID number. Using the ID number will not work and could result in your stable being charged for bets you didn’t make. Note: If you enter the post position numbers of two or three different horses in different columns, you will be given an exacta or trifecta bet, not win, place, or show bets. You must submit the form multiple times to make win, place, or show bets on more than one horse. To place an exacta or trifecta bet, enter the post position number of the horses you want to finish first in the first column, those you want to finish second in the second column, and the horse you want to finish third in the third column. You may have more than one horse in each column. A wager will be placed on all possible combinations of horses. Example: You want to make a $25 boxed exacta bet with two horses, the number 2 and 7 in race 1943.3314. Enter 1943.3314 for the race ID and 25 for the bet amount. Enter the numbers 2and 7 in the first column and again in the second column. Click "Place Your Wager!" You have made the following bets: $25 2-7 $25 7-2 You have bet a total of $50. To bet a $25 three horse boxed exacta on the 2,5, and 7, put the three post positions numbers in both the first and second row and click "Place Your Wager!" You have made the following bets: $25 2-5 $25 2-7 $25 5-2 $25 5-7 $25 7-2 $25 7-5 you have bet $150. If you wish to bet the same three horses in a trifecta, you would need to fill out the form separately for the trifecta wager. You cannot bet a trifecta and an exacta on a single form. To make a trifecta bet using the 5 and 7 horses for first and second and all the horses in the race for third, enter the 2 and 7 in the first two columns and all the post positions in the third. The computer will register all possible combination of these horses. If the race has 8 horses, you would bet the following combinations: 5-7-1 5-7-2 5-7-3 5-7-4 5-7-6 5-7-8 7-5-1 7-5-2 7-5-3 7-5-4 7-5-6 7-5-8 If you again entered 25 for the amount, you would bet a total $300 dollars for these combination. As you see, exacta and trifecta wagering can add up fast if you want to include several horses in your wager, so be careful when placing these wagers. When placing bets, make sure that every post position number you enter actually has a horse assigned that number. If there is no horse with that post position number, you may be charged for a bet that can’t possibly win. Limits The maximum amount a stable can bet in a week is $2,500. All bets made after the initial $2,500 is bet in a week will be ignored or will be losses. If a player makes a bet that would put the total bet over $2,500 the bet will be scaled down. For example, if you have bet $2,000 and try to make a $1,000 win bet, the bet will be reduced to $500. If a bet that has been scaled down wins, the payoff will be based on the reduced amount, not the amount originally entered. The most a win, place, or show bet can payout is $10,000 over the amount originally bet, regardless of the amount originally bet. The most an exacta or trifecta can payout is $50,000 over the amount originally bet, regardless of the amount bet. The most a stable can make in a single week through betting is $250,000 over the original amount bet. Any winnings over this amount will be taken in taxes. These limits were put in place because players were winning huge sums of money through betting and this was causing an assortment of problems in the game, generally referred to as sim dollar inflation. To reduce this sim dollar inflation, changes were made to make it harder to earn large amounts of money by betting. Breeding To breed a new horse, you must have enough bps to pay for the breeding you desire. You can breed a horse using an existing horse’s pedigree, using a retired mare, or you may breed from scratch. However you choose to breed a horse, you will have to pay the full cost of the sire of the new horse. The cost and the ID number of available sires can be found using the Horse Ticker. To use the horse ticker:
The computer will return a list of the first 10 horses matching the information you entered. The chart will show the horse’s ID number, complete name, and the current cost to use the sire, as well as the cost in 6, 12, and 24 hours. If breeding has not yet started for a particular sire, the chart will show ??? instead of an amount and the approximate number of hours until the sire is available. The mose expensive sires will start around 500 points and decrease through the week based on the number of runners by them which already exist in the game and their quality as a sire. If you want to use a horse without waiting for it to begin breeding for the week, it will cost 1000 points. The last column will indicate whether a sire is available for use as a credit breeding. A sire may be used for a credit breeding only once per week, regardless of position in the pedigree. If that horse has been used this week, you must wait until next week to use it for a breeding from credits. Note: You may breed to an existing mare or a retired mare using credits, even if the horses in her pedigree have already been used for a credit breeding.
