The RaceClubs.com Challenge Series - Hindsight Is A Wonderful Thing!
http://forums.raceclubs.com/Posts.aspx?fid=38&tid=286388&iv=y"You built a time machine, out of a DeLorean!" This happens to be one of my all time favourite line’s from a movie. The significance of the invention of a time machine, incorporated within the confines of a now washed up car was genius. With foot to the floor and accelerating up to 88mph; a crackle of space-age lightning wrapping itself around the body of the car, much like the re-entry of the Space Shuttle into the earth's atmosphere, Marty McFly found himself catapulted through time, ending up in 1955. In reality, though, I think a time machine is way beyond my creative juices, so I'll just stick to the patter of itching fingers on the keyboard for now.
OK, so it's never going to be possible for me to venture back to a moment in time, raise my arm and give myself a little pat on the shoulder to draw my attention. That would be fantastic in reality, wouldn't it? You might now be thinking to yourself, "What would I do different?" or "What if I could...?" Maybe you might prompt yourself to study a little harder at school or even, give yourself a boot up the backside to ask for a date with the girl, who you had a crush on, though, never quite had the courage and front to just go and get her. If it was the case that I had invented a time machine, it would be quite simple for me, The National Lottery! "Always dreaming of the past and never focussing on the future," was once written on one of my school reports; but did I care?......No! For I would always brush aside the past and live by the sword, after all I was always going to get the chance to learn from my mistakes, even if I couldn't do anything about them at the time.
RaceClubs.com has always been a learning process, from the moment I clicked that submit button and made my first deposit. I remember it well, as if it were just yesterday. Even though it was the second time I had ventured into the realms of the virtual racing world, here at RaceClubs.com, it was in fact, a thirty quid lesson in how not to play the game. Do I regret it in any shape or form? Absolutely not! For that thirty quid taught me a good lesson, knowledge is the key to success. I instantly started learning all the new aspects of the game and only now, over eighteen months after my return, do I consider myself at a level of confidence within the game. So let us accelerate to eighty-eight miles per hour in the RaceClubs.com DeLorean and illustrate my biggest folly to date. Hopefully it can be used as a tool for new players and old returning players alike, and encourage so not to make the mistake I did and manage a horse, who was capable of great things, so poorly. (Still banging head against wall in disgust with my impatience)
The RaceClubs.com Challenge Series is the pinnacle of the virtual racing calendar, it doesn't get any better to be honest. I have experienced the finals' buzz, albeit I was, "Close, but no cigar!" on a couple of occasions to date, my determination to succeed at the game was boosted by the errors of my way. Having a challenge horse board in your yard is a privilege, handling the horse correctly is imperative if you are ever going to sniff the sweet smell of virtual horse sweat as your colours parade the winners' enclosure. Getting it all wrong is easy, getting it just right is an art form in itself.
The English dictionary describes hindsight as, "Perception of the significance and nature of events after they occurred." There are so many situations and decisions made within the world that warrant people to coin the phrase. The significance of hindsight is in theory, academic, what's done is done, full stop! Is there any way to change what has been done, well, in some circumstances there are things that can be done to rectify or change the past and however, mistakes made at RaceClubs.com are irreversible. Making the correct decisions is mostly down to game knowledge but there are aspects of decision making that are just important. Nothing is more important than knowing your opposition. Planning an assault with your stable star is nothing short of brilliant, when it all comes together but lacklustre decision making can end you up with egg on your face.
So let's take a look at ways in which a trainer can approach The Challenge Series. One, to get the best return for investment and, two, to plant the seed of growth within your stable and look to the future, without dwelling on the past and what might have been. The website itself is an encyclopaedia on how to race in the series for those who spend the time to study. The information contained on these pages is freely available to all members. The Mentorship program and forums are fantastic tools for progression, for those who choose to use and benefit from it.
Exactly how would you approach a challenge campaign? Do your thoughts favour an all out approach to run the horse as many times during the season in order to maximise return, or is patience and championship trophies the be all and end all of success for you?. Many a trainer will tell you how hard it is to win a challenge series final. Some top trainers have had a torrid time getting that first cup alongside their RaceClubs.com profile, playing the game for years before getting it all right on the night. But when they get it right, that winning feeling must put them top of the world. To be fair, I think it may happen for me one day and if I am ever fortunate to be blessed with a horse whose ability outweighs my thirst for runners, then I have to abide by a couple of simple rules. The first rule of RaceClubs.com is..... "A happy and wealthy trainer is one who shows patience."
