Hi guys, i'm totally new to the forum and only bought the game yesterday. I'm also not too knowledgeable about horse racing so apologies in advance.

I am playing my first game in simple training mode and had this horse with no jump skill but had a 147 rating over jumps...



I'm in season 2 and he finished 2nd in the 2m Champion Hurdle at Punchestown in late April starting 9/4f but didnt seem to put any effort in and i've noticed this a lot with my other horses when running over shorter than optimal trips. I've tried things like getting the jockey to race handy or force the pace in a bid to use his extra stamina but it seems very difficult to get a horse to win, even if they are 1f off their preferred distance.

Does anyone have any advice on things i could do to help in these circumstances or should i simply have just waited for a more suitable race and never really enter a horse in a race that far from his ideal distance?

Also, said horse is now rated 179. Racing genius i'm not, but some of the best horses at the recent IRL Cheltenham Festival weren't rated much higher than that if i recall. Do i actually have a really useful horse on my hands or have i just put him in some easy races?

If he is good, any races in particular i should target when he gets a bit older?

Many thanks
Gray

I too am no expert but I've been a huge fan of this game since SO2.

With regards to horses running below their distance, I find that handy or early pace rarely wins ( apart from predominantly downhill courses such as Goodwood or Epsom). If they are running over a shorter distance, I tend to race horses even pace and 'challenge early'. This keeps them close to the pace and starts the run for home at about 3f out instead of 2f.

Give it a go, I'm sure there are others that know better ways, but it works for me.

Good luck and have fun!!

Just interested, what difficulty are you playing on?

@bigmatt

Many thanks, i'll give it a try

@Ubar02

Easy i think, its my first game so i need some help

First off, I don't like horses with that like extreme tactics, so I don't have any horses that like to blast off early or be held up.

With everything else, I use 'don't trail' as a point of law. I always, always, use it. Regardless of whether the horse genuinely stays the distance or not.

When I need a horse to run over a lesser distance than ideal, or even it's ideal distance, I use it with 'Challenge early'. When I need a horse to race over a distance further than ideal, I don't use challenge early - if the horses cruising speed is high enough, and if the horse is good enough, it will be good enough to win assuming it isn't racing at a distance ridiculously above it's station.

If your horse is a hold up horse, the above applies. If it likes to go great guns early, I think then you should always use 'don't lead', but apply the rest of the above.

Double post...

I take it you sell your horses that require extreme tactics then?

I'll sell if they are of limited talent and no threat to me in races. The better horses I'll retire and then retire from game.

I would love to come across a quality early pace horse though. Those are fun