Ill be new to the league and there are probably a few others aswell so just wondering if anyone has any tips on starting out. And a few questions from myself.

Are times important in the race builder? Can you tell if a horse will be competetive in the league purely based on times?

Does how many times a horse has run in the game effect it in the league. Like, are you better lightly racing them in the game or does it make any difference?

Best time to export from the game, before a run? after a run? after a few runs?

Has anyone thought they had a pure beast but it got well beat in the league?

Any tips are welcome

i am gonna be new to league this time around too. I do know they say the best time to export is when your bars are at their highest (fitness, condition) And usually just before a race is the best time to export.
But your other questions i too am waiting for the answer.

Hope this helps

the following advice to you new players comes from a trainer who experienced 8 or so weeks of the last season which ended prematurley:

my horses that ran in week 1 pretty much all got stuffed. if your horses run badly dont let it put you off the league, i was frustrated at how bad my horses were but they do get better and you will end up getting winners and good runners. stick with it!!

dont worry about times in the race builder, like jackdaw said, just upload your best and most consistent performers!!

from what i have learned it is best to export 3yos and upwards around august time, and 2yos in september, however i think the only must is that you export the horses when the green bar is full!!

maybe the league will seem a bit easier if the likes of crazyboy esa and jay arent racing, but dont go into it with high expectations because it is very difficult. The best result i got on flat was 5th in a group 2 and on the nhc 3rd in the champion chase. even this time around i wont be expecting too much, because i dont think my progression in game with horses is as good as some of the other trainers who will know the game better than us newbies.

but good luck, im looking forward to racing you guys!!

also, i know this may seem obvious but i will state it just incase any new trainers find it helpful:

try and be reasonable with your targets - dont race your horses just for the sake of it. find them a nice suitable race and maybe pick up a few nice wins in some handicaps and banded races!!

trial your horses thouroughly over a few different courses and on different ground. during the week where nominations are open, run your horses in the ck over the specified conditions that they will have to negotiate during the race to see which horse will be best suited for the race. if you are lucky enough to have group race standard horses, trial them at epsom to see if any like the track and could race in a classic, as the results at epsom in the trials are very different to at ascot (for example). and as another example, your best miler may not be your best miler on soft ground at newmarket, so if they were the conditions you would be best off racing another horse who will be more suitable.

again, i know this is all probably obvious, but just incase it helps anyone!!

also the best tracks to trial sprinters are haydock, yarmouth, redcar, and newmarket, tracks where there is no draw bias!!

Thanks for the advice guys, appreciated.

Some of the big boys probably dont want to give away any secrets lol

Not exactly, but times IN GAME are. However, the ground has a big impact and so does the pace of the race. When trialling make sure you have a horse that sets a steady pace.



Don't think it makes any difference at all.

edit: actually, I once had a horse that was good for 2 races then was rubbish. Obviously, that one never made it to the breeding barn but you'll definitely want to export those types early



Definitely when it's maxed on the green bar. I export in August though, mid season.



More times than I care to remember.

Dont get confused when uploading your horses make sure you put all information in correctly the first time of doing it, will save staff time having to alter mistakes!

Distance will be asked when uploading horse file, this is the distance it will be running at in the league and not the distance recommended for the horse ie If you got a 1m horse but its best performing over 6f in the race builder then 6f is what you enter it as!

Consistency in the race builder is the best way to go when entering your horses.

So many horses flop when you think you may have a beast dont get disheartened keep going!

Make sure bars in green are at MAX when exporting.

also make sure when you upload horses you upload them with the correct rating. if they are the same as last season they are,

uk - 75

us - 80

nhc - 100

Rich can you sticky all the important stuff for league at the top and get it locked so only you can add to it, new trainers will then be able to follow the information to register ETC... Links for Tom and SOPL info should be put there!!

Is TOM ready yet or do the fixtures have to be changed first?

I have sticky-ed this for you.

I did go through a couple of months back and sticky a couple of threads I thought might be useful for new players so have a look through the current sticky's too. I don't think you can lock a thread so that only on person can post in it. (I might be wrong) Unless as a moderator you can keep locking and unlocking it but that seems a bit long winded!

What sort of times are you looking for in game,

Ive got a miler who won the Lockinge on hard in 1.33.85

A sprinter who clocked 53 flat on hard on the gallops.

Handicappers?

You never know...could be a group winner with the right conditions.

Don't use game times as a guide, I had a miler that won the Lockinge in a faster time than your 1:33.85 and it wouldn't even make it into my top 20 milers now, use the CK over different courses and goings to find your best horses.

Well mine are slower than that so I've got no chance!