Started a new game and now have some 100% potential 3yo horses, most are crap but I thought I had improved my 1m6f horses.
When I trialed them I had 5 new horses beating my best stable horses but there were a couple of shorter distance horses that were setting the pace.
When I removed accidental pacemakers my new horses came in last and the races were 4 or 5 seconds slower.
I normally have one pacemaker for each distance when I do my trials to avoid slow run races, but with more pacemakers in the same trial race the times are even faster.
Now I'm confused, how much pace should I put in my trials to find the best horses for the league.
Would like to know if other people use pacemakers and what there thoughts are.

I don’t use them as such, but since the vast majority of my horses are front runners in reality I do.

More true for the NH over the flat.

I do use pacemakers or rather league tested 'front runners' and I think it backfires. My hold up horses are helped by this in trials and many of the races in the league are slowly run with nobody wanting to front run, when this happens I want my horse to go for it but you have no jockey command.

Next season I will trial again without pace and see what happens. Hoping that's SO8.

Because every race is different, it's impossible to predict if the race will or will not be a fast run race.

When I run trials, I usually run 8 - 10 races at each distance. Traditionally, many of my horses are race handy so no need for a pacemaker. If on the other hand, my horses were predominately hold up horses, I would run 3 or 4 trials with a pacemaker and the rest without a pacemaker.

As I said, race pace is unpredictable, I chose horses for the league that perform best in the "average" style I think league races are run.

Some races allow two entries. Sometimes, especially if I thinking about the "classics", I upload two horses with different running styles. Hopefully you have an entry in the race that can cope with fast or slow pace races.

I would never run a race without any pace in it, I think u would get totally uneven races without even 1 front runner. When I had my big games before it all crashed I'd have the opposite problem and have to many front running horses 80-90% in races and the pesky total hold horses would love that but I would soon get shot of those type of horses, never mind how much ability they had. I hate total hold up stallions and even if their are the best race horses I'll faze them out or just not bred to them .

I don't have any Hold Up horses in my two main saves. Like you I fazed them out. Early in both saves all my best horses were Hold Up or Handy. What I did do was breed Hold Up and Handy together. Now my stables tend to be about 60% Even paced and 40% Handy.

Because I have many Handy horses, I don't need pacemakers, but I agree with John, I like to see true run races. My suggestions above were aimed at someone who has mainly Hold Up horses.

If I upload two horses whose best distance is the same, I usually upload a Handy and an Even pace horse.

My love of front runners is not a game thing but real life thing. I loved dessie-run and skip-twin oaks growing up and so I like to bred that way. I think over jumps u can win from anywhere but the flat is slightly different. When a new game comes out u can have hold up horses on the flat but as the good horses turn to great/monsters then I think it becomes harder for those horses in the league . I like to rate my horses in game from back-back middle- middle- middle front -front. I like to keep that info in my books so I know what the horses are. I'll keep all my mares even total hold up horses but I'll try to only bred them to my out and out front runners so to move them up the pace angle. The good thing with this game is u'll have these stallions until they are 20 so u don't have yo use them straight away. Giolla Padraig is one of my top 4m plus horses but he's a hold up horse and so I've not bred to him yet but if he shows he's decent in league then I might have to bred to him but he'd only get front running mares.

Ah those pesky hold up horses boggest mistake I ever made was trialling with too many pacemakers at the start. I tend to make sure my trials have a horse in that sits handy an attacks early now. It’s usually a horse that was close to getting into my trials so decent. I export it again with instructions of sit handy an challenge early. This doesn’t mean the pace is too fast, but usually ensures consistent times a pace within my trials.

I only started this last season though unfortunately, an although mine are getting into races much earlier now, ( well most of them). They’re still way too reliant on pace in a race. Which just doesn’t work in the league.

To combat it a bit an start to breed it out a bit, I have started trialing as normal, then I go to a second track for trials. Usually a tight front running track. I always use stallions that win at both of these tracks. It’s too late for me to get to front running horses per se, but these tweaks seemed to have helped

I’d definitely encourage pace in trials, but defo purely no ‘force the pace’, or front run. I’d always use challenge early as the instruction for them. I have 1 or 2 in each distances trials that never really win the races but keep them honest now

I love hold up horses, they look amazing, Bonanza Boy - Rhyme 'n' Reason were my favourite 80's horses. Pretty much most of my league horses are restrained types, too late to change that.

In future will remove front runners and handy horses and trial for a second opinion.

Unfortunately in SO7 pace is one the most important factors. (too important in my opinion as it has to do with the inadequate jockey ai, which hopefully gets improved) I have used stable spots to upload pacemakers for my horses in the past. The stables that normally have front runners in the league set a slow pace not suitable for hold up horses and thus can normally win from the front (Josh and John mainly).

Best way to trial for league is to have slow pacemakers in your trials. You can then see which of your hold up horses can quicken when the pace is slow. You have to use challenge early early as an instruction as well which can backfire in league.

The other option if you think you have a hold up star is too upload a pacemaker