Breeding Using an Existing Horse If you wish, you can use an existing horse’s pedigree to create a new horse. Horses bred in this way will take on some of the characteristics of the parent. A well bred horse that has performed well on the track is most likely to produce an offspring that will run well. A well bred horse that has not performed well is less likely to produce a successful runner. Breeding When you breed a horse, you will need to enter a name for it. The game does not allow multiple horses to have the same name, so you may want to check at Coker’s Utilities to see if the name you want to use has been taken. If the name you enter has already been taken, the computer will add a II or too or again, to the end of it. This can turn out some odd names, so it is always worthwhile to try to avoid duplicating names. To breed this way,enter the ID number of the horse whose pedigree you wish to use in "ID of Horse to Eliminate" field and check the box "Use Eliminated Horse." Enter the number of the sire you wish to use and a name for the horse in both fields if you do not want to choose the gender of the offpsring. If you want to choose the gender, enter a name on only one line. Click "Submit form." The next screen will show the names you have chosen and the name of the horse you are eliminating. Next to "Use Horse For Breeding" it should say Yes. It will also show the age of the horse to be bred, either 2 or 3. Below that will be box showing the pedigree of the horse that you are creating. The first line will show the sire you chose, how much it will cost to use that sire, and the number of breedings still available for the sire this week. Below that will be the pedigree information from the horse you are eliminating. Note that there will be no cost or breedings available shown. This is because cost of the breeding is determined by the horse you are using, and this breeding will not count against the breedings available for these sires. Cost The costs for breeding to an existing horse are determined by the age, gender, and number of races the horse has run. The horse's pedigree has no affect on the cost to breed using an existing horse. An expensive pedigree will not cost more and an inexpensive pedigree will not cost less. The costs for breeding are:
The cost of the sire of the new horse will be added to these charges. For example: You want to breed a 2 year old sired by Thunder Gulch using the pedigree of an existing horse in your stable. The horse is a 6 year old mare with more than six starts. Thunder Gulch currently costs 225. Breeding this horse will cost you: 50 points (using a female) + Thunder Gulch’s cost of 225 = 275bps. If the horse you wanted to use was a 4 year old male with only 4 starts, the cost would be: 125 (breeding with a male) + 250 (pushing the envelope) + 100 (fewer than 6 starts) + 225 = 700 bps Note: If the horse you use for breeding is a mare 5 years old or more, she will not be eligible for breeding as a retired mare until the following year. Breeding using a retired mare Starting in week 1971, retired mares will be available for breeding. When breeding to a retired mare, you must always add a new horse to your stable; you cannot breed over an existing horse. You must have room in your stable for the new horse (have 9 horses or fewer) at the beginning and end of the week. You can only add one horse to your stable per week, this includes horses bred from scratch as well as horses bred using a retired mare. What mares can be used for breeding? There are two exceptions to the Previous active owner rule:
Breeding To breed to a retired mare:
Note: The historic grade of the mare is not directly factored into the ability of the of the offspring. The grade is a reflection of the mare’s on track performance and is useful as a searching tool but may not reflect the mare’s actual ability. If a mare is retired before being given the opportunity to run in a graded stakes, for example, she may have been a better racehorse than this grade indicates. It is the mare’s actual ability that is a factor in the ability of the offspring. At this point you will see one of three things beneath the list of the previous active owners:
If you get a message that a breeding is pending, this means that someone has already used the mare for breeding this week. The mare will probably produce the offspring the following week and no more breedings will be allowed for the year. If the message states that you are not eligible to breed to the mare or the mare has already been used for breeding, then the mare has either already produced a runner this year (which can be validated by checking under its Progeny section) or the stable you are logged into was not a previous active owner and it is not yet October (of 2004 or later). If you are able to breed to the mare, clicking on the button will take you to a screen asking you to enter a name for the foal, both male and female, and the sire ID to breed to. There may also be one or two black boxes near the top of the screen telling you that breeding has not begun