It is very, very difficult to have a horse training daily, seeing the star time trials whilst at the same time, resisting the temptation to waste a maiden win by entering a low nomination race for the sake of getting the horse into the challenge series. The onus of the trainer has to be cracking its maiden but what constitutes a good return to investment for such a race? Well, initially the horse could be targeted at a Monthly Qualifier or a high nomination sponsored maiden. The latter generally commands less of a prize pool but is a means to entry into the challenge races and inevitably the competition is a little weaker than that of a qualifier. The first choice of most trainers, although it varies from one to another, would be to include the horse in a Monthly Qualifier in order to get a better prize fund and therefore the earning potential of the horse will increase. This route often sports a better calibre of horse, so winning is more of a challenge in itself, although it's a great means to get to grips with the opposition he/she is likely to race week in, week out, during the season. Hence the importance of knowing your rival's well enough to make informed decisions about the way you would run your horse.
The penalties that a horse is given in relation to the weight it carries in a qualifier or final is deemed simply on the amount of wins it has had, with each win resulting in a 2lb penalty. What must be made aware to new players is that it is every win in all graded stakes races and qualifiers that will count towards the weight penalties for the challenge series, rated racing aside. It is evident that this is a grey area when it comes to new players entering the challenge race spectrum and has called for recent changes to be made to this ruling. However, for now, it is an integral part of the game. The criteria to horse entry, the random factor and the horses race preparation, draw and innate ability will determine the outcome of the race. Some horses are just not good enough to race certain levels within the virtual racing fraternity, when it comes to the challenge series. Again, we return to the importance of learning and researching in order to be totally confident in our ability to recognise what ability to expect of a horse worthy of paying the supplementary fee.
The supplementary fee is a one off fee that each horse that intends racing at challenge level, MUST pay. It can be paid at a reduced fee when buying a horse at the sales ring, or, when you have unearthed a gem, paid at a later date, albeit at a premium. It is not possible to race in this challenge environment without it but at the same time it is not a necessity to include when purchasing the horse. So now you have made an informed decision about the quality of the horse you possess, the next step is to race it, so what to do!
The second rule of RaceClubs.com is.... "To know your horse is to know its limits." So for instance, let's say you had a horse running in a challenge final, who to date had won three graded races. It's already placed first at maiden and progress level and then you've stepped up the ladder and raced and won a qualifier - the horse would carry 124lbs in the final, 2lbs gain in weight for each of the additional wins beyond maiden level or its equivalent. Here lies the knowledge of the challenge series come into play, something that only experience at this level will bring.
For a new player, it is all too easy to get carried away with the thought of winning races. Seeing those dollar signs and the sound of "Ker-Ching!" ringing in their ears, they forget or omit to realise that by stretching the horse they have more or less killed their final chances by incurring weight penalties. The breakdown to what weight is carried is quite simple in reality. The maiden win is not counted as you need to get a win on the board to enable you to compete in the series. However, you don't need to win a maiden/novice/allowance (zero win entry races) to compete. You can enter a challenge horse into a monthly qualifying race to crack the maiden but this would incur a 2lb penalty for the monthly final, thus resulting in a weight increase for the Monthly Challenge Series Final and running carrying a weight of 122lbs. Less is more when it comes to racing your nags at the top level. Most trainers will aim to have their horses primed and carrying 120lbs come finals' night.
As your horse ages, the weight to win ratio is carried through its career, with exemption from penalty at aged three within the challenge series races. These are all competed off level weight (120lbs). The difference is that to prolong a horses career at challenge level, the wins have to be kept to the minimum requirement at four, currently standing at five wins but subject to change and revert back to it's original mark of two (Hindsight is a wonderful thing). To elaborate a little on this, let's say your 3YO horse was on 5 wins and won The Derby. At the start of his 4YO campaign it would be carrying 122lbs (In relation to the 5 win rule as it stands now) in each qualifying race. Each win thereafter would add 2lbs. Again when it comes to racing at challenge level aged four to seven, less is more if you wish to maximise your return to investment on the horse.
The Mentorship program, from initial experience with the people I have helped is proving a great success. I urge all new players not to be backwards in coming forwards with their questions, after all it's in the existing/long term trainers' interest to get new players to stick around. This game is certainly not a sprint and if you are an established trainer who has a little spare time to help people out and focus on the growth and longevity of new players' RaceClubs.com career, then put your name down. To date, the subject matter in this article has been the most frequently asked topic of interest. So it's plain to see that the ambition of new players is there, let's nurture them to aspire to be the next Henry Cecil of the virtual world. So I'll leave you with this thought, if we don't or won't help and the new player, frustrated in his understanding of the game leaves, what’s going to stop the next one do the same! Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Member Submission: Moletown
Coming Soon! "I'll Write, You'll Learn" is a new series of game related articles that I have planned, where I will address concerns by new players, through questions and help topics received via the mentorship programme and hopefully address some pressing issues that many can learn from. If you are a trainer who has a bit of spare time to help a new player and wishes to sign up to the program and offer some pearls of wisdom, then email Member Support with your request and area of speciality.
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