After the season finishes I will be looking at the schedule again.

I notice in week 11 the 40-70 handicaps have a poor turn out, so I will look at making the bottom rated handicaps 50-80 races or as below 50-70 races.

I will also look at closer bracketing of handicaps as suggested a few weeks ago e.g 90-110, 70-90, 50-70.

I think this would work better then handicaps dont overlap as they did during the current season e.g. 60-90 and 70-100.

Also more players will run horses as top weights. Using this new system horses rated 80 would have to run in 70-90 races instead of 80-110 where they have a big advantage.

Maiden races with also be looked at.

Any thoughts on other areas will be looked at closely.

I would appreciate your comments, but ultimately I will only make changes that are for the overall good of all players.

Thanks

Steve

These are all good ideas. I don't have one horse rated under 70. In part because I started a week later. The odd maiden through the season would be good.

Will have way more stayers next season

Yes more maidens through the all season Flat and Jumps more jump races if possible sometimes we get 25 races where the flat gets 35 being my first season i dont know why must of been a reason for it i will only go jumping next season as my flat horses have struggled badly and i am so far behind in breeding than you guys it shows lol i dont think we had many novice chase Handicaps this season perhaps more novive handicaps hurdles/chases could fill up more races on the NH side.

Gray.

Yes l agree with maidens. I would like to know if the new horse distance rule is coming in?? Believe rich was think on the flat a horse could only go up or down 1f. For instance if it runs its maiden race at 6f then its next race at 5f then that is it for the whole season either 5f or 6f would be scratched if entered in a 7f race. Love this idea. If this is implemented would defo want 3 weeks of maidens or if TOM is sorted 2 divisions in all races in the first 2 week maidens. Looking at it steve 2m4f hcaps are not getting many runners as they are rated too high. Maybe dont have any staying listed or group races until week 6 and move hcap races into first few weeks??

Agree with the closer bracketing of handicaps.

The main problem with the first 2 weeks of maidens is that they are run on all weather tracks where the draw is everything and results in too many horses getting a false rating, either too high or too low. IMO these maidens should be run on straight tracks up to 1m e.g. Yarmouth, Redcar, and beyond 1m at tracks where there is a run of at least 2f, preferably 3f, to the first bend e.g. Thirsk for 1m1f.



I would hate this idea and I'll try and give an example from my US stable from last season. Free For All was best in my 2 yo trials at 7f, just about lasted 1m but didn't stay a yard further. He was uploaded as a 7f horse and ran like a donkey at that trip in 3 runs. He was then stepped up to 9f (can't remember which week) because there were no races at his preferred distance and I had no other horse eligible for this particular race. There was no 9 run rule in operation and I thought "what the heck, he can't do any worse" so I stuck him in thinking he'll run ok for a mile and walk the last 1f. Anyway he won and I think he went the rest of the season unbeaten at 9f including one of my first ever grp 1s. If the 1f rule was in effect, he would never have got the chance to show his best in the league.

Alot of trainers in reality ran horses at the wrong distance Sir Mark presscott as always done it but i agree with the system we have in the online league game at the moment where we have 2f either side and the NH 4f either side although after 3m 4f you should be able to ran up to 4m 4f as we all know RED RUM was a sprinter i believe on the flat but won the National 3 times.

One idea is to have a two maiden start rule. You can run your horse in two maidens at different distances. If your horse then competes in a handicap it will need to have run in a race distance identical to one of the maiden runs. For example you can run over 5f and 6f as a maiden. These will then be the only two distances you can compete at if entering a handicap.
Your handicap rating will be based on your horses best performance.
Obviously this rule does not apply to listed or group races.
Maidens will need to change to accomodate this, the best idea is to have a number of divisions for each maiden, on more suitable tracks - possibly Newmarket.

In answer to Kevin, your horse would still be allowed to run over 9f in a listed or group race after running at 7f and 8f. Only really handicaps that are causing concern at the moment.

...but we will look at everything after the season closes.

Keep the ideas coming in.

I agree with the handicap bands being a lot closer and the maidens being run on straight, where possible, tracks. Obviously not all distances can be but when we get to 10f+ then Newmarket still only has one bend or use more galloping tracks.

Another thing would be some listed and Group3 races over most distances in the last couple of weeks. I've had a few horses running in handicaps over the season and those that have won are now struggling for races. This could be helped with the handicap bands closer but it would also nice to run a horse in handicaps that improves into listed class, like in real life. A lot of mine are rated over 100 which is too high to win a handicap but are well outclassed in the G1/2 races.

Id also like to get some sort of FAQ together for new players or those struggling. I've learnt a lot in one season and im sure those who have played many seasons could help me and everyone. Ie having a balanced stable, some breeding tips, how to best place your horses, ck trials etc etc

Scrap what I wrote before:

New flat schedule changes will appear on a new thread.

Steve