WikiYour horses
Your horsesStats & aptitudes
Speed, stamina and the rest; distance, going and surface preferences.
Every horse has six stats, each on a scale of 0 to 1000, and three preferences: a best trip, a favourite surface and a natural running style. The race engine turns these into speed and energy, metre by metre. The aptitude grades on the horse page tell you, in plain letters, where your horse is at its best.
The six stats
| Stat | What it does |
|---|---|
| Speed | Sets the horse's cruising speed, the pace it can travel at comfortably. The most valuable stat at every trip. |
| Stamina | How slowly the horse burns its energy. It barely matters in a sprint and matters more with every furlong after that; a horse that runs out of energy fades. |
| Burst | The kick: how much faster than its cruise the horse can sprint at the finish, and how quickly it accelerates from the gate and in the race. |
| Durability | How much speed is left once the horse is spent, and a little less energy used. Off the track, sound horses get injured less and tire less from a race. |
| Adaptability | How little the horse loses on a surface it doesn't prefer, on soft or heavy going, or at a trip that isn't its best. |
| Temperament | Consistency. A composed horse runs close to its form every time, travels evenly and breaks well. A hot-headed one (below half marks) runs keen early and wastes energy. |
Each stat also gets a letter, the way a form guide would sum it up: S from 850, A from 720, B from 600, C from 480, D from 360, E from 0.
A real horse
This is a starter Thoroughbred, made by the code that makes yours. Each bar is the stat it races on today; the second number is its genetic potential, the ceiling training and experience work towards.
Stat today / potential. A new horse races below its potential; see Growing up and Training.
Trip, surface and going
Best trip
Two distance genes set the trip a horse is happiest at. Each gene pulls towards its own distance, and the horse’s best trip lands between them. Shorter than its best, a horse lacks the pace; longer, it runs out of energy. Adaptability softens both.
| Distance gene | Pulls towards |
|---|---|
| Sprint | 1,100 m |
| Mile | 1,500 m |
| Middle | 2,000 m |
| Staying | 2,600 m |
The speed gene (MSTN) then moves it: two sprint copies (C/C) take 200 m off the best trip, two stay copies (T/T) add 200 m. A horse’s breed and size shape its stats the same way, moving points between speed, stamina, burst and durability without changing the total. See Breeds & body genes.
Favourite surface
- Two turf genes make a turf horse; two dirt genes a dirt horse.
- One of each makes a versatile synthetic (all-weather) type, with +20 adaptability.
- Off its favourite surface every horse loses some cruising speed; a low-adaptability horse loses much more.
Going
Firm and Good ground cost nothing. Soft and especially Heavy going slow everyone, and slow a horse with low adaptability most. A horse with the hidden mudlark quirk loves soft and heavy ground (see Genetics & inheritance).
Running style
| Style | How it runs |
|---|---|
| Front-runner | Break fast and set the pace from the lead. Best for quick horses with stamina to hold on. |
| Stalker | Sit just off the leaders, then pounce in the straight. The balanced, all-weather ride. |
| Closer | Settle at the back, save energy, unleash one long late run. Needs a strong finishing burst. |
Every horse has a natural style from its genes. You choose the tactic on the entry sheet; riding a horse in its natural style gives it a small edge in pace and energy, and asking it to run another way costs a little. See Entering a race.
Aptitude grades
The horse page grades each trip, surface, going and riding plan from A to E. A grade is the rating points the horse loses against its own best case, worked out with the same maths the race uses: A up to 10, B up to 25, C up to 45, D up to 70, E more than 70. Here is Brave Heart:
| Trip | Sprint (1,000–1,200 m) | Mile (1,400–1,600 m) | Middle (2,000 m) | Long (2,400 m) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade | C | A | E | E |
| Surface | Turf | Dirt | Synthetic |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grade | A | E | E |
| Going | Firm | Good | Soft | Heavy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade | A | A | E | E |
| Plan | Front-runner | Stalker | Closer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grade | C | C | A |
Fit chips
Before and after a race, the game checks your runner against that race and shows a chip for each of trip, surface, going and plan: ✓ suits, ~ so-so, ✗ against. For Brave Heart at its best trip on good going:
- Trip1,500 m, ideal
- Surfaceturf, favourite
- Goinggood
- Plancloser, natural
And in a 1,900 m race on dirt with soft going:
- Trip1,900 m · best 1,500 m
- Surfacedirt · prefers turf
- Goingsoft
- Plancloser, natural
By the numbers live from the rules
- Stat scale
- 0 to 1000
- Distance genes pull towards
- 1,100 m · 1,500 m · 2,000 m · 2,600 m
- Adaptability bonus, synthetic types
- +20
- Brave Heart: best trip
- 1,500 m
- Brave Heart: natural style
- Closer