The Daily Cup

The Daily Cup is one race a day that everyone runs on equal terms. Each stable gets one Cup Run a day with any horse it likes, against the same Club field, in the same conditions, with the same luck. The fastest time wins. It is free, it pays a few credits for taking part, and it never tires your horse.

#How it works

1. 1
   Open the Daily Cup. Today’s conditions (trip, surface, going, weather) and the field of 7 Club horses are the same for everyone.
2. 2
   Choose your runner. The list shows how well today’s trip and ground suit each of your horses, and marks its natural style with a star.
3. 3
   Choose a tactic and run. Your horse always starts from gate 4 on a normal ride, and the result is shown straight away.
4. 4
   Your time goes on today’s board. Your rank can change as more stables run; the board is final when the Cup closes at midnight UTC.

• One run per stable per day, with any one horse. It must be of racing age, still racing and not injured.
• The Cup isn’t a career start: it doesn’t move the career clock, isn’t rated, and doesn’t count towards a horse’s races for the day (one Live race, 3 in all), so a horse can run the Cup and a race on the same day.
• Your horse comes back exactly as it went out: no fatigue, no injury risk.
• It is free: no stable entries, no fee.

#The week’s trips and ground

The Cup’s trip and going rotate by weekday, the same for everyone: any seven days in a row run the whole trip range, sprint to staying. The trip within a division steps one place a week and comes back round every third week; the going follows the time of year on turf (good in spring, firm in summer, soft in autumn, heavy in winter), the all-weather is always good, and dirt rides heavy only in winter. Tomorrow’s conditions are announced on the Cup page the day before.

#An example Cup

This example Cup was built from an example day’s seed by the game’s own rules: 2,400 m on synthetic, good going. One real horse was run through it once on each tactic.

Tactic	Time	Finished	Same time when run again
Front-runner	2:41.28	6 of 8	Yes
Stalker	2:39.11	8 of 8	Yes
Closer (natural)	2:38.08	8 of 8	Yes

Because everyone meets the same field with the same seed, the only things that differ are your horse and your tactic. Run the same horse the same way and you get the same time to the hundredth.

#The board and badges

Runs are ranked by finish time; a tie goes to the better position against the Club field, then to whoever ran first. Your standing earns a badge. On a day with 200 runs, for example:

Badges and ranks are for honour only. Every run pays the same 80 credits, and two Trophy Room plaques come from the Cup: “Cup Regular”: Take 20 Cup Runs (any days, no streak needed); “Cup Contender”: Finish in the Daily Cup top 10%. See Hall of Fame & Trophy Room.

Each run also earns Cup points from where it finished on the day’s board: 50 for the fastest, falling with rank to 1 for the slowest, plus 10 for a horse that beat the whole Club field. They depend on everyone’s runs, so they are worked out once the day is over, when the board is final.

#Sealed for the day

The Cup’s seed is fixed when the Cup opens, and only its fingerprint is shown while it is open, so nobody can rehearse the race in advance. You can watch the replay of your own run straight away. After the Cup closes, the seed is revealed with yesterday’s winner, so anyone can check the day’s races. How sealing works is on How races are run.