for the week or that breeding to the particular mare you have chosen has not begun for the week. The box will give you an estimated time that the breeding will begin. Note: You cannot choose the sex of the horse by leaving a box blank. When you breed a horse, you will need to enter a name for it. The game does not allow multiple horses to have the same name, so you may want to check at Coker’s Utilities to see if the name you want to use has been taken. If the name you enter has already been taken, the computer will add a II or too or again, to the end of it. This can turn out some odd names, so it is always worthwhile to try to avoid duplicating names. After filling out the form, click the "enter" button. The following screen will give you information on whether or not the breeding you entered will be allowed to take place. If there is an error in the breeding, it will tell you what is wrong (for example: sire already used too many times, duplicat horse name, etc). If everything is good, you will be given the cost and a confirmation button. Once you confirm the breeding, you will be given a final confirmation on if the breeding was able to take place. (There is a chance that someone else bred to the mare while you were waiting to confirm). If you are given the final confirmation, the mare will be changed to Pending status. As long as you have room to create a horse at the week’s end and enough points/credits to allow the breeding, you will be given the offspring of the horse on the following Sunday. Note: Mares are available to Previous Active Owners on a first com, first serve basis. All the Previous Active Owners have an equal chance to use a mare. Note: All breedings to retired mares produce 2 year old offspring. You cannot produce a 3 year old. Cost When breeding to a retired mare, the cost is the entire cost of the sire, plus half the cost of the mare’s sire, plus one-quarter of the cost of the mare’s dam’s sire. This half of what it would cost for the dam’s sire and dam’s dam’s sire if you were breeding a horse from scratch. For example: You want to breed to a mare whose sire is Theatrical(IRE) and dam’s sire is Red Ransom. Theatrical(IRE) costs 320 and Red Ransom costs 280. The sire you have chosen is Galileo, who currently costs 275. The cost of the foal would be: 275 + 320/2 + 280/4 = 275 + 160 + 45 = 480 Breeding the same horse from scratch would cost 735 points. Note: The minimum cost for breeding to a retired mare is 100 points. Breeding from Scratch If you breed a horse from scratch, you can eliminate a horse of any age or gender to create a new one at no extra cost. You must own the horse you choose to eliminate and it must not be in the auction. If you wish to breed a horse without eliminating one from your stable, you will have to pay an extra 50 bps. To find out how much a sire costs, you can check the horse ticker. Enter all or part of the name of the horse you want to use as a sire, and the computer will list the first ten horses that match that name. The current cost of the horse is shown in the left column. The other columns show how much the horse will cost to use if you wait for a while before breeding. The number shown in the ticker is how much it will cost to use a horse as either sire or dam’s sire. The cost of using a sire as dam’s dam’s sire is half the amount shown on the ticker, rounded down. For example: you want to breed a horse with the lineage Real Quiet x Storm Cat x Seattle Slew. Real Quiet is currently 108, Storm Cat is 130, and Seattle Slew is 141. The cost to breed a horse with this lineage is: 108 + 130 + 141/2 = 108 + 130 + 70 = 308 bps When breeding a horse, you will need to enter the number of the sires you are using. This is the number to the left of the horse’s name. Note: If you retire a mare 5 years old or older by eliminating it from your stable without using it for breeding, it will be treated like any other retired mare. Previous owners could breed to that mare as early as the following week. If it is October-December or 2004 or later, any player can breed using the mare. If you want to breed to a mare that you are retiring, you should do so directly by breeding to an existing horse instead of trying to come back and breed later. Bargain Breds If the horse you create costs less than 100 points to breed, whether breeding from scratch or using an existing horse’s pedigree, it is a "bargain bred." The cost of breeding this horse will be halved, to a minimum of 25 points. For example: You want to breed a horse with the lineage of Cash Attack x Night Club x Smooth Stuff. The total cost would be 12 bps (Cash Attack) + 29 bps (Night Club) + 22/2 bps (Smooth Stuff) = 12 + 29 + 11 = 52 /2 = 26 bps If the cost was even lower, the breeding would be: 2 bps (Cash Attack) + 9 bps (Night Club) + 11/2 (Smooth Stuff) = 2 + 9 + 5 = 16/2 (bargain breeding) = 8 bps Because the minimum cost to breed a horse is 25 bps, the cost is then adjusted upward to 25 bps. You may breed only one bargain bred per stable per week. Credits may not be used to create a bargain bred.
