Is racing a key component of realizing potential, or is it just a crap shoot? I have a few two year olds at 50% realized potential. Four races in and they're still seeking their maiden victory. If racing isn't a factor, I'm considering shutting them down for the year.

You need to race your horses for the realised potential to go up.

In my flat game the 2yo usually go up about 7% and then about another 7% as 3yo and about 4% as 4yo. Then the realised potential goes down at 5yo.

I have read here on the forum that some trainers flat horses don't stop going up until they are 6yo. If you horses max out at 5 or 6yo, they will have a different improvement cycle to my horses.


NH horses are different. In my jumps game the realised potential goes up at 3yo and then doesn't move until the horses are 7yo and then goes up again at 8yo.


In both codes, horses will not improve after 4 or 5 races in each year.

Some horses will never reach their maximum (dark) potential. They do still pass it down to their offspring though, so a horse with good bars, high potential but low realised potential can breed some good horses.