I find this happens mostly when the horse has a question mark hanging over it about getting the distance. For example, a 7f horse, trying to get the full mile. It almost like the jockey tries to save some energy to guarantee the trip.

Certainly nothing sinister about this, and just a simple tweak needed.

I have noticed also, that when this happens, it mostly with game horses, and not those homebred.

Yeah agree the jockeys taking a pull is just overdone a bit and can be tweaked, it doesnt bother me much, what does irritate is how quick the horse slows down especially in the first few furlongs, horses stop like there shot for a few strides and this causes big problems when taking the reins, and even when just watching a race it looks silly.

a wee bit harsh but very amusing like your style luke

Wit is amusing, ignorance isn't.

There are reasons for this but it is overdone a bit. There have been a few improvements in this area in the latest patch: http://www.startersorders.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2738

Very true! It can happen to group one winners, hardly rubbish horses!

Still not sure that I see the point of trying to conserve stamina if you see your biggest 5 rivals going three lengths up in the final furlong. Conserve stamina for what? The breeding barn?

It's not a huge deal, though, and, ultimately, your best horses usually get the results that they deserve and your less good runners tend not to, it's just that the difference between the wheat and the chaff is hard to tell when it looks like your jockey is on the take. Hopefully, the new tweak will do it.

Have to admit, I've barely played my SO4 as I thought I'd wait until the various issues came down somewhat. Looking around the various threads, there seems to be an awful lot less issues than there were, looks like a great job has been done on sorting these things out. It must be an awful lot of work, it is easy to forget that sometimes.

They should only stop the whip when they are 2-3 lengths ahead before the wire. Or if they are 5 lengths off the lead. lol

From my limited play so far since this patch things are much better now. Much more noticeable over jumps than flat. Jockeys seem to be on the ball now. On a side note I am also getting much better quality fields now. It did annoy me to get low quality fields for races such as the Queen Mother (one of my favorites). I am not sure this was mentioned so good to see it seems to have been fixed.

That all sounds good.