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Your horsesInjuries & insurance
Injury risk, the four severities, the vet, and what insurance pays.
Racing carries a small risk of injury, and the game shows you that risk before every start. Most injuries are minor and heal in a few days. A few end a racing career, and in Live races a very few are fatal. Care, the vet and a sensible ride all help, and insurance softens the worst outcome.
The risk of each start
Every start begins from a base chance of 0.4%, then each factor below multiplies it, up to a ceiling of 8%. The entry sheet shows the result for the ride you choose, and the horse’s Care tab shows it for each kind of ride. For a real starter, at its best trip on good going:
| Ride | Injury risk | If injured, career-ending |
|---|---|---|
| Conservative (Easy) ride | Low · 0.3% | 3.0% |
| Normal ride | Low · 0.4% | 3.0% |
| All-out ride | Moderate · 0.7% | 5.0% |
What raises it
| Same horse, normal ride unless shown | Injury risk | Factors the game lists |
|---|---|---|
| Normal ride, good going, 1,250 m | Low · 0.4% | Average durability (×1.09) |
| Firm going | Moderate · 0.6% | Average durability (×1.09) · firm going (×1.30) |
| Heavy going | Moderate · 0.6% | Average durability (×1.09) · heavy going (×1.40) |
| Still tired (80% fatigue) | Moderate · 1.1% | Average durability (×1.09) · Still tired from recent work (×2.43) |
| Already ran twice today | Moderate · 0.8% | Average durability (×1.09) · Already ran 2x today (×1.80) |
| A long trip (2,800 m) | Moderate · 0.5% | Average durability (×1.09) · Long trip (×1.10) |
| As a veteran | Moderate · 0.5% | Average durability (×1.09) · Veteran legs (×1.20) |
| With fragile legs | Moderate · 0.6% | Fragile type (×1.19) · Fragile legs (inherited) (×1.30) |
| With iron legs | Low · 0.3% | Average durability (×1.09) · Iron legs (inherited) (×0.80) |
| Tired, heavy going and all-out | Elevated · 2.2% | Average durability (×1.09) · Still tired from recent work (×2.43) · heavy going (×1.40) · All-out ride (×1.50) |
- Durability always counts: the soundest horses carry well under the base risk, the most fragile well over it.
- Going: firm ×1.3, good ×1.0, soft ×1.1, heavy ×1.4.
- The ride: conservative (easy) ride ×0.7, normal ride ×1.0, all-out ride ×1.5. An all-out ride and a very tired horse also make an injury more likely to be career-ending.
- Fragile legs (inherited) ×1.3. See Fragile legs.
- Iron legs (inherited, dominant) ×0.8: the one gene that lowers the risk. A bigger horse also carries a little less durability. See Breeds & body genes.
The four severities
| Severity | Time to heal | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Minor | 2 to 4 days | A few days off, then back to racing. |
| Moderate | 6 to 12 days | A longer rest, then back to racing. |
| Career-ending | 14 to 21 days | No more racing. Once healed the horse can still go to stud or become a broodmare. |
| Fatal | – | The horse dies. Live races only. |
Each injury also has a real name, such as sore shins or a bowed tendon: the full list, where on the horse each one is and what makes it likelier is in Injuries.
When an injury does happen, this is how it turns out at the base career-ending chance, from 4,000 injuries rolled by the game’s own code:
Healing, care and the vet
Injuries heal in real time, even while you are away. You can speed it up:
- Care: each daily care session takes 12 hours off. Feed Recovery; see Care & condition.
- Vet treatment: 150 credits takes 24 hours off, once per injury per day.
- The Vet facility makes every hour of healing count for more, level by level (up to 3). See Facilities.
| Vet facility | Left alone | Daily care | Daily care and vet treatment |
|---|---|---|---|
| None | 9 days | 6 days | 4 days |
| Level 1 | 8 days | 6 days | 4 days |
| Level 2 | 6 days | 5 days | 3 days |
| Level 3 | 6 days | 4 days | 3 days |
An injured horse can’t race and can only rest in training until it is healed.
Insurance
You can insure any horse that is still racing, from its Care tab. You pay one premium, 5% of the horse’s appraised value, and if an injury ever ends its racing career (career-ending or fatal) you receive 60% of its appraisal. The appraisal is the market’s view of the horse: what is known of its potential, its record and its breedings left. See The auction house.
Insuring the starter above live from the rules
- Appraisal
- 3,376 credits
- Premium, paid once
- 169 credits
- Pays if its career ends through injury
- 2,025 credits
- Career-ending risk per start (normal ride)
- about 1 in 8,300