I started a jumps game yesterday and i cant get into it or enjoy it the way i enjoy my flat season. firstly the horses i start with are awful and it is really hard to make money. secondly my horses win a race easy and then in a similar standard race come last 3 times and get told theyre not good enough. my horses keep fallling in races also which is getting really annoying!!also the 2yo i buy sit until theyre 3 and then get dusted in nh flat races. the transition to hurdles makes them even worse!
am i doing something major wrong here?

Hey Hurricane, the way I play the jumps I buy 2 horses and as 2yo's race them on your home track first over the flats for 2000m 1m2f and then the second time over 3200m 2m on the hurdle for a few times give them about 16 to 18 days between races on your home track, maybe one or two steeple chase races also, you will find that when they turn 3yo's they are ready to race well the first professional race you should give them is a bumper race and then they are ready to race in a hurdle race of your desire, hope that helps mate, good luck with them.

so do you never go for the champion bumpers or anything?
are you supposed to run your oldeer horses over the gallops as well between races? One thing about the gallops is that it never seems as though they actually jump any hurdles or fences - and ive definitly bought them and specified which one I want to be used.
cheers for the help mate, really appreciate it!!

oh one more thing - why does it say the horse ran a little freely every race? i cant keep gelding every horse or I wont be able to breed!!

Don't geld unless they actually visibly run freely. It doesn't seem to make any difference. I have everything from champion Hurlder/chasers- Gold Cup/Grand National Horses.

I have to admit it would be almost impossible to start without cheating and it is so so hard to find a good horse. Quite often as I posted somewhere else if a good one is sold they have been gelded and their form has tailed off. Breeding is hard because there are so few mares and good stallions keep being gelded at random.

I use the home gallops to select the cream of the crop and sell off the rest because generally if they can't compete on the gallops then they won't be any good in the decent or even less decent races.

It's much much harder than the flat but it makes those good wins even better in my eyes.

Hey Hurricane, sorry mate just woke up lol,

so do you never go for the champion bumpers or anything?
I don't mate but every trainer as you know plays the game different then the other.

oldeer horses over the gallops as well between races?
yes you can do that but I don't

One thing about the gallops is that it never seems as though they actually jump any hurdles or fences - and ive definitly bought them and specified which one I want to be used.
When you pick the horses that you want to put over the gallops, then pick your distance then click on the hurdle or steeple chase buttons

The thingy about horses running freely is a funny thing some say that you can breed that out of your horses well when it come to breeding for the NH for me I export horses from my flat game to my NH game, and I mix breed my jumpers but to each his own, and it's a good idea to listen to what super cat says as she plays the NH more then some of us in here and she's good at it and also knows what she's talking about when it comes to NH, hope that helped a wee bit me mate.

thanks !! what do u mean by impossible not to cheat at the start? what do u do, get more money?

i was also wondering if it is normal that in my ck my flat horses trounce my jumps horses over 2m-4m hurdles and chases every time?

I said 'almost impossible' I'm sure it is possible but I was too impatient to wait...

Well for the first time in the SO series I used Art Money to insert money into my game because I found I was far too competitive to be beaten in every race in my first season! So inserted the money and bought many many many many horses, I think I have 82 atm in my 4th season but I'm in the process of selling the majority because as I said most of them just don't cut it at the top levels.

Yes that is normal. I've put a few flat horses into my game and a few that were ok on the flat but not great into my jumps game and they just walk over most of my jumps horses, not always the top ones from other trainers. But as a rule the flat horses are miles better than the jumpers.

As I said the NH is much harder than the flat and there doesn't seem to be too much you can do to make your horses better, other than get lots of money sell the cr*p and buy in some really expensive ones. Although I've found probably less than 1% of the expensive 2yo's turn into anything good. So more luck than judgement I think, but for me it makes that win in the Grade 1's all the more worthwhile.

hey super cat can you tell me how to get money by art form please?

I find the level of horses is pitched perfectly in the NH game if you're looking for a realistic game.

If you're looking to farm the G1 races and super breed for the league, then you probably need to look at something else, importing good flat horses would be a good starting point.

yeah thank you supercat i really appreicate your help! i want to get stuck into a jumps game and alternate my game time between my two seasons.
I put my flat horses against the jumps ones i got given at start of game (1 which won the champion chase) and my flat horses destroy them - so would you say that all your league jumps horses are those which you have bred on the flat?

Supercat,

A couple of questions. Firstly when you say "visibly free" is it when the jockey seems to pull the mount up and then push for a while?

When you use the home gallops how do you know if the horse has ran well, do you compare times?

If you use the search on this site and search Art Money there are a couple of really good guides about how to use it. I am by no means an expert at it and usually end up entering how much I want into every line!



Totally agree Mike, it's really hard to find the good ones just like in life. Which as I said makes those big wins even more special.



I am yet to enter the League because I felt that I was too competitive to see my really good horses get beaten by other people's who have spent much longer playing the game. The breeding is just starting to get established and I'm beginning to work out some good matches. I am awaiting the first run of my first 'flat bred' jumps horse. So I will update if you want to know when it's 3yo and will run.



I have had one who I gelded who I thought was visibly free. In his first race he started at the back, then he was leading, jockey reined him to the back again, then within another half furlong he was leading, then at the back again. Obviously by the end he had no chance. His form read 'Pulled Hard. Not settle'. Ironically this was one of the only ones Richard Johnson didn't tell me 'ran freely' But I gelded him anyway and in his next race he settled at the back, challenged at the 1.5f pole and went clear. It was an obvious difference. I have a couple of fillies/mares like it but I haven't found anything I can do with them other than run them over shorter trips which helps up to a point. I imagine it a bit like with real racing where you'd say one had run free if it had done the above.



In a sort-of-similar way to JC when I buy them at 2 they have 1 month to get fit. I then trial all of them over 2m. the stragglers will usually be the long distance horses, but those who want 2m who are tailed off will get sold there and then. 1 month later I'll trial them at 2m (for 2milers), 2m2f (For those wanting 2m4f but who I don't think will stay yet), 2m4f (2m4f horses, possibly some of the 3milers), 2m6f(3m-3m4f horses) and finally over 3m (for 3m-4m+ horses)

Those that are tailed off or who are in their correct distance but don't show any sparkle will be sold. I am usually slightly more lenient with the stayers because they take longer to develop. I'm usually left with 4-8 2yo's which I will go through the same process with in January and then again in May, finally in October when the season starts again.

Only a very small proportion of mine will run in Bumpers, usually only if they have trounced their opposition in their trials by many lengths.

Thanks for asking, I do hope it helps. I am by no means an expert but I am starting to have some success in the game by doing this. I have found it so easy to keep buying horses which might be good. You just end up with a stable of mediocre horses.

Good luck, if anyone wants to ask anything else I shall try my best to answer!!

do you guys use the gallops much on the flat season? it hink this may be something that i need to improve drastically if i want to produce better horses.
basically i run my 2yo's once when i first get them hahah. and my older horses once each season at the start.

are you not in the league supercat?