Question 1: After a race when a jockey says, “That was a great race. You should try for the blah blah race at blah blah,” is that just a random generated line he says or is he actually suggesting you enter a specific race that is on the calendar?

Question 2: What does the apprentice jockey do?

Question 3: What is the difference between a “Group” 1, 2, or 3 and a “Grade” 1, 2, or 3 race? Or are they the same thing?

Question 4: What does sending a horse out to grass actually do? On simple training mode, is that any different than just not racing them but keeping them in the racing stable? Do they get benefits from training if they’re in the racing stable but not racing?

Question 5: Do horse stats change daily? Weekly? Monthly? Every season? How often do they get adjusted? Or are they permanent except for potential?

Hi,

I'll try and answer your questions based on my own experiences. Others may be able to add some more.

1). Most "big" races will have a lead up race (if you go to the diary and look at the some of the big races - say the Oaks at Epsom in the UK flat schedule, you will see a couple of lead up races listed). Generally, if you place in one of those lead up races the Jockey will then tell you should try for that big race the next time. It's not always a good idea to follow though...

For example with the Oaks which is 1m4f one of the lead up races, the Oaks Trial is 1m3f. Sometimes the jockey might say you'd be better over a shorter distance, and then in the next breath tell you that you should run in the Oaks next time which is a furlong longer!

2). The apprentice jockey allows your horse to run with a reduced weight (depending on his experience this can be either 3, 5 or 7lb), which can certainly be useful if running in a handicap (or any race for that matter).

3). Group races are on the flat, Grade races are over the jumps. Generally the bigger more prestigious and higher prize money races will be the Group/Grade 1. Usually weight is given to horses for age and sex with no adjustments based on previous performances, there are however a few G1 handicaps where this is not the case. Group/Grade 2 are slightly less prestigious and usually known as weight for ages races as horses will carry weight depending on their age or previous victories. Group/Grade 3 are a step down from G2 and are usually handicap type races.

4). I've used this in the past to merely reduce the number of horses I have in my stable at any one time. I might not want to the sell the horse, but I don't want to race it for the time being. I'm not sure if there are any special benefits in regards to its fitness or training by doing this.

5). For flat horses stats will change as follows;

Potential
Realised potential (the darker of the two green bars). This will improve when you race your horse as a 2yo. The first race usually sees the biggest jump (maybe as much as 10%. After the 2nd, 3rd and 4th races it may increase 1 or 2% each race. It won't increase after the 4th race.
Absolute potential (the lighter green bar). This will increase at the start of the horse's 3rd season - for a UK save this is 12th April. If the horse has raced as a 2yo expect it to jump anywhere between 5 and 7% depending on its success as a 2yo.
Again when it races as a 3yo if there is still improvement to be had in the realised potential, this will increase by a couple of percent each race for the first 4 races.
In a UK save when the horse turns 4 on the 1st of Jan the absolute potential can increase by a further few percent depending on performance.
The absolute potential won't change then until the horse turns 9 when it will reduce by 2% each year for the remainder of its career/life
Important note: Whatever the horse's absolute potential was at birth is always the maximum it can pass on to its young when breeding
For jumps horses it follows a similar pattern in the early years (if you race it on the flat as a 2yo and 3yo). It will then have another surge of around 5 to 10% I think when it turns 7.

Cruising burst
This will drop when a horse becomes a 2yo, but will restore usually to its originally amount when the horse becomes a 3yo

Distance adaptability
If you have a horse with a large bar here expect it to decrease is it ages. Usually after its third year.
When they turn 2yo their Cruising Burst will drop (this is because they are immature), when they turn three it will in most cases return to the level it was as a yearling.

Jumping ability
For NH horses this will increase as they age and race. It might start off at 10% and then if you have a really good jumper could get to 70% or more by the time they are a 7yo