The ABC's Of Training Your Virtual Horses On Racelubs.com To Virtual Victory This Season

Training fulfils two purposes. It gets a horse fit as you know. A horse will gain anything between 2% to 5% fitness in Training.

Secondly, it is used to assess the ability and race preferences (distance, surface, equipment) of a horse for better race selection.

Generally, the greater the distance ahead of the training horse, the more excited you will be. Your goal is to maximize this distance, but it is not all about absolute distance.

All horses have a best distance and will usually also run very well on distances close to their best distance.

Generally, the longer the distance, over which the horse is trained, the greater the potential training distance result over the training horse. So, 4 lengths at 1200m is better than 4 lengths at 2850m. In this case the horse would definitely be a sprinter, performing best over shorter distances.

A simple comparison of training results for 3 horses may be as follows:

You will quickly get a feel for this like in any game of skill.

Tip – use the All option on training distance and keep all other variables constant. This will cycle through all distances to effectively find the best distance. Do likewise for track surface once you have data for distance. Remember that the fitness also changes with each run, so you have to build a feel for the impact this has on training results. As your knowledge grows, so too will your skill in game play develop.

Each horse differs in the degree to which it responds to application of performance enhancing equipment. Products can substantially improve the performance of some horses.

Blinkers help some horses focus and run faster. They may also irritate your horse and make it slower.

Run training gallops over the same conditions (distance, going, surface) both with and without blinkers. Make sure the application of other products is constant.

Compare the training results over a number of runs. If the horse returns greater training lengths on average without blinkers then keep them off for racing. It may seem straight forward but many trainers do not assess this correctly.

From the horse details page (click on your horse name to get here), click on the check box next to each product. Alternatively click on the + symbol below the required product on the Stable page.

Now that you have determined the preferences of your horse through training and equipping with performance-enhancing products, you are ready to select suitable races to enter into.  Selecting a suitable race on the race card plays a large role in the result for your horse.

Race distances are generally classified as follows:

• Sprinter – 1000m, 1200m, or 1400m
• Classic – 1600m, 1800m, or 2200m
• Stayer – 2400m, 2850m, or 3200m

If your horse favours 1400m, it is a Sprinter. You should consider racing over similar distances being 1200m and 1600m. There are some horses that can perform well over more than 3 distances.

Horses qualify for race categories primarily according to their race wins. All horses start as Maidens, being for horses that have not yet won a race.  As a horse wins races, so it becomes eligible for higher race categories.  See the race category charts. Explore the differences between the 3 grades on this chart.

You can climb up the ladder and increase your winnings as your horse progresses through its racing career.

Weight carried by your horse is a factor to consider as you progress through the categories.  In Maidens, all horses carry the same weight. In higher categories, weight penalties and allowances are applied.  Win one grade 1 Maiden race and your horse qualifies for a Progress race. If you win a second race, you will still qualify for this same race category, but your horse will carry a penalty of 6lbs versus horses in the race with just 1 win (see this race category Progress Race under Races). This is also done in real racing to even the field a little and make the racing exciting. It is known as handicapping.

The ultimate goal of racing is to find a Grade 1 horse capable of winning a Championship / Challenge Qualifier and Final.  If this is not your goal though, the game offers a number of racing levels where you can set your own goals.

More detail on race options can be found in Racing Overview and Racing In Depth.

Posted via email from Raceclubs.com