Breed Horse When you breed a horse, you will need to enter a name for it. The game does not allow multiple horses to have the same name, so you may want to check at Coker’s Utilities to see if the name you want to use has been taken. If the name you enter has already been taken, the computer will add a II or too or again, to the end of it. This can turn out some odd names, so it is always worthwhile to try to avoid duplicating names. If you want to choose the gender of your new horse (only a colt or only a filly), you may do so for an extra 500 bps. To do this, enter the name only on the line of the gender you want your new horse to be, the top line to ensure a colt, the bottom line to ensure a filly. When you have selected the lineage you want, gotten the numbers of the sires, and chosen a name for the new horse, click on the "Breed Horse" link to bring up the breeding screen. Enter the name of the new horse and the ID number of the horse you are eliminating (if any). Select the age of the new horse (2 year old or 3 year old). If you want to use the pedigree of the horse you are eliminating, check the box to "Use Eliminated Horse," otherwise leave it blank. Then enter the ID numbers for the sire(s) you are using. (If you are using the pedigree of an existing horse, you will only need to enter the sire’s ID, and leave the dam’s sire and dam’s dam’s sire blank). Click on Submit Form. The next screen will show the name of the horse that will be created, the horse you are eliminating, whether you are using that horse’s pedigree and the age of the horse to be created. Below that will be a box showing the sires you have chosen and their cost. If all the information you entered makes sense, below that box will be the cost breakdown and the total amount the horse will cost. Sire costs update every 15 minutes, so the cost may be slightly different than what you calculated earlier. This screen will also tell you if you currently have enough bps to create the horse you decide. You have 15 minutes to accept the breeding you have selected. If you do not act within 15 minutes, the choices will be nullified and you will need to re-enter the information. If you decide to continue and you have enough bps, the horse you chose to eliminate will be removed from your stable along with the bps for the selected breeding and your new horse will appear in your stable. This typically happens on Sunday. Error Processing Request So you submitted a breeding and got the message "Error Processing Request:…" What’s going on? There are several reasons why a breeding won’t be allowed to go through. The sire may not yet be available for breeding, you may not have enough bps or credits, or you may have tried to breed a horse the computer regards as too inbred. Or you may have gotten the message: Dam Sire not eligible to use for selected sire. What does this mean?First, remember the game "thinks" the date is 3 years in the future. This allows horses that have just entered stud to have 2 year old offspring in the game. This also means that the game thinks the offspring of the dam’s sire and dam’s dam sire is 3 years older. Sim dams can only breed through age 23. Check the dates that the sires you want to use stood at stud, and you may find that the youngest possible result of the dam’s dam sire would have been too old to produce a foal by the dam’s sire you selected. Or the dam’s sire you chose may have been too old to breed to the youngest possible mare produced by the dam’s dam sire you chose. You can try rearranging the horses in the pedigree or replacing one or more of them to come up with a breeding that computer will accept. How Do I Know… One of the most common questions asked by experienced players and newcomers alike, is how do I know what this horse will like? Turf or dirt? Sprints or routes? Off tracks or fast tracks? There is no easy way to answer these questions. Some players know more about pedigree and may be able to give some suggestions, but the only way to know for certain is to try something and see if the horse likes it. Pedigree does not always run true, in the sim as in life. Horses bred to for 10 furlongs sometimes want to sprint, and horses bred for the turf sometimes prefer dirt. Finding out the abilities of your horses is part of your job as a sim trainer.
General Information You have probably noticed that there is very little in the way of "advice" in the instructions. This is by design. For many players, part of the fun is learning the game as they play, making mistakes and using what they learn to improve their play in the future. Besides, any advice would be purely my own opinion and other players often disagree with me. You will need to learn what works best for you and your horses, not what has worked for mine. If you want to short cut the learning process as much as possible, click around on the "articles" links and on the links under Tipsheets/links in the Forums menu. You will find some good information here. Some of it is a bit out of date, but is generally still relevant to the sim as it is today. Don’t be shy about asking questions on the message boards. Players are always willing to help out with opinions and advice. (Thanks to deltatiger for writing this quick start guide!) |