At the risk of starting another forum war, I think we should discuss this again.

I have moved on from scrapping the window entirely, the new trainers who have joined the league speak to its value and we may very well have a future top trainer in the making if his day one form is anything to go by, and the chance for smaller trainers to fill their teams out is also a plus.

But for the top tier shuffling the deck and bringing in more top class group horses I don’t think adds anything, if anything it detracts from the battles and rivalry’s that have played out to that point. Last season I think this played a big part in deciding the NH title race too.

So my proposal is we scrap retirements. If your team is full at the start that’s what you stick with, anyone new can join a full team and anyone with spaces can fill them too but retirements to improve I think we should abandon.

Discuss.

As a smaller trainer saying this - We cant just focus on smaller trainers all the time, If we keep disadvantaging them, they need to be occupied and finding the league fun and enjoyable. I love the window because we see has improved since the league started.

At the end of the day - its a game for everyone and they have the right to find it enjoyable.

Is an open discussion, but I am not sure I understand the disadvantage you mention?

I quite like the idea of either saying:

A) You can't transfer out any horse that has won a race.

or

B) If you do transfer out a winner you lose its wins from your current tally. Thereby at least having to pay a slight penalty for your improvement.

I mean for big trainers

i quiet like them ideas martin

TBH never really saw the need for a transfer window I think each season is a cycle
bringing in new breds should be held off to the following season

I still think there should be a window for new trainers to join

just my opinion

Should make it that new trainers can join at any stage.
I like Mart's idea that if you start the season with a full stable then you can't upload during the window. If you have empty slots, then you can.

I agree new trainers should be allowed to join whenever they like.

Another option is maybe every trainer can add horses whenever they like throughout the season, but once you get the full capacity, there's no retiring. Once a horse is uploaded, it's there for the season

My two pennies worth on this:

I didn't want to have to continue playing the game after the season had started and have only played 1 season of my game in that time. 7/10 replacements are horses I had before the season began and have simply been brought in because it is possible to do so with the upload window; the other 3 are from that additional season I played.

My preference and personal view is that the upload window should only be there for new trainers to join, or for trainers to fill empty slots within their stable. Otherwise it becomes and opportunity for trainers to swap out 5 average or poor performers (relative to their stablemates) and potentially bring in five starts that further increase or enhance their grip on the league. Every stable in real life has its stars and its mediocre horses and even some duds and so I think it's a good thing to prevent 5 being swapped out for potential monsters.

It also means that, for those who want to keep playing the game relentlessly during the league season, they have to sacrifice having a full stable for the first 6 weeks to leave to space to accommodate the new horses from week 7 onwards. This means the trainers who don't want to keep playing have the opportunity of picking up more wins in the earlier part of the season but can't then 'top up' their stable with more starts for the second half. The balance is then in tact and a window remains there for new trainers too.

Agree with Paul and Vinny also.

Wouldn't be against uploads at any point throughout the year but think once a horse is in, it is there for the season - with newly bred horses being kept for the next season. Feels like we are going to see horses that could win group 1s next season arrive and take lengths out of this season's crop. Certainly be interesting to see how many races are won by new uploads this week.

I am in only New Trainers can Upload after Season Starts i dont like the Upload Window that much like someone said its just making the Top Trainers improve stable even more but you should be able to Upload horses until your stable is Full and not be able to retire any from your stable once uploaded.

Gray

I wish we had done it for this season (even after benefitting with a win on day 1!) but hey ho, we are where we are.

Gray if you agree with the general consensus then can we just lock that decision in and agree that next season the uploads are there for new trainers to join and for people to continue filling their stable but once it is full it's full.

Seems we are all pretty much in agreement very unusual

I think the upload window should remain for new trainers. I don't agree with new trainers joining anytime, maybe leave the window open till week 2 then close it until week 7. Royal Ascot should not be tarnished by new unknown horses.

For existing trainers, either allow no uploads or reduce it to 3 new horses per stable in the week 7 window.